Warnings: Contains themes of violence, torture and horror.
AN: Happy Easter everyone :) xxXxx Thank you for all the interest and questions in the comments! I'm working in suggestions and answers as I go along so drop a review or get in touch on Twitter with any thoughts :) Thank you to Southsidesister (darvey_love) for teaching me rocket science, and Beth (NAhavenbb) for helping me unwind all the never-ending plot holes.
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Index of Terms
The Order: A vampire organisation made up of eight councils located in Phoenix, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, LA, Austin, Miami and New York. The Order acts as a government to vampires and maintains the secrecy of their race from humans.
Consentuals: Humans contracted by The Order for vampires to feed on.
Initiation: The process of officially swearing a human into The Order so they can gain full access to information and records.
Debriefing: The process of wiping a human memory.
Chapter 3: Bloodkeeper Pt1
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"What the hell are those things!?" Mike's eyes widen in disbelief as Harvey growls at the two vicious creatures. Not the low warning sound Harvey makes when he's angry, but a noise that's animalistic and filled with rage.
Terrified, but also concerned for the man, Mike takes a hesitant step forward.
"I said 'stay behind me'!" Harvey barks, flashing his fangs and showing no remorse when upper canines startle Mike into staggering back.
Donna catches Mike's arm, swallowing her own fear to hold him steady.
He takes a deep, shuddering breath, not sure what else to do except make fun of the situation with a hard laugh. "This is a joke. This has to be a joke, right?"
Harvey snarls over his shoulder. "Die and I'm firing you."
"This is real." Donna's fingers tremble as they close around Mike's wrist to keep him still. "Those things do want to kill us, and Harvey will fire you."
Her nails bite into his skin, almost drawing blood, and he feels light-headed, dizzy and in shock—when the glass window suddenly shatters.
Harvey lunges forward and Donna wrenches him behind the desk, a thousand explanations racing through his mind to determine what's happening. Things like a gang related attack or a government conspiracy. But he can't deny what he's seeing. Harvey looks like a goddamn vampire, and he flinches when the man shouts out a fast warning.
"Donna!"
One of the ferals escapes his grasp, rushing towards her and Mike with wild eyes, and she palms the underside of Harvey's desk, using all her strength to flip it over. The creature smashes through the obstacle, and she backs against the display unit, covering her face to protect herself from the animal's sharp talons. But the blow doesn't come. Instead, the animal drops with an abrupt whimper, and she stares in shock at the splintered instrument Mike used to whack the feral over the head with.
His body tingles with adrenaline, his heart hammering in his chest as he wheezes, "Harvey's going to make me pay for that, isn't he?"
The creature starts to pick itself up, and she grabs Mike's sleeve, pulling him away from the feral before it retaliates.
Mike chases after her, stopping when Harvey snaps the neck of the second animal, the—whatever it is, bursting into a cloud of ash. Harvey turns, his face contorted with fury, and he knows to get out of the way, slamming into another body—Jessica. Her features are twisted like Harvey's, her hands shoving him hard over the shards of glass.
Donna grips his arm again with a harsh pinch. "We need to go, now!"
As the only one of his colleagues who still seems human, he follows her lead, sprinting towards the elevators. But his vision is hindered by the darkness, and when another whoosh of something flies past him, he hits the nearest wall, dazed as he picks himself up. "Donna?" He glances around, panicked when all he sees is an empty corridor as the fire escape slams shut up ahead. She couldn't have gotten that far in just a few seconds, and even if she could, she wouldn't just leave him. The lights flicker back on, and he shields his gaze from the sudden brightness, tripping over wobbly steps as he finds his way to the stairwell. He uses all his strength to push open the heavy door, calling out again, but the only answer he receives is her name echoing off the walls. There's no sign of her, leading him to stagger backwards, wincing as he palms his bloodied temple. This all has to be a dream, a gas leak or something. The mantra plays on a loop as he struggles back to Harvey's office, relieved to find them alone with normal faces again. But the room is still a shambles, dust and glass everywhere, and he opens his mouth to say something, choking on any rational explanation.
With the threat neutralized, Harvey glances up, collecting himself as he narrows his gaze at the lone individual standing in his doorway. "Where's Donna?"
"I…" Mike stutters, not sure what or who to trust. But Harvey doesn't coddle him. The man stares expectantly, waiting for an answer, and the reaction couldn't be more Harvey, leading him to find his voice. "I think... someone took her."
"Har—" Jessica doesn't get his name out. He's gone in a flash, leaving his wide-eyed protégé staring at her and goddamnit. This is exactly the kind of situation she was hoping to avoid by keeping Mike in the dark. "Are you hurt?" Mike shakes his head, blood trickling down the right side of his temple, and she tries again. "Did you get bitten?"
"No… I… uh—" he stumbles over himself, flinching when she places her bleeding thumb over the side of his face. Within an instant the sharp pain evaporates, and he's able to stand a little straighter. He glances around, feeling better but not ruling out a concussion or hallucinogens as the source of his confusion. "Are we all tripping on something right now?"
"So Harvey didn't tell you?" She raises an eyebrow, kicking her heels through the glass to clear a pathway to the door, wary there could still be danger lurking in the shadows.
"That he's a...vampire?" He expects her to look shocked at the word, confirm he's delusional, but she just gives a sharp nod, and he exhales a fast breath. "I guess that must have slipped his mind."
She folds her arms, searching for movement, not sure whether to be unnerved or eased by the silence. "For what it's worth, it was better that you didn't know."
He grapples with the fact that, if what she's saying is true, Harvey's been keeping a secret identity hidden from him for years. Four… to be exact. And—shit—Vampires.
Vampires are real.
What the fuck!?
A fast wind blows back into the room, and Mike steadies himself against the nearest piece of furniture as Harvey tears a hand up through his hair.
"There's no sign of her." Panic rages through his veins as he treads a small circle, fixing Mike with a hard glare. "What the hell happened!?"
Mike shakes his head, attempting to describe the push he felt. "Something knocked into me, like you just did." He waves his hand, assuming whoever slammed him into the wall could do the same super-speed thing as Harvey and Jessica."Then she was… gone." Harvey lets out a low growl, and guilt twinges up his spine. "I'm sorry, I didn't… I couldn't—"
"We'll find her." Jessica cuts Mike off, trying to calm both men down. She knows how much Donna means to all of them and places her hand against Harvey's trembling shoulder, wincing when he wrenches away from her.
"We weren't the target, Donna was." He's sure of the fact, his face turning grey as her last words play through his memory, instilling a sense of dread. "She had a nightmare, Jessica. She asked me who Darius was."
Her heel wobbles as she takes a step back, her chest tightening at the implication Harvey's making—that Darius might somehow be involved. It's impossible. They dismembered his body and imprisoned the pieces. Darius is gone, but Harvey remains fixed on the belief their Maker may have somehow reanimated.
"Donna said his name right before the ferals attacked." He directs his fear toward Jessica. "Tell me that's a coincidence?"
His frustration is palpable, and he's right—the timing is worrying. But even if what he's suggesting is somehow possible, there's no way Donna could have foreseen Darius returning.
"She does that a lot though, right?" Mike squeaks his opinion, not deterred by the two glares that shoot his way. His whole freaking perception of the world just got completely blown up and shattered. If he wants to say something, he will, and is even more determined to voice his thoughts if they can help Donna. "She knows stuff. Seriously, when is she ever wrong?"
Harvey slides his gaze back to Jessica, pleading with her not to discount anything that might help them find her.
Jessica tenses, unnerved by the point Mike has and the very slight possibility Donna may be suppressing a latent power. She only came back because interrogating links to The Order turned nothing up. If Darius is here and Donna sensed him, the situation is far more dire than a member of the council betraying them. "Harvey." Her expression turns solemn. "If Darius has her—"
"I know." He feels sick to his stomach just thinking about the consequences. Darius is a sadist. He'll torture Donna and thrive on her suffering regardless of the reason he took her, but finding out why he kidnapped her is their best shot at getting her back. "The Order will have all her records in their archive. If her nightmare was real, there could be something there to explain how she was able to connect with him."
"I can help." Mike interrupts again, not exactly sure what he's signing himself up for, but he's twice as fast at researching than the both of them put together. "Photographic memory," he reminds them, tapping his temple.
Harvey nods at the suggestion, but Jessica shuts it down. "You're staying here," she asserts, crossing her arms. Not only is involving Mike too dangerous, The Order has strict rules in place about granting human's who haven't been initiated access to their records.
"Jessica." Harvey's eyes darken, her name a low growl in the back of his throat.
"You know the punishment if you get caught—"
"And I don't give a shit! This is Donna we're talking about." He stands his ground with no intention of backing down. He chose not to tell Mike the truth because he wanted to keep the man safe, but with Donna's life at stake, he's not about to turn away Mike's help. "We don't have time to go through the proper channels. Let The Order know what's happening and keep them distracted. We're going."
She snatches his arm, surprised to see his resolve weaken with a flash of hesitation. She's only seen him break once—the night he came to her door with a baby in his arms, vowing to free himself from Darius' influence. But his reaction isn't about Darius, it's about Donna. There isn't any punishment he wouldn't suffer to protect her, and when his expression hardens again, she lets him go with a heavy sigh. "Do not get caught."
Harvey breaks away from her, and Mike takes Jessica's warning as his cue to follow, hurrying after Harvey's fast strides. He's unnerved by the threat of being punished, but Donna being in trouble spurs his mind away from the consequences. He's better off making sure Harvey has a clear head—their best chance at breaking in somewhere undetected. From previous experience, he knows not to dive straight in, so he uses sarcasm as a subtle deflection. "So… Vampire, huh? Didn't think to mention that?"
They reach the elevators, and Harvey slams the button, responding with the same dry tone. "Figured you were smart enough to catch on. Guess I was wrong."
The doors slide open, and Mike hits the lower level to the lobby as Harvey retreats into the corner. He has two options; keep his mouth shut or engage the man, but vampire or not, he trusts his instincts "Four years. You expect me not to be mad about that?"
Harvey glares at the question, finding it trivial in light of their current situation. He doesn't regret keeping Mike in the dark, especially after tonight, but the kid is putting himself at risk with hardly any information, just like Donna would, and he unclenches his fists, taking a deep breath. "Sometimes you have to hide the truth in order to protect people. You should know that better than anyone."
Mike shakes his head. The excuse might be valid, but he can't help thinking back to all the times he showed up at Harvey's apartment and had the door slammed in his face. In hindsight, given how rarely Harvey talks about his personal life, Harvey being a vampire actually makes more sense. And he may be a little hurt, but if he's completely honest, he was ready to forgive Harvey the moment the man risked his life fighting those two creatures back in his office. He can come to terms with all the secrecy, but he doesn't understand how he's managed to live in a world completely ignorant of vampires, and in an effort to keep Harvey talking, he voices his curiosity. "What about the internet, social media? You can't tell me you've never been exposed?"
Harvey palms the railing, his fingers clutching the metal as he tries to focus. All the answers Mike needs are in the archives, but they have to get there first, and rather than letting his panic spiral out of control, he attempts to fill in the gaps. "The Order keeps any incidents out of the public eye, and people see what they want to; a conspiracy, a hoax, the truth… Everything is relative."
"So. they're like the CIA except more badass?" Mike scoffs, feeling some of the tension start to break when Harvey snorts at the comparison. He may not be immortal, but his special power is getting Harvey to open up, and he scrutinizes the man from top to bottom, trying to wrap his head around what he knows about physics. "So, super-powers, huh? That's pretty cool. What about—"
"Say the word bat and I'm leaving you here."
Mike slaps his mouth shut, and Harvey rolls his eyes. "Anything else?"
He only has about another thousand questions. Luckily, they're drawing Harvey's mind away from Donna, and he's grateful for the fact. He's worried about her, too. But wherever she is, and whatever she's going through, he knows she'll fight like hell against this Darius guy. She's strong, and if Harvey can keep his head in the game, they'll find her. He just hopes they figure out where she is sooner rather than later.
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Donna glares defiantly across the extravagant banquet meal her kidnapper set out, her jaw wound tightly shut. She recognizes the sole occupant at the head of the table from her dream, but she isn't going to give anything away until she knows more, even when he taunts her with a smirk.
"So… You're Harvey's new pet?" Darius tilts his gaze quizzically. "I knew he was turning soft towards humans, but he seemed awfully worried about you the other night. I imagine he must be quite beside himself." He watches a fire flare up in her gaze behind her silence, and he pushes for a response. "Assuming, of course, my pets didn't rip out his jugular."
"He's not that easy to kill," she snaps, clenching her mouth shut again when he laughs.
"I should hope not," he quips, enjoying the banter that's stretching out across the table. It's been far too long since he's had a toy to play with as his plans have been paramount to anonymity. He couldn't risk being exposed, but that changed the moment his feral drew her blood. He sensed her power, could smell it tingling in the air—a gift superseding his own—her potential far more destructive than his children's parlour tricks.
As much as he wants to feast on revenge, watch Harvey suffer in unimaginable ways, he has a different agenda tonight, and he pushes aside his goblet of fresh blood. "For the moment, I'm far more interested in learning about you, my dear."
He stands, towing over the table of food she hasn't touched, and she feels sick to her stomach as he inches closer. She saw him being torn apart limb by limb in her nightmare. All her instincts are telling her he shouldn't be here in front of her. But that would mean she wasn't just dreaming—what she saw was real, and she forces herself not to flinch away from the possibility. "What do you want?"
He slants against the wooden edge, her confusion confirming his suspicion. She knows nothing about the real reason he sought her out, but enlightening her will help his cause, and he leans over, his voice lowering into a deep growl. "You saw what happened. Killing me would have been a mercy. But you were there… Tell me, how do you perceive the betrayal I suffered?"
She shrinks away from him, his harrowing cry echoing in her consciousness, But whether his death was justified or not, she doubts she was brought here just to weigh in with her opinion. "You showed me what happened. Why?
He dips his head with a cold scoff. If he possessed her powers, he would have succeeded in his goals long before his downfall. But he's humbled by her assumption he did all the work and motions at her, condoning her ignorance. "I did nothing of the sort. All I did was open the doorway. You, my dear, came looking for me."
"What does that mean?" she barks angrily, tired of trying to decipher riddles.
He smirks, lifting his gaze away from her. `For centuries, he's questioned the existence of the Bloodkeeper himself. Rumours of a mortal who possessed the memories of vampires started to circle when he was just a prince, a mere hundred years old. Back then, he had been ambivalent. As the first son and Second Vampire, what use did he have for his children's memories? The whispers grew quiet over the centuries until they vanished completely, and he thought no more of them until the First Vampire, his Maker and Queen, was taken by a group of barbaric humans. He sought the truth about the Bloodkeeper to aid in finding his beloved, but the stories that had been passed down were nothing more than fragmented myths. He gave up his search, mourning the loss of his Maker and pledging to rule a new kingdom that enslaved all humans in her name.
Then the court he trusted the most betrayed him.
The night before last, he sought revenge on his finest soldier, risking exposure to gather intel when his pet drew her blood instead. He sensed the power flowing through it, could see flashes of his memories spiralling through his mind's eye, and he knew his search hadn't been in vain.
If The Bloodkeeper's lineage is as old as his own, then his blood is the key to unlocking her abilities. What's more, the irony that she's been under Harvey's protection makes his victory even richer. "You've been hiding a secret, Bloodkeeper. All this time, Harvey should have been afraid of your powers. But of course, being a lesser-vampire, he has no idea what you're capable of, does he?"
"I'm human, asshole," she grunts under her breath, having no clue what he's talking about. She would know if she had superpowers and squares her shoulders. "Sorry to disappoint you."
He grins at her insolence. "Flesh and bone perhaps. Certainly frail." By definition, her body is human, mortal, but the information secreted away in her mind is worth more than an army of vampires. "But the Bloodkeeper is merely a vessel." He sweeps her hair back, feeling her shudder beneath his touch, increasing his amusement. "The secrets you keep are all in here, my dear." He taps her temple, intrigued when she slaps his hand down. He can tell by the show of stubbornness that she's curious, and he tries to coax her into trusting her instincts. "How many times has Harvey healed you? Half a dozen, maybe more? You see snippets, fragments, but nothing like the vision you experienced last night. Tell me I'm wrong."
She flinches, her pulse racing faster as he remains calm beside her. It's not strange for her to dream about vampires. All the things she's seen, it's natural her mind would try to process the information. But she can't tell him he's wrong. When she saw his death, the nightmare felt different to anything else she's dreamed about in the past, and she tears her gaze away from him.
"Perhaps you aren't aware, Bloodkeeper, but I'm the King of my brethren. My children's gifts pale in comparison to what I'm capable of. Image the doors a mere drop of my blood could open for you."
"You want to bleed so badly, then bleed." With a rush of adrenaline, she grabs the knife on the table, plunging it through his hand. She turns to run, but before she can blink, his cold laughter blocks her exit, forcing her back into the chair.
"I can see why Harvey's so fond of you." He pulls the knife out, healing instantly, and letting the object clatter on the table. She's braver than he expected for a human in their current century. Eons before her time, he witnessed men twice her size cower before him, yet she fights like she has double their strength. She would be a ruthless warrior, if not for the compassion he can smell leaching off of her. But no matter. When she grants him access to the memory he's seeking, he has a different purpose he wishes her to fulfill. "It's almost a shame I have to send you back."
Hope flares inside her, but she knows better than to trust him. She was kidnapped and is being held against her will, and she leers up warily at him. "You're letting me go?"
"Indeed. I have a message I'd like you to deliver personally to Harvey." He throws his gaze over her shoulder with a nod. "But first, I require something from you in exchange for my generous hospitality."
"Miss Paulsen, what a divine pleasure it is to see you again." Adias steps out from the shadows, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he snaps a zip tie around her wrist, locking it to the chair. He's always despised humans, abhorred the belief they should be initiated into The Order. He fought bitterly against Harvey and Jessica's appeal only to wind up out-voted. But with Darius' resurrection already underway, he played the council for fools, doing their bidding until his real Master was strong enough to regain control.
With a bemused gleam in his eye, he yanks the second band in place, taking pleasure in taunting her. "Comfy?"
"Go to hell," she growls, clenching her jaw through the biting pain. "I'm not going to help either of you—"
Adias slaps her hard, shrinking back as Darius looms over both of them.
"Come, now. There's no need for violence." He admonishes the councilman's behavior, picking a golden goblet off the table. "The Bloodkeeper is our guest, and she is to be treated as such."
His words are calm, but his gaze washes over her with malicious intent, and she yanks the binds holding her in place as he reveals his fangs, slicing deeply into his palm and squeezing the flow of blood over the chalice.
She thrashes harder to no avail, panicking when Adias covers her nose—forcing her to hold her breath until she can't any longer. The chalice is thrust to her lips, and she gasps for air, recoiling at the taste of Darius' blood spilling down the back of her throat. She tries to splutter it out, but Adias' hand slams over her mouth, right before a violent fire erupts in her veins—streaks of lights permeating her vision.
She fights as hard as she can against the tendrils of darkness spreading through the vivid colors, screaming as Darius probes her mind and not sure if the sound travels further than her thoughts. But there's nowhere to hide. Darius is everywhere, hammering through the weak walls she tries to throw up, until the pain is abruptly halted by the blurry vision of a cavern.
She squints through the veil, no longer in control of her body, like she's seeing the place through someone else's eyes. All she can do is follow the host who stands before a white oak tree, its branches oozing with blood. She's overcome by a wave of grief, a deep sadness that rattles through her. The tree is a tomb, the blood seeping out from it belongs to the First Vampire, and she feels the loss her host is feeling as if it were her own mother trapped inside the twisted bark. The owner of the memory collapses to their knees, and Donna's lungs struggle to draw in air as the vision is violently ripped from her grasp. Reality cements around her, Darius' cold smile coming in view as he trails his hand along her forearm.
"Thank you, Bloodkeeper," he pants, exhausted by the journey through her mind. But he found what he's been seeking for centuries; the location of his Queen. His fingers withdraw to the knife on the table, and he picks up the object, glinting its blade in the light.
She mumbles weakly as he slices the ties, her body too drained to support her weight, and she slumps forward, hearing him say something about a message. But his voice slips away from her, and she succumbs to the darkness, praying she'll find Harvey on the other side.
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