Chapter 8
With a jerk and a loud creak, the door started opening; the sun- shaped knob in the middle of the large stone door had been an ancient combination lock. I stepped through the door, instantly throwing my hands up to shield my eyes from the dazzling silver light at the end of the chamber. My feet seemed to go numb, and yet I floated steadily toward the light, apprehension hanging around my neck like a bag of rocks, and yet a small prick of desire started to blossom in my chest.
A quiet, slow chanting started in the back of my head as I neared the light, which seemed to be coming from a small ornately carved chest on an intricately designed wooden table. The desire of curiosity started to overwhelm me. The chanting consistently grew louder until it seemed like the voices were screeching in my head. I was standing right in front of the chest. Desire swamped my body, but somewhere in the back of the screeching that was in my head I heard a small voice cautioning me not to do whatever it was I was about to do. My hand reached toward the chest, hovering above it.
About 6 inches above the chest, my hand seemed to hit a barrier that scorched my skin. I wanted to pull back, but the pressure building in the back of my mind forced my hand down into the wall of fire. At last, when I wanted to scream in pain, the burning was suddenly gone. I started to sigh in relief when my body tensed with forewarning. A jolt of magic so strong that it nearly knocked me over, arching my spine and throwing my head back blazed through me, searing every last bit of my insides. Sweat poured down my face as the power surged through me like lightning. The pain increased as the chanting voices shrieked within and without my head, compressing the air, sucking the oxygen out my body. I started to tremor, slightly at first, but then it transformed quickly into mind-jarring, teeth-chattering convulsions.
At last, when I thought I could bear no more pain- it all disappeared, as suddenly as it had begun.
I awoke with a start and winced as something tore at my flesh. As my eyes adjusted to the pitch black that surrounded me, I couldn't help but wonder where I was. In the woods, no doubt, but how had I gotten there? I winced again as I shifted and something else poked into the small of my back. I could feel blood trickling down one of my legs. Goosebumps ran up my arms as the breeze whispered gently through the haunting leaves. I gently began to pull at the branches that ensnared me, trying not to gouge or remove any of my remaining flesh. When I was almost done, I heard soft laughter around me. I jumped a foot in the air, releasing myself from the remaining branches that had trapped me in a cage of twigs, leaves, and brutal thorns.
The voice that had startled me spoke again.
"Having fun, healer? Do you know where you are?" I turned around to face the vampire slowly.
"Kieran!" I said, surprised. I couldn't see his face because clouds hid the moon, but I would know his voice anywhere.
His smirk turned into a short bark of laughter, and then a grimace.
"Yes," he said to himself. "Understandable as to how you might make that mistake."
The clouds shifted again and his face was revealed.
He had the same high cheekbones, the same full lips and stubborn chin, even the same shaped eyes that turned up slightly at the corner. But his hair was the wrong color and style; spiked with black roots that transformed into frosty blond tips. His eyes were the wrong color too, one a luminescent silvery blue that reflected the light of the crescent moon, and the other a deep, glowingly demonic red. Everything about his aura was wrong. It had a harder edge, a more commanding undertone, and a more demanding and harsh overtone. How had I ever mistaken him for Kieran?
"Adham," I whispered, backing away slowly. This was the vampire whose residence I had lived in, but had not met.
Adham inclined his head in a polite manner and walked toward me, his gleaming eyes roving up and down my body then finally settling on my face with a piercing glare. The air seemed to compress around me; finally, I had to look away, and the tension released.
I retreated again as he sauntered slowly toward me, but stopped when I reached a thick wall of menacing, overgrown trees and underbrush. Adham stopped only inches away from me. He tilted my head up with a finger under my chin and looked me over with languid pleasure.
"My brother chooses his interests well. You are of.exquisite beauty, I must say."
I jerked my head away from his grasp and leaned back as far away from him as I could.
He laughed, a brusque sound when it contained no mirth.
"Darkness is alluring," his said in hushed tones that made me shiver. "Do you not want to join us?" His mind slid into mine and whispered of the seductive darkness that captivated his life. I was about to fall forward into the peaceful void of blackness, but then a picture of Kieran flashed in my head and I jerked back. Adham laughed again. His finger caught a drop of crimson blood that trailed down my arm from a shallow scratch and he placed his finger in his mouth.
The next thing I knew, his lips had sealed over the small scrape and he was licking the blood away. I was repulsed but kept still. He had my arm twisted so that if I moved, I would dislocate my own shoulder. I felt his body shiver with delight and pain as he pulled away, licking the last trace of my blood off of his lips.
"Adham," a steely voice behind him said. "How nice to meet you out here." Adham sighed.
"Likewise, brother," he replied in a bored tone. I peered around Adham and my eyes lit upon the real Kieran.
His eyes were dark with malice and the air seemed strained between them, thick with hate. When he saw my movement his eyes flickered over me with surprise. "Kala," he said. "What are you doing out here? Why are you with Adham? Come here."
I started to obey him but Adham's arm shot out and I bumped into it. I tried to duck under his outstretched arm, but he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me too his side, his hand resting uninvited on my hip.
When I tried to push away, he wrapped both arms around me and rested his lips on my hair, lightly swaying back and forth to unheard music. I remained tense as he let go of me only to trail his finger through the thin line of blood that trickled down my arm. He licked it off his finger, staring straight at Kieran, his eyes holding challenge. He lowered his lips to mine and surprised me with a gentle kiss. I could feel the tension growing and tightening between them, like a rubberband stretched to its limit and ready to snap. Turning his back on Kieran was an open challenge; he didn't feel as if Kieran was a threat.
"I highly suggest that you cease what you are doing and hand her over to me." Kieran's voice was remarkably calm, as though her were merely suggesting that they go for a walk.
Adham turned to face him. "And if I don't?"
Another challenge. Kieran arched his brow. "Brother, you know very well that she is mine. You could have claimed her but you did not. I did. Now release her."
"But, have you not forgotten the pact?" Adham said in mock amazement. "What is yours is mine, and what is mine is yours."
"Those days are long gone, Adham. You know they are. They disintegrated when Blaine was killed." Kieran's soft voice could barely be heard above the rustling trees.
There was silence for a few moments as they both stared intensely at each other. I was willing to bet that a mental conversation was going on. I kept quiet, still braced against Adham's chest. At last, Adham sighed deeply. "Very well," he said gravely, and his arms fell from around me. I took the opportunity to run to Kieran, who in turn folded me in his arms tightly. I buried my face in his shoulder, realizing that I was shaking, but with fear or relief, I do not know. Kieran stroked my back lovingly for a moment then eased into my mind.
Sleep, he commanded. I felt my eyelids drooping as sleep enveloped me.
"But." I whispered.
Kieran pressed a finger to my lips to silence me and once again commanded that I sleep.
I gave in to the weighty pressure at the back of my mind, leaning against Kieran as I fell into a deep sleep. Before I fell, words as cold as ice slipped into my mind.
And so you are safe.For now, healer. I will find you again, when times are more to my suiting...Till next we meet.
A/- not too horrible, huh? Questions? Comments? My e-mail is MidnightsFlame@hotmail.com and now, feel free to review.....
With a jerk and a loud creak, the door started opening; the sun- shaped knob in the middle of the large stone door had been an ancient combination lock. I stepped through the door, instantly throwing my hands up to shield my eyes from the dazzling silver light at the end of the chamber. My feet seemed to go numb, and yet I floated steadily toward the light, apprehension hanging around my neck like a bag of rocks, and yet a small prick of desire started to blossom in my chest.
A quiet, slow chanting started in the back of my head as I neared the light, which seemed to be coming from a small ornately carved chest on an intricately designed wooden table. The desire of curiosity started to overwhelm me. The chanting consistently grew louder until it seemed like the voices were screeching in my head. I was standing right in front of the chest. Desire swamped my body, but somewhere in the back of the screeching that was in my head I heard a small voice cautioning me not to do whatever it was I was about to do. My hand reached toward the chest, hovering above it.
About 6 inches above the chest, my hand seemed to hit a barrier that scorched my skin. I wanted to pull back, but the pressure building in the back of my mind forced my hand down into the wall of fire. At last, when I wanted to scream in pain, the burning was suddenly gone. I started to sigh in relief when my body tensed with forewarning. A jolt of magic so strong that it nearly knocked me over, arching my spine and throwing my head back blazed through me, searing every last bit of my insides. Sweat poured down my face as the power surged through me like lightning. The pain increased as the chanting voices shrieked within and without my head, compressing the air, sucking the oxygen out my body. I started to tremor, slightly at first, but then it transformed quickly into mind-jarring, teeth-chattering convulsions.
At last, when I thought I could bear no more pain- it all disappeared, as suddenly as it had begun.
I awoke with a start and winced as something tore at my flesh. As my eyes adjusted to the pitch black that surrounded me, I couldn't help but wonder where I was. In the woods, no doubt, but how had I gotten there? I winced again as I shifted and something else poked into the small of my back. I could feel blood trickling down one of my legs. Goosebumps ran up my arms as the breeze whispered gently through the haunting leaves. I gently began to pull at the branches that ensnared me, trying not to gouge or remove any of my remaining flesh. When I was almost done, I heard soft laughter around me. I jumped a foot in the air, releasing myself from the remaining branches that had trapped me in a cage of twigs, leaves, and brutal thorns.
The voice that had startled me spoke again.
"Having fun, healer? Do you know where you are?" I turned around to face the vampire slowly.
"Kieran!" I said, surprised. I couldn't see his face because clouds hid the moon, but I would know his voice anywhere.
His smirk turned into a short bark of laughter, and then a grimace.
"Yes," he said to himself. "Understandable as to how you might make that mistake."
The clouds shifted again and his face was revealed.
He had the same high cheekbones, the same full lips and stubborn chin, even the same shaped eyes that turned up slightly at the corner. But his hair was the wrong color and style; spiked with black roots that transformed into frosty blond tips. His eyes were the wrong color too, one a luminescent silvery blue that reflected the light of the crescent moon, and the other a deep, glowingly demonic red. Everything about his aura was wrong. It had a harder edge, a more commanding undertone, and a more demanding and harsh overtone. How had I ever mistaken him for Kieran?
"Adham," I whispered, backing away slowly. This was the vampire whose residence I had lived in, but had not met.
Adham inclined his head in a polite manner and walked toward me, his gleaming eyes roving up and down my body then finally settling on my face with a piercing glare. The air seemed to compress around me; finally, I had to look away, and the tension released.
I retreated again as he sauntered slowly toward me, but stopped when I reached a thick wall of menacing, overgrown trees and underbrush. Adham stopped only inches away from me. He tilted my head up with a finger under my chin and looked me over with languid pleasure.
"My brother chooses his interests well. You are of.exquisite beauty, I must say."
I jerked my head away from his grasp and leaned back as far away from him as I could.
He laughed, a brusque sound when it contained no mirth.
"Darkness is alluring," his said in hushed tones that made me shiver. "Do you not want to join us?" His mind slid into mine and whispered of the seductive darkness that captivated his life. I was about to fall forward into the peaceful void of blackness, but then a picture of Kieran flashed in my head and I jerked back. Adham laughed again. His finger caught a drop of crimson blood that trailed down my arm from a shallow scratch and he placed his finger in his mouth.
The next thing I knew, his lips had sealed over the small scrape and he was licking the blood away. I was repulsed but kept still. He had my arm twisted so that if I moved, I would dislocate my own shoulder. I felt his body shiver with delight and pain as he pulled away, licking the last trace of my blood off of his lips.
"Adham," a steely voice behind him said. "How nice to meet you out here." Adham sighed.
"Likewise, brother," he replied in a bored tone. I peered around Adham and my eyes lit upon the real Kieran.
His eyes were dark with malice and the air seemed strained between them, thick with hate. When he saw my movement his eyes flickered over me with surprise. "Kala," he said. "What are you doing out here? Why are you with Adham? Come here."
I started to obey him but Adham's arm shot out and I bumped into it. I tried to duck under his outstretched arm, but he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me too his side, his hand resting uninvited on my hip.
When I tried to push away, he wrapped both arms around me and rested his lips on my hair, lightly swaying back and forth to unheard music. I remained tense as he let go of me only to trail his finger through the thin line of blood that trickled down my arm. He licked it off his finger, staring straight at Kieran, his eyes holding challenge. He lowered his lips to mine and surprised me with a gentle kiss. I could feel the tension growing and tightening between them, like a rubberband stretched to its limit and ready to snap. Turning his back on Kieran was an open challenge; he didn't feel as if Kieran was a threat.
"I highly suggest that you cease what you are doing and hand her over to me." Kieran's voice was remarkably calm, as though her were merely suggesting that they go for a walk.
Adham turned to face him. "And if I don't?"
Another challenge. Kieran arched his brow. "Brother, you know very well that she is mine. You could have claimed her but you did not. I did. Now release her."
"But, have you not forgotten the pact?" Adham said in mock amazement. "What is yours is mine, and what is mine is yours."
"Those days are long gone, Adham. You know they are. They disintegrated when Blaine was killed." Kieran's soft voice could barely be heard above the rustling trees.
There was silence for a few moments as they both stared intensely at each other. I was willing to bet that a mental conversation was going on. I kept quiet, still braced against Adham's chest. At last, Adham sighed deeply. "Very well," he said gravely, and his arms fell from around me. I took the opportunity to run to Kieran, who in turn folded me in his arms tightly. I buried my face in his shoulder, realizing that I was shaking, but with fear or relief, I do not know. Kieran stroked my back lovingly for a moment then eased into my mind.
Sleep, he commanded. I felt my eyelids drooping as sleep enveloped me.
"But." I whispered.
Kieran pressed a finger to my lips to silence me and once again commanded that I sleep.
I gave in to the weighty pressure at the back of my mind, leaning against Kieran as I fell into a deep sleep. Before I fell, words as cold as ice slipped into my mind.
And so you are safe.For now, healer. I will find you again, when times are more to my suiting...Till next we meet.
A/- not too horrible, huh? Questions? Comments? My e-mail is MidnightsFlame@hotmail.com and now, feel free to review.....