Part II: See The Sun
Chapter 6: Failing Hope
1
In my head, things were always supposed to be a certain way in life.
"Die Fanger!-"
I was supposed to wake up in the middle of the day and walk out into the dim sunlight of Bathory, meet up with Henry, and spend the rest of the day either sucking blood bags or sucking Snow.
"Mama, is he one of the biters?-"
But now there was no little house in Bathory for me to leave from. And the streets of Bathory were a thousand miles away.
"You aren't welcome here vampire!-"
There was only this miserable hotel room and the ever-present danger of being caught and asked to leave. But then again I could always just glamour the manager and make all my problems go away. But that would never take away the pain I was feeling from being alone. I'd never experienced it before. I always had Nellie, Otis, and Henry. And Snow. My sweet Snow.
Now all I had was sleep.
Or maybe the Vegas sun?...
Yeah, death. The true death.
That's always a possibility.
But death wouldn't make the pain go away in all honestly. In fact, I was almost sure that death would make matters worse for a lot of the people that I cared about.
I knew for a fact that whatever Henry was up to was all because of Joss' mind games. And I was also sure that whatever the two of them were doing to Snow needed to be stopped.
Joss needed to be punished.
And I intended on administering quite the ass-whooping.
Before I go to bed I attempt to reach out to Snow for the first time in a month, and after failing I do something I haven't done since our phone call on that fateful night.
I reach out to Henry. I tell him I miss him and where I am. And I tell him I need to see him.
And that's all I can do before my brain completely shuts down.
2
Roman sets down his glass of TruBlood and winces. "God that shit is awful." He gestures to one of the guards who take the glass away and then turns to face his second-in-command, Salome.
"What do you think?" He gestures again, but this time to the large room. The new office of the Vampire Authority, in what from the outside appears to be an old factory, but on the inside is a high-tech airtight fortress. "Is it, modern enough?"
Salome smiles. "I love it Roman. It is indeed a lot better than our old office. And in fact I am proud to say the man I love is the maker." Salome presses against Roman and kisses him softly as the doors to the office open and Russell walks in.
"Ah-a-ah. Hands off the merchandise Roman. She is still my girl." Roman smiles at the familiar face and Salome runs over to hug him. Russell Edgington is wearing a bright red blazer with black slacks, and Talbot his partner is directly beside him. "Oh please Russell, let the darlings grope. It makes my heart float." Roman smiles wider and Salome fixes the front of Russell's blazer. "Well, I suppose your right Talbot. But not right this second dear Salome, Roman and I need to speak in private."
Russell's eyes flick to Roman's; who just barely winces at the look. "So if you and Talbot could excuse yourselves to the other room that would be helpful."
Salome nods and then looks up at Russell. "Should I be worried?" Russell looks back down at her and then shrugs. "With me here, who knows?"
Salome scoffs and takes Talbot by the hand, the two retire to the next room as Russell approaches Roman. Russell grabs Roman's hand and looks at the palm.
"It says here that in you were very intelligent and manipulative, is that accurate by any chance?"
Roman looks down at his hand and after seeing the lines Russell was mentioning, he rolls his eyes. "Are you going to tell me you can see my future?"
Russell grabs Roman by the throat and slams him against a column with lightning speed. "No. I'm going to tell you that I'm a million times smarter than you are. And I know the Pravus is alive. How dare you defy my very specific orders? I told you to kill the boy."
"I did kill him." Roman says, trying to get down.
"Really?" Russell drops him. "Then explain this."
The doors to the chamber open and Joss walks in, with Henry and Snow.
3
I change the channel on the television and lay back down on the bed. I close my eyes and begin to tear up as the sun goes down, knowing that it's time to go out and find someone to drain again.
"I can't keep doing this..."
Two months have passed since Otis went and got himself killed by the new Council of Elders. I hadn't heard from any vampires since then. Not Snow, not the pompous guy in the dark blue suit, not Salome.
None. I was fang-free.
After about a week I stopped looking for Snow. The slayer society must have some sort of weird vampire blocking tech, because all of my connections to Snow were impaired since her kidnapping.
So I just sat in this hotel room and sulked. Sometimes I went to the room next door and sucked whatever patron was staying there - that's how I sustained my blood.
But I only drank enough to live. Not enough for energy. Meaning if anyone decided to-
BOOM!
I fall over onto the floor as the building I'm in rattles.
I stand up and look down at the ground through the window and see five people zip into the building at a wild speed, then I hear doors pounding open in the hallway and I zip over to the closet.
I hear screams as the door busting gets ever closer, and that's when I hear my door bust open.
A looming presence enters the room. I see the bed get flipped from the crack in the wardrobe door, and then I hear someone sniff audibly.
"THE PRAVUS IS HERE!"
4
"I swear there is a reasonable explanation for this Russell."
Russell Edgington begins circling the table and sits in one of the empty chairs, the seat of the absent Alexander Drew.
"Well, I assume that we're all listening Roman."
Russell gestures to the rest of the chancellors and they all nod as Roman walks over to view the three teenagers at a closer vantage.
Roman whispers to them when he gets close enough. "I should kill all three of you for bringing this shit to my council."
Joss only scoffs as Russell zips over beside Roman.
"I heard that. And you shall not harm the middle one. The two to his sides are in his control, and he works for me. So I'll ask you again, then."
Russell grabs Roman by the throat and holds him against the wall.
"Where. Is. The Pravus?"
Roman unhinges himself and zips closer to his council, who stand up immediately in the defensive.
"Russell. You are no longer in power here. We will slay you if need be. You helped us get here, but you are no longer in charge of the Pravus, or us."
Russell laughs and then zips to the Council.
"How dare you, you pompous prick. I helped you get here. I helped make this AUTHORITY happen. Without me you would have all been, a fucking joke!"
Joss steps forward as Russell continues.
"But that is fine. Because I now see where all of your-," he slowly begins to turn away, "allegiances lie."
Russell approaches Joss and puts a hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes.
"My new drudge is doing the job well enough, for he has managed to locate the Pravus while all of you twiddled your thumbs."
Henry and Snow don't flinch at the word drudge, nor could they due to the trance they were in.
"Joss my dear, bring in your accomplice."
Joss snaps and the doors open once again, revealing none other than-
5
Vladimir is put into a truck and transported for what seems like ten hours, and eventually he's brought out, blindfolded and left sitting somewhere.
After another eternity, three people enter the room. Vladimir can immediately read them. One is extremely powerful, one is extremely confident, and one of them is extremely neutral.
It's almost as if the third person is indifferent to the entire happening.
Vladimir's blindfold is finally removed, and he is immediately taken aback by the people who stand in front of him.
One is his beloved Snow.
One is his nemesis Joss.
And the third… the third…
"Hello Vlad. Did you miss me?"
Is Eddie Poe.
End Chapter.
