The Vampire Diaries
Chapter 14: Ibelis III: The Mark of a Sinner
I watched him slowly saunter down the ruined stair case, reminding me of a panther before the final pounce. His smug grin, his loose hands which dangled at his side, and the air of arrogance which suddenly filled the room. All of them were signs of warning, screaming out to be to stay on full alert, because nothing is more dangerous than a confident predator.
"Why are you here, Puppet Master?" I asked calmly however I couldn't hold back the hint of venom in my voice. The very presence of the Order's rent boy made me cringe. Yes, I knew of him and Von Kampfer—along with everyone else yet for some reason they continue to steal kisses in the shadows while ignorant of the light of truth shinning on them. And here this slut stood before me, gleaming with defeat and power over me when I knew of his dark little secret.
"You seem to be having a little difficulty, so I came to offer you back up. That is of course if you don't mind, Major Flamberg." Of course I mind! He only came here to just shove my failure in my face while trying to paint a fake story for the Order that he was the one who accomplished my mission and not me. It was only obvious that he only came down here to the depths of this rotten hell to steal my mission and my glory.
I would never let anyone have that.
He stopped and rummaged through his breast pocket before tossing me a plastic cd case. It flew right into my claw like hands.
"Take that." He said. "You might find it very helpful. These codes will let you control those toys in the sky." I grinned at his playful humor. Dietrich was always one to have a twisted mind; pretending death was only a game. He was nothing more than a little boy with the world on strings hence the name.
I looked up and at first thought he was going to touch his face till I soon remembered the purpose of those fluid motions he would make with his hands.
"Oh, yes. One more little thing." He snapped his fingers and immediately I felt an excruciating bend me back against my will. It felt like a hand was gripping my very beating heart and I could only scream for it to stop. Dietrich was deaf to my screams and merely continued talking casually above them.
"You failed to kill the Earl of Memphis because he was your friend, didn't you? You got sentimental and that made you sloppy." He made a sharp jester with his hands and that same force released my heart only to grab my neck. I clung to my neck, clawing at an imaginary hand which lifted me up above the ground, but my struggle was in vain. I could do nothing to help stop Dietrich unless he decided to stop.
Dietrich must have gotten bored of my constant gasping that he released his hold and threw me back against the dirt ground. A series of coughing and gasping for air flew out of my throat as I clasped for my long neck, making sure it wasn't damaged too bad.
"Damn you!" I hissed at him through eyes glazed in hate. I stood up, enraged at his conceited ambition to thinking that he can do that to me. He was no superior to me! Who does Dietrich think he is? "I'm so toy!!!" Swiftly, I lit both of my gaped hands with the flames that I summoned and used both to hurl a terrible wave of my inferno at him. But as soon the flames died, he was no where to be seen.
Shit.
"I rather like that little show of yours. What and intriguing ability. Of all the unique powers possessed by vampires, yours are especially impressive. A living flame thrower." I circled around; scanning the catacomb for his face but only his voice ringed my ears followed by a light snap of his fingers.
I was weak to his power and without warning my body froze, immobile to my command.
"And you were so eager to put that power to use, weren't you?" As his voice grew closer I knew he was right there behind me. His mortal heat warmed my back and I knew he was there grinning as always between his aristocratic voice. He than dropped me on the ground, leaving me drained of energy to get up. I was too slow to stop him from planting a hard foot on my head. All I wanted to do was tear him apart with my hands, enjoying the gushy texture of his insides squishing between my fingers like clay. But his sensuously voice distracted me from my fantasy.
"We did everything humanly and humanly possible to get assassins near the Imperial Embassy and Cardinal Sforza. But after our cover was blown by your crud attack we heard nothing from you. Assuming this wasn't a complete failure on your part, why didn't you activate the Ibelis when the assassination attempt went to pieces?"
"If we used the Ibelis, their deaths would have looked like accidents. It has to look like a vampire killed the Cardinal, and a human killed the Earl. Otherwise, the Empire and Vatican won't fight. And the Order's plan would have failed." I knew my explanation would sooth his doubts of me. By crafting a lie which I decided on the spot to turn the finger of blame from my love for Ion away, Dietrich had no excuse in killing me.
But it goes to show how little I knew of Dietrich.
"Aren't you exaggerating?" He sneered. "The critical thing is that the meeting of the Emissary and Cardinal would be vented. The Order will be very displeased with your failure." He grinded his shoe into my skull; planting it deeper into the earth.
"I haven't failed yet, Puppet Master!" I said through the crushing weight of his foot.
"Do you think you can clean up your mess? I still wonder if you're even capable of killing the Empress' envoy. If you had skipped the fancy pyro-techniques and done that in the first place, we could have counted on the fanatics and the Empire and Vatican to light the flames of war. But no, the Empress chose your childhood friend as her messenger and you just didn't have the guts to do it." I gritted my teeth, holding back the truth to come spilling out of my mouth. By concentrating on the pressuring pain on my head, I hoped it would distract me from thinking that everything he said was true. He, as always, got it on the mark.
I knew from the moment Ion came running into me with a prideful smile on his face, brought on by the new responsibility as messenger, that I wouldn't have the heart to carry out this mission. To kill this significant being that's shown me the bliss of life itself would only kill what little hope for life I had left. The destruction of Ion will lead to the destruction of the Baron, Radu.
But…isn't that what I want?
Haven't I been trying to forget the world and the world to forget me by melting into the shadows of the Order?
Such questions have always dawned on me but never their answers until now. Now I have to make up my mind! Ion's Radu or the Order's Flame Thrower! Which one? It was merely the choosing of a mask because neither is what I really am…isn't it?
"My personal history with Ion won't stop me from carrying out my mission!" Very good Radu. Keep feeding yourself those lies; try not to choke on them because only than will they find out. If you do it long enough it'll all eventually come true and you won't be Ion's brother anymore. That is what you want and that is where you'll stay: in the security of the Order.
"The fates can certainty play cruel tricks on us sometimes, can't they?" Even though any other member would take my words as truth, he would never believe them. Dietrich could only see the untainted truth of all things. That was why he was so dangerous to me. For some reason, while saying this he slowly took his foot away from my head and released me of his hold. "Very well, I'll trust you to take care of Ion, while my new toys take care of the Cardinal."
He walked away, allowing me to regain my stance and still not pose a threat from my flames which I was dying to use.
"I'm rather proud of my new Death Hunters. Each one contains a reanimated corpse, but not just any corpse. A vampire corpse. They have all the abilities of a vampire and they're all under my control."
"That's how you always like it." I said while trying to dust off the dirt on my clothes.
"What makes you say that with such irony?"
"Cause no matter what, Puppet Master." I turned towards him. "You're never the one in control." For a split second, I saw his devilish mask crash, allowing me to relish in my short victory. The truth hurts, that's why people lie.
It was as if the ground below my feet was pulled up, causing me to loose balance and fall flat on my back. With a loud groan I tensed my eyes, getting over the mild pain in my back till I felt a forceful foot stomp on my rib cage.
"You know you really have a loud ass mouth, Radu." He hissed as I tried poorly to shove his foot away but for some reason he subdued my strength to the level of a mere human. "And I know the vicious rumors that are whispered about me in the dark corners. Me sleeping my way up top from one bed to the next. However," He knelt down, trapping me between his legs as he pinned me to the floor. "You know all about that, don't you?" He smiled, his hand cupping my chin.
"Go to hell!" I spat at him, watching him flinch the moment my spit hit him square in the face. He grinned, embarrassed that he was too blind to not catch that but I knew following that smile would be the consequences to my mistake.
"Ahh!" I screamed as an unknown force popped my back up, arching my stomach while my hands and legs were tied to the ground as my back was bending in the opposite direction.
"Oh, come on, Radu. We all know you can bend better than that." The pain and force intensified as he continued chuckling to himself and circling around me. "After all, didn't you gain enough practice after all those Imperial Dukes that fucked you?" He snapped his fingers again, not pulling my arms and legs almost at the point where my joints would dislocate.
"I mean that was your way of becoming Baron, isn't it?" I could only answer him with my screams of agony. "May I ask you a personal question?" He leaned back against the stone table, picking up the cup from which I drank from and examining it. "Has Ion ever made a move on you or did you guys just one day had enough and—''
"Fuck you!" I sneered. "Just because you're the Order's whore don't think you can slander me!" And than it all stopped. The pain, the torture and agony all washed away and I soon realized that he had let me go. I brought my hands to my face, second checking that I was the one in control and that this wasn't some cruel tease. After looking over at him, now sitting up he had his back turned to me; too ashamed to look at my face.
"…Get out of here, Radu." For some reason, whether it was a sudden wash of sympathy or fear of what he'll do next, I stumbled to my feet and without any hesitation jogged up the stairs only to leave him to his own isolation.
Strangely, even without the sight of his face I could tell what it looked like through the sound of his voice. He was not smiling anymore.
I emerged out of that depressing tomb which seemed like I had been trapped in forever. Getting out in the clean air and taking in beauty of the moon, my true mother was refreshing as a glass of water after being parched for so long. But my relaxing moment of silence was crashed by the explosions of the city down below this hilly graveyard of death which I stood upon. My eyes caught clear sight of the Vatican's War Air Ships, circling the city while randomly selecting buildings to fire upon regardless of the innocent lives it took. I can already hear the cries of the city, screaming for God to help them as they flee. I frowned, knowing full well Ion was probably among those masses.
It's among those masses that I must find him to kill him.
As I raced down the rolling hills, melting into the air itself as I blew into the city, my mind raced to find a memory of Ion's face.
I thought I heard laughter from behind the columns. A sinister crowd of laughter, the type which everyone used but never wanted to be the purpose of it. I peered around that column, peeking into the scene which laid before me.
A group of older vampires, all full grown and leering over a small figure laughed and jostled at one another while calling the frail creature a series of degrading names. This small figure, with blonde hair that only mortal toddlers were known to carry and a face of an innocent, glared at them through glazed eyes. He gritted his fangs and snapped back at them.
"You're nothing without your weapons!!" He screamed. "If you hadn't relied on the protection of your swords and shields I would have already been drenched in your blood."
"Shut the fuck up, punk!" One yelled.
"The only way you're still alive is because of your grandma! Why if you were just rouge, I would plucked out those red eyes of yours."
"Grandma's boy! Why don't you run home to your mommy?! Oh, that's right. Isn't she dead?!"
"She probably killed herself after seeing what came out of her." Another nudged his best friend. Ion sat up straighter, his face torn with anger and shock but no words came out of his mouth. He chocked on them and soon enough he gave up in the argument all together. I can't remember how hard I clawed at that column, pretending it was their necks which I scared and scratched at. But my eyes never left the little boy who was now hurt and broken beyond belief.
He shook his head, trying to shake out the lies which they strained his heart with before bolting out of the courtyard, followed by their never ending insults.
"Ion!" I called, stepping out of the shadow of the column but he never stopped, by the time he cleared the hallway and left the gardens I could already hear his sobs. They were still laughing, gasping for air by the time I turned toward them and continued to do so until one of them looked up at me.
"What do you want, pretty boy?!" The leader snarled at me.
"An apology," I grinned meekly and they once again bellowed in laughter. "And your life—''
It was a mean thing to do I know. They didn't even have time to notice I was hurling at them a blue wave of fire till they were washed with its blistering stings. Their carcasses turned to ash instantly under the overwhelming power of my fire and within the moment of a breath, all that stood in the garden was me and piles of dust.
"Pathetic swine." Is what I called them before turning back as if their whole existence meant nothing but the breeze of an old wind that passed.
I found him crouched under a menacing and grand statue of a lion within a vacant foyer found all around the palace. For some reason this one was empty for our own comfort. He immediately stopped crying the moment he heard my light footsteps patter against the cool marble floor, wiping his face frantically from his shame.
Yet after all the wiping and dapping of his eyes, Ion still cried, not wanting to get up and be strong. He had given up on that a long time ago. No words could be exchanged in order to help smother that terrible incident or make the boy forget how weak and frail he was against his own wishes.
I knelt down to him, still unnoticed by his droning sobs which drowned me out into the world which he now loathed. His breathing grew hysterical as one would when crying their pain out. Every now and than, Ion would choke on his own sobs before moaning again. It just reminds me on how young he really was, for a vampire and for a human.
Without even reaching out he feel into the serenity of my arms and I found sanctuary in the untainted smell of his hair and the miserable but frail sounds of his falling tears. I bent down to his ear, pressing his trembling body to mine and I nearly swooned at his desperation for me. No one ever wanted me this badly. I can't remember the time I was needed the most till now. I did an evil thing that day, one that would eventually become the downfall of both me and him.
I smiled into his neck and promised to myself that I would never let him cry like this. I would be his shield and sword against not only the evil of the world but of the world itself all for the price of being needed by him.
"Hide all those feelings,
So no one knows.
Planting the seed,
From all
Hate grows.
Now give,
Your heart,
To me—
Give your
Heart to mee."
We lay there quietly, under the shadow of the statue and in the safe haven of each other's presence as I sung him a familiar lullaby. One that would eventually be a song that I would sing to him many times before on lonely and cold nights.
That was years ago, when he was so young to the world even for a human's standards. But I can tell his heart still hums that same song even now after I had betrayed him.
What else could he do to remember him the safety and security I had given him?
The few Vatican guards which helped run the Goliath were no match to my vampire strength and power. Within the last minuets of their lives, their blood stained the machines which they controlled leaving me still clean and unstained by their blood—at least on the outside.
I found the main computer database, the same one which would harbor Dietrich's codes and allow me complete control of the Goliath.
The machine was simple enough for a mere vampire to manipulate to his will without the proper training which these slain mortals endured for a few years or months.
The city was in dead silence long after I drove the tank down the empty and dead streets. But I wasn't looking for the random face of a mortal or vampire, I was searching for his.
It wasn't long till I heard the scream of a racing car that I stopped moving the tank and allowed it to sit and wait till its prey would emerge from the rubble. I had first believed that the car would come racing out from ahead of me but the machine caught me by surprised, swerving in front of me and later screeching to a long and dragging stop. The sound of the engine's whine pained my sensitive ears.
Peering through the window of the car I instantly remembered that new born blonde hair of his. One by one, all of them—even that silver haired father—appeared from out of the car doors. He stepped out of the car, trying to pick out the figure of the tank through the settling dust.
I had wished for the dust to hide me forever from his eyes. I even cowered a little backwards, hoping that a little more would cloth me forever from him. Shame and guilt was rising from my stomach to my throat the moment he caught my cold hard face. Please don't call me, Ion. Run away and forget me and our memories. They are now dead as this city.
"Radu!" He, as always went against my wishes in order to do what I really wanted. Ion came running towards me, calling out to a friend who will never come again to aid. I'm sorry Ion, but your arch angel is dead.
"Why! Why are you doing this?! We were friends." I had thought I explained myself clearly before in our last encounter, ending with my last smile.
"I'll never accept negations with the humans." I had no idea that I would lie this much in one night. It had seemed from morning till dusk I had been forced into wearing a mask, bound by chains which I can never get rid of except by his death. "Ion your death must appear to be caused by human hands. The sacrifice of your life to enflamed the hatred between our races." I purposely left out the real truth of his much needed death: to free myself from him.
"Wait! You mean—you are one of the extremists!?" He gasped. If it's a name that I must label myself for him to hate me, so be it.
"Yes, I'm afraid I am, my partner." I hid my eyes from his. The very sight of them would stop my hand from reaching for the lever to activate the tank's guns. If I keep him blind from my eye, I will keep him blind from my heart. Within the final moments of his life I thought of giving us a both a moment of relief. Why not crack the mask again, Radu? Let him die knowing that his memories were done in hopeless.
"I'm sorry; I had hoped that it wouldn't have to be the one to do this." A hail of bullets closed my last prayer, hoping each silver round would send him up to heaven faster so that I could forget him. But when I opened them I saw that damned Vatican priest blocking his small form with his own. He was acting like his shield, a role which I should now be doing.
I stopped the firing guns and scanned for the lever which triggered the missiles.
"LOOK OUT!" I heard a frightened mortal scream before I closed my eyes again from the truth and did not open them till the last cry of the missiles was sounded and the rumbling ceased. I didn't open them till I heard the screaming of that same fierce nurse echo through my head.
He lay within a pool of his own blood, motionless and dead to my eyes. I was so overcome with grief that not even the relief of a single tear dripped from my cheek. I had finally found myself free but…I never expected it to feel this horrible. Is this what freedom really feels like?
"Forgive me, Partner." Do it. "My dearest Ion." Finish it if not for the sake of your life, for the sake of your freedom. "I'm so sorry." Free yourself from his chains, the same which has kept you bound for so long. "DIE!"
"WHAT?!" I gasped. An explosion of blue brilliant light lit up the night sky. Its power was so overwhelming that it seemed the air itself cowered beneath its menacing aura. For some reason a feeling of pure fear and panic washed over me.
Standing alone in the desolate plain before my menacing army tank was a figure of great black wings and wore a wicked expression. This creature was neither human nor a vampire. His skin was a moonlight glaze and piercing red eyes that contrasted his marble like skin. His silver hair flew in the wind while the air around us seemed to be sucking towards the very location of this sadistic thing.
I stared in horror, almost shaking uncontrollably as I watched him take in Ion's blood which swirled around him before pouring into his wicked bat-like wings.
"My God," I whispered to myself. "What's happening?! It can't be! He's—he's drinking the blood of a vampire!" Wha—what is he?" That same creature who had caused such a tremor all over my body stared up upon me, licking his lips and sizing me up with a hungry stare. I slightly backed away from the platform in order to move away from his eyes but I than remembered where I was.
The controls were before me, all under my command! It only needed the touch of a button to end the life of this monster and my fear. I fired an entire round, each thousand bullets aiming at his location. No creature would be able to dodge this sea of bullets however; to my dismay I found standing there, grinning as if nothing happened to him.
"What is he?" I whispered to myself.
"You are food, nourishment…I will hunt you down and then I'll devour you." He cooked his head to the side, licking his lips again as if my blood was the only thing revolving around in his mind. I could feel a slight pull emanating from him, trying to seduce me to near closer for his fangs to sink into my neck. This method was a vampire method but I found sinister things lying within that smile of his.
"This can't be real…" I found myself whispering frantically to myself like a mad man. "What is he doing?! What kind of thing is he?!" He continued to slurp the blood of Ion, his face grinning more after each gulp.
Blue electricity linked his wings together and the lightening grew in intensity with each increasing draught of blood till the rays of blue reached towards the sky. My blue eyes followed the rays, watching helplessly as the air crafts from above crash into one another against my will.
"No! It's impossible!" I looked down at the place where he once stood but did no find him there. Where could he have gone?! Did he run away like a coward or is he right behind me now?! The thought of him breathing down my neck pricked the hairs on my arms to stand up. My breathing grew heavy and quick till I had enough of this panic and shouted towards the sky.
"Where are you, coward!!!" As my eyes scanned the burning scene recklessly, my heart raced to beat out of its ribbed cage, and my stomach was crawling up through my throat. I began flinching at every ember, thinking that it was him who was flickering at the corner of my eye. Never had I been this scared, it was as if I was powerless to this creature. After living three lives of immorality, the word powerless was not known to my vocabulary…until now.
A familiar melody began to sing to me in the quiet roar of the distant fires, something that somewhat soothed my mind into thinking of peaceful days.
Hide all those feelings, so no one knows,
A thick black cloud was slowly dissolving from the crashing air crafts revealing a wicked flash of black wings and silver hair.
Planting the seed, from which all, hate grows,
Those deadly eyes turned towards me, staring only at me and the blood coursing through my veins. My shaking hands flew towards the lever, hoping that the last ammo of this tank would finish him off for my sake.
Want to cry cause you're feeling awfully sad
"Found you!" I hissed, pulling the lever and hearing the many series of bombs and bullets fly by my ears and crashing past the speeding creature that was speeding towards me.
But with no heart, you feel awfully mad,
All I could concentrate was the leering scythe which hung over my head right before it took the final plunge. It seemed like that blade hung above me for eternity till it came crashing down upon the base of the tank, filling my whole world in a brilliant blue of electricity.
The blistering sting of the electricity ran in and out of my body, like an invading force which I had no control over. The many rays of lightening wrapped around my body, entrapping me in a cage of blue light. And as I screamed in pain with the last bit of my voice left, all I could hear was that song which forever haunted me till the very last moment of these eyes.
I guess I'll never be free.
So give your heart to me—
Give your heart to me.
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The song which influenced this story out of me is called "The Witch" by The Never. It's a short whimsical song with a sinister tone to it. I recommend you should listen to it on That's where I get all my music.
I thought of going with Ion's POV but decided on Radu since Ion will be featured in the next chapter which I will hopefully write up before leaving for Winter Vacation.
Review!