Chapter 6:
Wynn walked the four blocks to the market and breathed a sigh of
relief when she noticed that there weren't many people around. She
wrapped the coat tighter around herself, wishing she had chosen a
longer coat so her body would be more covered. There was a man whose
body was covered with a cloak and it was...Darius' dad! He was
advancing toward her faster and faster; then he started to run.
"No; oh no!" Wynn began to run away, dropping her bag, and Darius'
money. She didn't know what to do so she ran into the park. Hiding
behind a tree, she took off her shoes and buttoned the coat from the
bottom to the neck. She could hear Darius' dad growling at her. He
came up behind her.
"Found you! Now, I will kill you myself!" He jumped quickly around
the tree. Wynn screamed and took off running, barefoot, back in the
direction of the manor. A figure, clad from head to foot in black
clothing, complete with a black cape and boots, fell in front of her.
The figure grabbed her and picked her up.
"No! Let go of me! Let me go! Help, help!"
"Wynn! Shut up. Don't draw attention to yourself!"
"Darius?" The figure didn't answer her. He just leapt into the air,
still holding her, and started flying.
Wynn gasped when she realized they were in the air, and she looked at
the darkened figure. "Darius?"
"Yes, it's me."
"You followed me?"
"I never should have let you go by yourself. Valen would have killed
you. I'm glad I followed you or you'd be dead right now."
"Valen? Is that his name?"
"It is. He's an awful man, Wynn. Stay away from him."
"Yes, Darius."
When they reached the manor, Darius carried Wynn inside and up to her
room. Once in the room, Wynn walked over to her bag and took out the
note and knife she found the night of her parents' death.
"Darius I--" Before she could finish, a servant came running into the
room; it was Gina.
"Darius, you father is here asking for Wynn."
"What! No, he can't be!"
"He is Darius. Should we give her to him?"
"No! He wants to kill her!"
"Why would he want to do that?"
"I don't know, Gina. Take her through the secret hallways and hide
her. He doesn't know about those."
"Yes my prince." Gina took Wynn by the hand and led her to the
closet. She pushed aside the clothes, revealing a door.
"Gina, where are we going?"
"I have to hide you from that man, Wynn. Now stay quiet."
Darius came to the closet.
"Yes Wynn. Stay very quiet until Gina tells you its okay. Be
careful with her."
"I will Darius; she's fine with me." Darius pushed them through the
passage way and sealed the door.
"Come now child, we must move quickly. If we don't, Valen will find
you for sure."
Upstairs, Darius was standing at the door afraid to open it. With
his hand on the doorknob, he got a better idea. He ran to the roof
and from there, he called to Valen.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"Darius! Give me the girl now!"
Darius jumped down the roof to the ground so he could face Valen.
When he stood up, he stared at Valen with the most evil look you could
imagine. "I wouldn't give her to you if you tortured me. She's safe
where she is; don't even think of looking for her."
"You will never be good enough to take my place, Darius! You know
it's against everything I've taught you if you fall in love with the
woman!"
"How is 16 a woman? I would like to know how 16 years of childhood
makes her a woman!"
"Losing her parents should have prepared her for womanhood the day I
killed them."
"Her parents are dead?"
"Yes her parents are dead! They knew what I was, and you can never
trust a mortal with a secret like that. I did what I had to; I killed
them." He let out an evil laugh and leapt into the air. He flew over
Darius and onto the roof. "I will find her if it takes the rest of
the night!" With that, Valen snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Below the mansion, in a series of narrow hallways, Gina was leading
Wynn deeper and deeper into the earth. They only stopped walking when
they reached a room that looked similar to a dungeon.
"We have to stay in here? Why can't we stay in a...nicer room?"
"Wynn, dear, this is the only place we are-" With that, Valen
appeared in the room.
"Wynn, I've found you at last! You are mine!" Valen threw Gina
against the wall and he body crumpled on the floor.
"Don't hurt her! It's me you want, not her!"
"You're right. It's you, I want you! I want you dead! Be ready to
join your parents; they should be glad to see you."
"You killed my parents! Why would you-" Valen grabbed Wynn by the
throat and held her against the wall. She kicked and flailed her arms
but got nowhere. Her vision was blurring when Valen suddenly let go
of her neck. The air returned to her lungs so fast it was painful.
When she looked up, there was another man fighting Valen, but she
couldn't tell who it was; her vision was too blurred. She rubbed her
eyes and realized who she saw. It was Darius! Valen, being older and
stronger than Darius, quickly over took all of Darius' strength. He
knocked out Darius and threw him across the room then advanced towards
Wynn. She was still trying to catch her breath when Valen picked her
up and suddenly appeared in the garden. He then flew away, taking
Wynn farther and farther from the manor.
Valen had bound and blindfolded her so she couldn't run away and go
back home. To Wynn it seemed that they were flying forever, but
really it was only a few minutes. After they had landed, Valen
removed the bindings and blindfold to reveal where they were standing.
She was in a huge castle. All walls were stone and there were lit
candles and torches in every room. A red-carpeted staircase led to
the second floor, but Wynn couldn't see all the way to the top. Valen
grabbed her arm and led her up the stairs.
The room she was led to was small, dark, and damp. There were
torture weapons all around the room and a guy who was badly beaten and
starved was chained to the wall by his wrists.
"Here's where you stay." He led her to chains next to the guy and
chained her wrists.
"Let me go! You have no use for me!"
"Oh, I have plenty use for you." He smiled wickedly and licked his lips.
"You sick pervert! Darius will rescue me from you!"
"You think that, don't you? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad
news, but, he isn't coming any time soon." Valen let out an evil
laugh and walked away.
"Help me! Darius, help me!"
"He won't be able to hear you," spoke a soft and whispery voice. "No
vampire can hear a scream from the room."
"And why not?"
"This room is cursed. It's soundproof to all, even vampires. We can
hear everything, but they can't hear us." At that moment, the man did
something Wynn didn't think was possible: he disappeared. Just as
quickly as he disappeared, he reappeared next to her.
"How did you do that?" The man knelt beside her and stared into her eyes.
"That doesn't matter now. Wynn, my name is Kaden. I'm a vampire
too. I tried to kill Valen when he spoke of his plan to destroy your
family, but he is much stronger than me. He put me down here to keep
me away from you. But the fool brought you to me."
"What do you want with me?! Why is he after me and my family?"
"You don't know, do you?"
"I don't know what? Am I missing something?"
"God, you're running from a power like Valen and you don't know why?"
Wynn shook her head no and Kaden let out a loud laugh, angering her.
"What the hell is so funny?!"
"You don't know what you are! That's hilarious!"
"So, what am I? I would like to know why he wants me dead."
"Alright, I'll tell you the story." Kaden stood up and turned from
Wynn, putting his hands in the pockets of his dirty jeans. "For 7
generations, your family has been famous for something so great, that
they were hated by every vampire around. They were hunters."
"Hunters?"
"Yes, hunters. They chased down and brutally killed every vampire
they could find. Your parents, Wynn, they were the greatest hunters
in your whole family. Do you remember any days when one or both of
them called to tell you they would be home late?"
"Yes, I do. Why?"
"They weren't at work, Wynn. They were killing vampires."
"No they weren't! They were working and they were working hard!"
"Wynn, they didn't tell you about it because they didn't want you to
get into that business. They knew it was dangerous and they didn't
want you to be hurt."
"My grandfather would have told me about it, Kaden. He used to tell
me everything about his life."
"Do you even know how he died?"
"Of course I do. He had a heart attack."
"I bet if you looked real closely at his neck, there were two tiny
bite marks. He was murdered by Valen. I was there, Wynn. From then
on, I vowed to watch over you and I have been. Darius already knows;
I told him where to find you. He wasn't supposed to fall in love."
"Fall in love? What do you mean Kaden?"
"You haven't noticed it? Darius is madly in love with you! He'd do
anything to make you happy."
Wynn looked down and remembered everything Darius had ever done.
Then she remembered the day that he kissed her before she left.
"Kaden, can you take me home?" She looked at him with tears in her
eyes, so he kneeled in front of her and took her hands. Slowly he
brought his face closer to hers and kissed her. Five minutes had
passed and Kaden was still kissing Wynn, but she was struggling for
him to let go. When he finally let go, Wynn could see worry in his
eyes.
"Hold on, darling; I'll take you home." Kaden grabbed the chains
that were locked around her wrists and broke them. Wynn's jaw dropped
open as he broke the chains and lifted her up off of the stone floor.
