Chapter 11
Arianna was shocked to feel the vampire touch her mind. His voice was a velvet caress, beckoning her to obey him. She tried once more to see into his mind, if even to find out his real name. She knew the name Stefan was a lie. She tried to remember the name of the vampire Derrick had said was captured long ago, knowing it had to be him with the woman Carissa. But her head hurt when she tried to recall the conversation. Arianna realized not only was he blocking her from seeing into his mind, the vampire had successfully penetrated her own mind. His eyes were like smoke, his gaze impossible to resist. She found herself sliding off the bed and walking toward him.
She stopped when she heard his heartbeat increasing. No, it wasn't that she just heard his heartbeat, she felt it. Arianna put her hand to her own chest, realizing her heart now matched his. Was he that powerful? Could he do this to anyone? Had he done the same to the woman named Carissa?
The thought of him feeding from this other woman made her irritated. The feeling had to be just her annoyance with this vampire using women. That had to be the reason because how could she be jealous of this evil creature feeding on anyone else?
Come to me.
His voice was even stronger now in her mind. She desperately wanted to obey him. The logic that he could kill her kept Arianna's feet planted in place. She fought for control against this strange power she'd never felt before. All vampires had the ability to take over human minds, but Arianna had never experienced the sensation because she was usually stronger than them. But this time was different.
Come to me.
His voice deepened into a sinful tone, making her body attracted to him. Those heated eyes were so beautiful to her and her womb actually felt like it was clenching, eager for him to do more than just take her blood.
So this was what it felt like to be seduced. Sex had never been anything but unpleasant with the scientists. But for the first time in her life, she was truly wanting the experience with this vampire. She should be horrified at the thought, but Arianna could not resist. Blinking, she realized she was looking up at him, not even realizing she'd moved and was now standing only a few inches from him. His fingers cupped her chin, then trailed down to encircle her throat. Those eyes were looking at her with a hunger which was unmistakable. But behind his smoldering stare, was something dark. Arianna's chest tightened as she realized she'd fallen for his trap and it was now too late to escape.
No, he whispered into her mind. This is not meant to be a trap. But I must feed to break free. Help me.
His voice made her actually tilt her neck up to him, offering what he so badly wanted. Then do it, she replied while trembling. Take my blood and kill them…and me.
He growled and bent his head to her neck. No. I cannot take your life. Help me control the darkness within me so you will live.
As his lips brushed the skin on her neck, Arianna felt her legs go weak. It was hard to understand what he was saying about the darkness. He was a vampire…
No, I am something else. His teeth now scraped against her throat. Oh God…Arianna. You must help me. I want you so badly it hurts. I can feel the demon thirsting to drain you dry or even worse, physically claim you.
By now Arianna was blind with her own need. Her own body was responding in a way she never thought possible. If this vampire wanted to possess her, she had no intention of now stopping him. She was burning with fire, helpless to stop the desire which was rising up hard and fast.
She heard him curse. You are not helping me, he groaned in her mind. His other hand was now wandering down her hip, his fingers easily pressing into her and grabbing hold.
Arianna gasped as she was pulled up close to his body. She felt the hardness through his trousers against her stomach. Instinctively, her hands pressed against his chest, the pain in her injured arm barely noticeable. She was as helpless as he seemed to be, giving into something she found hard to fight. His breath was ragged against her throat now, and he made a noise which sounded like a plea. It was as if it was taking every ounce of strength he had left to fight off something which made him feel…
She swallowed hard as he allowed her to feel more of his emotion. It was not only thirst and sexual hunger he was feeling. He was terrified. Arianna almost cried with the realization that he truly did not want to hurt her. And yet, he was unsure if he could find it within himself to keep her alive.
Her voice was shaky in his mind. What do you want me to do?
Tell me you are the light to my darkness, he replied in a strained voice. Remind me of who you are. Remind me of the light in your soul calling to mine.
Once again, it was extremely hard for her to understand what he was saying. How could she be the light to his soul?
Arianna…
She felt him losing the battle to control himself. And before she could reach out to him again, he struck her throat hard. Arianna cried out, as it was shockingly painful. His grip turned to iron as he easily held her in place. He was drinking deeply, taking far too much. She twisted her head and got a glimpse of his eyes which were now glowing red. It was as if the man she'd been talking to was now gone.
Stefan. She tried to blindly reach him, even though she knew that was not his real name. Stop. You don't want to do this. But she was getting no response. Arianna felt herself growing weaker. What did he say about the light? I am…your light.
He didn't loosen his physical grip, but felt a sudden stirring in his mind.
I am the light to your darkness, she said, repeating his words. Now his fingers were loosening and she heard his voice.
Help me. Keep fighting it. Remind me who you are.
What did he mean? I…I am Arianna. Despite the pain to her neck, her small fingertips began to caress his chest. She couldn't hold back her true feelings any longer. If she was going to die, what did it matter? Take my blood and my life. Then take our your vengeance on Derrick and the others. Don't let them do this to any other women who are psychics. The room was now going growing dimmer, her eyesight losing focus as she became even weaker. She no longer cared. If he took her life, it would finally be over and she could rest in peace knowing he'd succeed in destroying the lab and its evil scientists. I give my life freely to you.
Tyrell was astonished. This woman, who had no idea she was his lifemate, was already freely giving her life to him. The demon roared, but Tyrell emerged, gaining strength and pushing it down. He immediately retracted his fangs and licked the wound on her neck shut. She was limp in his arms, practically unconscious, but not dead. In one swift movement, he picked her up in his arms and carried her back to the bed.
He gently laid her down, noting how small she was in comparison to him. She had a heart-shaped face with rosebud lips. Her skin, now translucent, was smooth and soft. For a moment, he stared at her. She looked like a vulnerable child, not a young woman. She was so very innocent in all of this. How badly he wanted to claim her. But when his mind thought of the words, pain once more sliced through his head. Cursing, Tyrell backed off. He stopped, and focused on her injured arm. He should be saving his strength but he no longer cared. Her health came first and Tyrell would ensure she had every chance to survive when all was said and done.
After chanting the healing words in her head and mending her arm, he bit into his wrist to hold it over her mouth, making sure some of his powerful blood was fed to her. Tyrell wanted to feed her from his chest, but he didn't trust himself. Instead, he focused on giving just enough so she could be strong enough to survive.
The voices down the hall were getting louder and he stopped feeding Arianna. He straightened and closed his eyes. Focusing on all the power he had within him, Tyrell began the complex process of breaking down the formula within him. If he succeeded, not only would the serum be absorbed harmlessly into his system, he would also be immune from any other injections.
He heard the cell door open but didn't lose his concentration. The voices came closer and someone even prodded him with something sharp. Tyrell blocked out all of it. He was so very close, the last of the formula was beginning to disintegrate. His heart slowed and he grew weak. Tyrell felt sweat rolling down his back from the effort to force the molecules to break apart. But the last of his strength was weaning.
Blindly, he reached out to the only source of comfort he had for the last five years. Carissa.
There was a heartbeat of silence. I'm with you, Tyrell. You are stronger than you or anyone else realize. Stay with me.
Her words gave him hope. Still focusing on the serum within him, Tyrell slowly opened his eyes to look down at Arianna. He failed her in every way possible. This was his last chance to finally do something right and free her from Morrison…and him.
The last particle in the formula disintegrated, all of it fully absorbed harmlessly now within his blood. It was now part of him and no longer a danger in controlling his power.
"Well, his eyes are open now," said one of the scientists.
Tyrell became aware of a the scientists standing within a few feet of him. They all had dart guns loaded with injections of the formula. Slowly, his eyes shifted to look at all of them.
Their reaction was to step back, as if sensing something was suddenly very wrong. One of them narrowed his eyes at Tyrell. "Don't even think about trying anything or we'll make sure you're out cold in no time."
Tyrell gave such a slow, evil smile, he could see them shudder with fear. "Where is the one called Derrick?" His voice was low, its tone once more taking on a note of warning.
"That's not your concern," snapped a tall thin man with dark hair. "Now look, we came to just collect some more samples. Either you cooperate or we put you out, it's a simple as that."
In a blur of speed, Tyrell grabbed the man's throat and lifted him easily with one hand. He leaned in close. "You are right, it is very simple. I will no longer cooperate and you will all die." Within an instant, Tyrell bit into the man's neck, feeding on rich blood which increased his strength. He dropped the man before he was dead and set his eyes on the cowering scientists before him.
They shouted in fear and two of them shot Tyrell with their dart guns. One dart landed in Tyrell's neck and the other in his bare shoulder. At first, the men looked relieved. But when nothing happened, their faces tuned to confusion.
And then Tyrell took his revenge.
No scientist in the cell was spared. Within seconds, all of them were dead. The darkness within him wanted to take more time and torture them. But either deep down Tyrell knew it was wrong, or it was just logic telling him time was limited.
As if on cue, an alarm sounded, the high pitched shrill echoing throughout the cell and down the hall. The cell door swung shut and locked. Tyrell simply focused and the door flew open.. Looking back at Arianna, he simply could not take the chance and leave her here. If the scientists had other secret tunnels or ways of escape, she may be their captive forever. He went back and scooped her up into his arms. Turning, he strode out of the cell and down the hall. He spotted a maze of more corridors and sensed fear coming from one direction.
Another dart came flying and hit him in his right arm. Tyrell hissed, and whirled around to see a young blonde male backing away with a gun. Tyrell simply narrowed his eyes and the gun flew out of the man's hands. The scientist screamed and tried to run, but it was too late. Tyrell sent various beacons and test tubes of glass flying from a shelf toward the man. He was hit in the face, the shards of glass embedding into the man's head and throat, killing him instantly.
Shifting Arianna in his arms, Tyrell headed toward a wider corridor. He found what appeared to be a control room with various monitors showing video of the cell rooms and what appeared to be a laboratory. Tyrell spotted a couch and gently laid Arianna down. Then he turned and surveyed the various equipment including a layout of the entire lab. Within moments, he'd turned off the alarm and had memorized the underground maze of corridors. The main laboratory which appeared to make the formula was two more flights down underground.
Tyrell looked back again at Arianna. If things went wrong, she could be killed. He scooped her up in his arms once more and headed in a different direction. There was one cell closest to a concealed exit which led to the surface. She might have a chance of escape if he kept her safely hidden. Placing her inside, Tyrell stepped back and created the illusion that the cell remained empty. He then ensured the door lock was damaged, preventing any possibility of her becoming trapped.
His chest tightened as he looked down at her. He felt the demon within him shift, as if hoping he'd give in and just stay with her. Dark thoughts of stripping off her clothes and using her the way he wanted crept into his mind. Tyrell pushed away the temptation and dissolved into mist, streaking underneath the cell door and down the hall. Finding the ventilation system, he dove deep, descending until he reached the lowest floor level. He emerged to see several scientists scurrying around an enormous lab. They had obviously been alerted to the fact that their prize vampire was on the loose. He could read in their minds most were hoping he had simply fled. But other scientists had heard his vow to destroy the lab.
Tyrell wasted no time, streaming into the room and taking human form. The scientists felt the room temperature drop and to their dismay found Tyrell now towering over all of them. A few tried to shoot him with the formula but of course it had no effect. He acted so quickly, none knew he'd even slashed their throat until it was too late. Tyrell paused for only a few moments when he attempted to gain more information. Holding one of them in the air by his neck, Tyrell hissed. "Where is the scientist Derrick?"
The scientist only tried to shake his head as he gasped for air. A quick sweep of his mind told Tyrell the man knew nothing and he threw the scientist against a wall. The other men in the room also had no information as to where Derrick was secretly hiding.
When finished, Tyrell stepped over their lifeless bodies on the floor. He swept his hand violently across a table filled with lab equipment. Glass shattered everywhere, the sound echoing throughout the room. And Tyrell could not contain his anger as he came across a large, steel storage unit, its window showing cases of the formula. He smashed the glass with his bare hand, then began to destroy shelf after shelf of test tubes filled with the serum.
Tyrell then came across blood samples, most likely of both past victims or those psychics Morrison was still tracking for future capture. He carefully stored them within his cloak, vowing to hand them over to the Gregori for further investigation. And then there were other smaller storage units, storing new experiments from the blood of vampires and psychics. He snatched up an external hard drive, obviously used to back up their data on all of the experiments. Scanning the remainder of the room, Tyrell eyed the gas container used to light flames in cooking up their latest experiments. He opened the gas valve, and then stepped out of the room. Before closing the heavy steel door, Tyrell willed one of the overhanging lights to spark and the room exploded. The layers above Tyrell shifted and he transformed back into mist to race back to the upper level.
When he arrived at the cell where he left Arianna, Tyrell found the door wide open with no sign of her. The ground shaking beneath his feet, he turned to the secret exit and found it had been used. Relieved, Tyrell wasted no time in making his way to the surface. Just as he broke free, the earth collapsed, the laboratory now only a black crater in the earth.
But when he turned around, it was then he saw Arianna's blue eyes wide with terror…as Derrick held a syringe to her throat. Before he could even attempt to kill the man, Tyrell's heart stopped as the needle plunged into her neck and Arianna cried out in pain.
Author's note: Wasn't sure if people were still really reading this with so few reviews. I'll try to keep writing for those of you still following along! Thanks. -anne