Chapter 34 - Dead Heroes
The fiery inferno that lit up the small private black top runway was dying down. The black smoke climbed high into the night sky. The burnt shell of the jet was the only thing Mimi could see.
She couldn't sense anyone in the dying flames. No Red Blood could survive that. And any vampires would have jumped out by now. Rachel and Lee were long gone. That's what they got for playing with fire.
Sirens rang through the city. The Red Blooded officials would be here soon. Mimi reached out with her senses, trying to pick up any sign of Dan. She scanned her surroundings.
There. It was faint, but his scent was there.
He made it out. She wasn't going to celebrate too soon. She ran toward the smell, it had to have been his blood. On the other side of the plane, she followed a trail of his scent, his blood. The trail led her away from the plane, into some shrubbery and trees nearby.
A cough alerted her to her right side. Oh God.
There he was. Dan was sprawled out on the ground, reaching out for her. He was trying to speak, but there was no larynx left intact. The most frightening thing was for the damage done to his body, there wasn't a lot of blood. In fact, if it wasn't for his throat, you would think he only had a few cuts and gashes, nothing fatal. The Silver Bloods drank him dry. Full Consumption.
She dropped down, touched his cheek. "Shh."
He grabbed her hand and she held it back as tight as she could. What Dan couldn't say vocally, his eyes said it all. He was in terrible pain.
There was nothing she could do, not even to ease the pain. Nothing could reverse what the Silver Bloods had done. She felt helpless, so goddamn helpless.
Mimi held her breath, "I'm sorry."
With one last squeeze on her hand, Dan's hand fell limp. The energy in his body drained. His lifeless eyes stared up at the smoky sky. The thought of Dan dead actually created a shooting pain in her chest.
She was an Angel of Death. Death came naturally to her, she had seen enough of it in her many lifetimes. And here she was, feeling the full weight of his death. How, unusual.
She reached out and gently pushed his eyelids closed.
It had been so long since she had actually feared for her life-to feel like life was actually a precious, irreplaceable thing. And it had been awhile since she did any real fighting.
Dan didn't have to help, but he did. He wasn't even that close of a friend. But he fought with them anyways and died trying.
It was then she had a revelation, one that both angered and mortified her.
She felt...mortal.
What was I doing again? Schuyler opened her eyes. She was at the inn they stopped to rest, with Jack.
A touch on her skin woke her from her daze. It felt nice, it felt like feathers. Then, multiple more. It felt better than nice...
Jack lips traveled down her body, starting from her neck. He was now making his way past the valley between her breasts, past her belly button, venturing further towards his intended destination. His kisses felt as light as feathers, his touch sent chills down her spine. She held her breath when he nudged her legs open wider.
They were suppose to be sleeping. And the last thing she remembered was lying down on a creaky old bed in a dusty inn they found on a road less traveled. But who was she to argue if he was feeling frisky?
He teased her relentlessly, her body was no longer in her control. Schuyler wanted to look down, but she hesitated and couldn't bring herself to look. One thing she did allow herself was to entwine her fingers in his hair. She bit her lip and glanced at the ceiling. Another wave of pleasure rolled through her body and she groaned, which only made him apply more pressure.
His ministrations stopped abruptly and she could finally breathe.
"Look at me." His voice was husky.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Jack repeated himself in a firmer tone. She could hear a bit of teasing in his voice as well, as if he was taunting her with a "You know you want to."
Schuyler took in a quick breath, knowing that air was rare while in bed with her favorite vampire. As if she was about to jump out of a flying plane, she said a little prayer and turned her gaze down.
She was greeted with the intimate view of Jack between her thighs. He was smirking at her, which didn't surprise her. She felt heat rising in her cheeks. "You're so arrogant."
That got an eyebrow raise out of him, "With the sounds you were making, I should be no less."
And that got a real blush from her. Quickly recovering, she bit back. "Well, if your so inclined, do continue."
Jack chuckled, his breath teased her because he was so near. "Keep your eyes on me." He murmured, before busying himself with his original intentions.
Her eyes shot back down with a heated gaze that was mainly fueled by frustration. But that quickly melted away. He licked his lips, all modesty was thrown out the window. His eyes never left hers as he went back and licked at her deep and slow.
Schuyler fought to keep her eyes open and stay connected with his. She entwined her hands back into his hair, finding all this extremely erotic.
If that wasn't enough, all she could hear was her own erratic breaths. She realized she as wasn't comfortable in her skin as she thought.
"My, my. How naughty."
Schuyler froze, feeling like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on her.
"Please, don't let me stop you. I do love a good show." A female stepped out from the shadows of the small inn room. The red hair gave her away. Bliss.
There was something incredibly wrong with having one of your best friends ask to watch you and your boyfriend. Even if the best friend was now your enemy.
Bliss looked around the room, then she sauntered over to the window to gaze out of it. The surroundings including the inn room blurred. Then a light misty fog consumed the room. Schuyler couldn't even begin to comprehend what was going on.
Bliss whipped around. "Think you can hide from me? Or do you overestimate my generosity? I guess you do really want Oliver's death on your conscious."
If Bliss was trying to bait her, it worked. Schuyler shot up, trying to attack before Jack pulled her back. His arm held her in place.
What confused her even more was when Jack closed his eyes, as if he was concentrating hard on something.
"Schuyler, wake up." He ordered firmly.
She blinked. "...What?"
"Wake. Up."
Schuyler felt hands on her, shaking her.
"Schuyler. I'm here. It was a dream. You were dreaming."
She was? "Jack?" She found them sharing the queen size bed back in the inn, right where her dream left off. She shot up, "Bliss!"
"She's not here. It was a dream."
Schuyler looked around, then at Jack, feeling completely disoriented. "Okay, you're going to need to spell this out for me. Cause I'm feeling a little slow."
Jack frowned, concerned. He brushed his fingers along the side of her face, then combed it through her hair. He pushed her hair back, tucking it behind an ear. It was one of those intimate touches Schuyler noticed he picked up around her. "Bliss was trying to find out where we were."
So that was why Bliss was looking around the room and out the window in her dream. She was trying to find clues to their location.
They had arrived in a nearby town, deciding against rushing in unprepared. They weren't going to waltz right into a castle filled with Silver Bloods.
It was clear that Bliss was trying to wipe out all the Blue Bloods. Dan had told them about Blue Bloods disappearing back in the U.S. With Lawrence gone and Charles missing, no one had been successful in organizing members. When the disappearances started, it was every Blue Blood for themselves.
Bliss was giving Tony Soprano a run for his money. And that was truly disturbing. She had single handedly fashioned her own Silver Blood mafia.
So now Jack and her had a room in an ancient inn off some dirt road, biding their time. Every day that passes could be Oliver's last. That complicated things. And they were all out of ideas.
Bliss apparently was getting impatient as well, resorting to using incredibly difficult and powerful magic to intercept her dreams, even from her distance. Like they had before.
Schuyler had learned from the last time she was thrown into some messed up dream. She had practiced throwing up shield after mental shield to prevent it from happening again, like Lawrence had taught her.
But this was Bliss. And she was able to get past it, projecting herself into Schuyler's dreams, when Schuyler was most vulnerable. Feeling like a weak link, she figured Bliss wouldn't waste her energy trying to pry into Jack's dreams.
Speaking of, Jack was there too, warning her to wake up.
Schuyler quickly remembered and fiercely fought the blush rising in her cheeks. "She was just visiting...like you were?"
Jack fought the smirk on his lips.
He had the ability to hear her thoughts. Schuyler never imagined it worked with dreams as well. When awake, at least she was aware and could block him from hearing her every single thought. He must have been so overwhelmed these last couple weeks.
Jack shrugged, answering her thoughts. "There not really coherent, most dreams never are. I can ignore them easily enough. With the vivid ones, I have to focus harder on to block out."
"And you can...participate?" Schuyler prayed her cheeks weren't red.
This time Jack did smirk. "This one was especially vivid. I was rather intrigued, finding myself naked in bed with you. Though, you could have picked a better place." He looked around, wagging his eyebrows. "With your dreams, I can get an uninhibited opening, so I can project back. For the most part, it was me."
Schuyler felt relieved. Mainly because the other explanation would have been that Bliss had sent the dream, meaning the "dream Jack" was actually...Bliss. Schuyler would have seen psychiatrist after that.
Jack felt her tense up, mistaking it for feeling uncomfortable with what had happened in the dream. He pulled her back down, pressing his chest against her back, wrapping his arms around her. "Don't be ashamed. I would never force you into something you weren't comfortable with."
Schuyler twisted back, so she could see his face. "It's not that. I was just thinking how disturbing it would have been if Bliss had created the dream and sent it over."
Jack took a moment to think it through and the look on his face showed he came to same conclusion. "Indeed. That would have been very disturbing."
The silence that followed made them both crack up. It was real genuine laughter from them both in awhile. It was a crazy time.
When they quieted down up, she added. "And you know I trust you, I was just nervous. It was my dream after all." The smile she got from him gave her additional courage and grinned, "I'm up for round two anytime you'd like."
"Oh, I'm ready. The real question is, are you?"
Schuyler rolled her eyes and tried to pull out of his embrace. He held on, but she slipped out from under his arms. They ended up wrestling, both too proud to give up. She refused to let Jack get the upper hand.
When she managed to get on top of him, she ground her hips against his. He let out a hiss at the contact.
She took advantage of him being momentarily stunned and held him down. She willed all the strength she could into her arms and legs. Jack had years of strength on her, she wasn't going to underestimate him.
"Give up?" She gasped.
"For you, anything."
Happy with her small victory, she bent down and planted a kiss on him. She pulled away and laid back on her side. Sobering up, they knew would never fully enjoy anything while hiding here, knowing where their friend was.
"We need to get up early in the morning, figure out what we should do."
Jack nodded and opened up room for Schuyler to rest her head near his chest while hugging him. He relaxed his arm above her, settling into a more comfortable position.
"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye out if Bliss tries again. But it's unlikely, tricks like that take a lot of energy."
Jack already had the knack for reading thoughts and he was physically next to her. Bliss on the other hand, couldn't read thoughts. And for her to project over to Schuyler, from her distance, was definitely a feat. What had the Silver Bloods done to her?
The silence between them fell heavy. "Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared."
There was another pause.
"Me too."
"Agh!" Oliver willed himself to sit upright. If he was going to die, he'd do it with a bit of dignity. His body on the other hand, had other ideas. It felt like dead weight. His vision also began to blur. All of this combined for a sickening result.
His head swayed, as he fought for control. He looked down, his shirt was bloody and sweaty.
The main contributor of the blood was from his neck. But he didn't discount his busted lip and throbbing nose.
He felt a hand grab his hair from behind, jerking his head back.
"You reek of...fear" A dark haired Silver Blood male, looking around Oliver's age, whispered harshly.
The door to his cell opened, stopping his tormentor for the time being. Saved by the...two people he least wanted to see.
Dylan looked solemn, almost bored. He pushed the door further back and made way for Bliss.
She didn't enter the cell, instead she stood at the threshold. "How is our guest doing. I hope your comfortable." She didn't look amused.
"I'm fucking great." Oliver spoke huskily, his throat was still sore from being nearly strangled.
"Have you wondered why we haven't asked you any questions yet?" She queried, ignoring his act of defiance.
Oliver said nothing. He had wondered. They must have held him captive for two days now. And all they did was sick Silver Blood after Silver Blood in to feed on him. The disgusting part was when they fed on him, the pull of the act made him docile, like he wanted it. It happened to him with Schuyler.
They always watched how much blood was taken, making sure he'd recover in time for the next feeding. A couple of the more sadistic ones tormented him. But not a single one tried to get information from him.
"You're nothing but bait, I'm afraid." She sniffed, glancing around his cell. "But we have had so little guests as of late. Especially one as deliciously Red Blooded as you."
The dark haired Silver Blood snickered at her comment.
Oliver stared at his friend. She had on Bliss' face, but she was so very alien to him.
"Bliss." Oliver's voice strained. "If you can hear me, you have to fight it. You have the power, fight it."
Bliss looked annoyed, her upper lip curling. "You Red Bloods and your silly ideas of Hope."
With one last look over, Bliss turned and walked away, apparently having better things to do. She gave Dylan a single curt nod, beckoning him to follow. Without looking back, she disappeared down the corridor.
Dylan reach out and dragged a finger across Oliver's bloody shoulder. He pulled it up to his lips and licked it clean. His jaws clenched and it looked like he didn't enjoy it.
Good, I hope they all choke on my blood.
Dylan stepped back, pulling the door with him. Before closing it completely, he turned back. "Try to hold out as long as you can."
At first, Oliver thought Dylan was talking to him. Since he was looking directly at him, as preposterous as it sounded.
Dylan glanced over to the male Silver Blood. "He's the only one you'll get. I'd drag it out if I were you." Then he closed the heavy cell door, leaving Oliver to his hell.
tbc...