As Victoria turned and ran down the hall, she could hear the angry shouts
of the Viscalli, followed quickly by a spray of gunfire. She was grateful
for the Kevlar she wore and prayed she would be quicker than her pursuers.
She unconsciously ducked her head and the bullets flew by. They were close! If she could just make it down the hall and into the parlor where she could barricade the heavy doors, she would be safe. Victoria glanced down hallways as she ran past and saw no one. That was good, she didn't want to run straight into the arms of Jacob.
Victoria skidded to a halt as she rounded a corner, she remembered the parlor was halfway down the corridor. The Viscalli were gaining! They opened fire again, bullets hitting far down the hall ahead of her and into the next passageway. Luckily they were bad shots.
As she slowed to open the parlor doors another volley of bullets came from the opposite direction! Victoria pressed herself as flat as she could against the door frame. Bullets whizzed by, for a moment she shut her eyes, while frantically giggling the handles. She felt the lock give and quickly turned her head to see where the second barrage of gunfire hailed from. Friend or foe? Curiously she saw nothing. Puzzled, she slipped into the parlor and bolted the doors from the inside.
Victoria felt more secure once she slide the bolts into place. Momentarily she rested her head against the large wooden doors. Where was the second gunfire from? She had seen nothing. Opening her eyes she saw that she still held the gun in her hand. Checking the safety she re-holstered the weapon.
Turning, Victoria saw that the parlor mostly looked the same. Jacob had added a few more modern pieces of furniture to it. Suddenly her heart began to race! There was another set of doors opposite her, wide open. How stupid of her, she thought. Now she remembered there were four entrances to this room. North, south, east and west. Two large sets of doors and two smaller sets hidden by large velvet draperies. She would have to secure them all, or move along to another room. In any event she was no longer safe.
She began to make her way across the room toward the other set of doors. It was a large room, what could be called a grand room, 150 feet wide. Silently she slipped past winged-back chairs and small mahogany tea tables. She found it hard to breath. God, Jacob was close!
Even as she approached the southern doors, she could hear the footsteps of someone coming towards it. Quickening her pace, she realized she would not arrive before the other person. A new tactic was called for. She dashed around one of the larger tables in the room, putting it between herself and whoever was coming. Holding her gun firmly in her right hand, she cupped it with her left and stood aiming at the entrance.
Victoria felt fear surging through her blood. Her eyes widened as Jacob Connor McCloud rushed into the room. Seeing her, a twisted smile spread across his lips and he began to laugh.
"How appropriate," he said, his voice dripping with venom. "Don't tell me, you're one of Sands' whores."
Her eyes narrowed at the sound of his voice and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. She smiled, "Hello Connor." She tilted her head. "I liked you better when your hair was dark."
"You never liked me better," he hissed, his mouth pulling down into a frown. "You loved your dear brother more than me. So, have you come to rescue Sands or to kill me? Such choices one must make." Slowly, he edged closer to her, his own gun held down. Wisely, he did not raise it towards her.
Victoria matched his steps, keeping the distance between them and her eyes locked with his. "Of course I loved Claude. But you took that away from me, you took everything away from me. But as for Sands, the Guardians will take care of him, so I can give my full attention to you."
A harsh laugh escaped his lips. "That would be a first, my dear Victoria. If you had only loved me the way you should have, things would have been different between us. You were always so difficult. So contrary. Like now." He continued to move around the table as he spoke.
"Contrary!" she exploded. "I tried to love you as you wanted. I did everything to please you!" She hissed. "The problem was you and Lilith. I wasn't Lilith!" she screamed.
"Don't speak her name." His voice was suddenly cold as iron, his eyes narrow slits of steal. "She's here, isn't she? Viscalli said Sands would bring her to me."
Victoria shook her head in disgust. "Of course she's here." Victoria moved slowly to her left placing yet another piece of furniture in between her and her maker. "You never saw what you had, you were so obsessed with her."
"I had a cold hard woman who loved her own brother more than me and one who could never be what I really wanted," he growled. "I bet the two of you love sharing stories, don't you?"
"I hate you Connor. You made me hate you with each member of my family you murdered and then with each beating you gave me I hated you even more." Victoria bared her fangs.
"So you hate me enough to join forces with the likes of Lilith and Sands?" he snarled, his lip curling in distaste. "You don't know what you're dealing with, sweetheart." He leaned over the table towards her. "Haven't you heard about him? About them?"
Victoria didn't respond. She feared Jacob could see the doubt in her eyes.
His snarl turned into a triumphant smirk. "He's mad, twisted, a killer," hissed Jacob. "And she's screwing him behind Abberline's back. They all know it."
His words dug straight into her heart. "You're a lair!" she tightened her grip on her weapon. Suddenly Victoria remembered herself and she allowed her mind to brush up against Jacob's. It only took a fraction of a second, but she knew he was just mouthing rumors he'd heard fourth and fifth hand.
Victoria laughed. "You're a lair," she said softly. "And I'm not going to run from you anymore. Your lies sent me into isolation from our kind. A loneliness that was at times more than I could bear." She smirked as she announced: "Tonight it will all end."
"How?" he asked, raising his chin. "You just gonna murder me, girl?"
"I did once before," she whispered
"Yeah, bitch, I owe you for that one." His jaw clenched and his look glittered with pure evil. He began to raise his gun.
Without warning, there was the sound of a shot. Victoria jumped in surprise, her eyes still on Jacob. He had a surprised look on his face as blood blossomed from the hole in his neck. His gun dropped from nerveless fingers, then his body crumpled to the ground.
Walking silently, Sands came up beside Victoria. "I've wanted to do that for a long time," he said in a calm low voice.
Victoria stood there frozen, eyes fixed on vampire at her feet. She watched as the blood poured out from the small hole in his neck.
"Do you want to finish him off, or shall I?" Sands asked her, his gun already aiming at Jacob's heart.
"I'll do it," she said quietly. Victoria walked forward and knelt down on one knee. She placed the barrel of the gun against the side of Jacob Connor McCloud's head. "Goodbye Connor," she said flatly and squeezed the trigger.
"Stupid bloody bastard." Sands' voice was flat. "We should get back to the others," he said standing beside her again. "Come on." He offered her a hand. She was still in something of a state of shock. Looking up, she saw him gazing down at her, his face pale, a small quirky smile on his mouth.
The sound of his voice brought her back. She holstered her weapon and placed her hand in his. "Are you all right?" she asked as he helped her to her feet. "You look so pale." She reached for his cheek.
"Nothing a little being away from this place won't heal," he told her. "We're not out of danger yet." His gaze went to her now-holstered gun. "Better keep that handy." He reached with a hand to lightly touch her cheek. "I missed you."
Victoria exhaled deeply feeling as if she had freed herself from a tremendous weight. "I was so worried about you." she stepped closer. "I had to come."
He held up his hand, keeping her away from the hug she wanted. "I'm a little sore." He shrugged, looking down at the wounds from the silver that looked blackened around the edges. As if a mask was slipping into place, a frown darkened his features. "You should not have come. You put yourself in danger needlessly." His voice was stern, and even though Victoria knew he spoke out of fear for her, his words were pushing old buttons.
Her eyes looked at his wounds and the anger within her grew. Jacob had done it one last time, he'd hurt someone she'd cared about. "That's not important," she said dismissively, turning her green eyes on him. "They wouldn't have found you without me." She wanted to touch him but knew how painful the silver was, she could still feel the residual effects of the metal about him.
"You had nothing to do with it. He wanted me so he could lure Lilith..." Sands looked around. "We need to get you out of here. Now." He reached for her hand again and turned toward the east door, when Andre came in, bloodied sword in hand.
"Sheldon, are you all right?" the Spaniard asked, as he ran across the large room, his footsteps echoing.
"Peachy," Sands retorted. "We've got to get Victoria out of here. Viscalli is here."
Victoria pulled back, "What do you mean I had nothing to do with it! " she turned her attentions to Andre. She wanted Sands to know how much she had helped in the rescuing of him. She wanted him to know how valuable she had been. "Tell him Andre," she pleaded with him to assist her.
Sands looked at her, blinking as if confused. "I mean they weren't targeting you, they were after me. What did you think I meant?"
Andre sighed dramatically. "We cannot argue about this here, you two."
She narrowed her eyes at the both of them. "Fine." she said firmly. "You need a quick way out," she turned quickly to her right and headed for the heavy velvet curtains. Pushing them aside she revealed a small wooden door. "This is a servant's passage. It will take us quickly back down to the cellar and the tunnels." She was tired of being patronized, tired of being viewed as fragile, tired of it all.
"Good," Andre said starting toward the door. He stopped and stood opposite Victoria as Sands followed a little more slowly. "Sands, I have to say, your choice of tailors leaves something to be desired."
The expression on her face softened, truly looking at him for the first time. "Do you need help?" she asked.
Sands shook his head. "My legs are fine, thank you." He stopped at the door. "After you."
Andre tilted his head to one side then raised his eyes. Brandishing his sword, he went in first, stopped to check out the passageway, then continued on at a fast walk.
She wanted to say something to him, but was unsure of her own words. Jacobs words echoed in her mind. "She secretly screwing him behind Abberline's back." She knew they were lies, just rumors Jacob had been repeating them just to anger her, but they gnawed at her. "You follow Andre , I'll lock this behind us." she whispered to Sands.
"I can wait," he told her. Her gaze met his and she noticed that he blinked frequently.
"What's wrong with your eyes?" she asked as she pulled the door shut behind them. The narrow passage way grew darker.
"Nothing." He turned to look after Andre. "Come on."
She knew he was hurting. Quickly she knelt down and slipped the bolt into place at the base of the door. Victoria stood and smiled as she slipped past him. "Andre!" she called out, "Andre take the second set of stairs on the left. They'll take us directly to the kitchens." Victoria looked back to see if Sands was all right, she was fearful about his condition.
Just then she felt it again, an intense heat between her shoulder blades.
(To Be Continued)
She unconsciously ducked her head and the bullets flew by. They were close! If she could just make it down the hall and into the parlor where she could barricade the heavy doors, she would be safe. Victoria glanced down hallways as she ran past and saw no one. That was good, she didn't want to run straight into the arms of Jacob.
Victoria skidded to a halt as she rounded a corner, she remembered the parlor was halfway down the corridor. The Viscalli were gaining! They opened fire again, bullets hitting far down the hall ahead of her and into the next passageway. Luckily they were bad shots.
As she slowed to open the parlor doors another volley of bullets came from the opposite direction! Victoria pressed herself as flat as she could against the door frame. Bullets whizzed by, for a moment she shut her eyes, while frantically giggling the handles. She felt the lock give and quickly turned her head to see where the second barrage of gunfire hailed from. Friend or foe? Curiously she saw nothing. Puzzled, she slipped into the parlor and bolted the doors from the inside.
Victoria felt more secure once she slide the bolts into place. Momentarily she rested her head against the large wooden doors. Where was the second gunfire from? She had seen nothing. Opening her eyes she saw that she still held the gun in her hand. Checking the safety she re-holstered the weapon.
Turning, Victoria saw that the parlor mostly looked the same. Jacob had added a few more modern pieces of furniture to it. Suddenly her heart began to race! There was another set of doors opposite her, wide open. How stupid of her, she thought. Now she remembered there were four entrances to this room. North, south, east and west. Two large sets of doors and two smaller sets hidden by large velvet draperies. She would have to secure them all, or move along to another room. In any event she was no longer safe.
She began to make her way across the room toward the other set of doors. It was a large room, what could be called a grand room, 150 feet wide. Silently she slipped past winged-back chairs and small mahogany tea tables. She found it hard to breath. God, Jacob was close!
Even as she approached the southern doors, she could hear the footsteps of someone coming towards it. Quickening her pace, she realized she would not arrive before the other person. A new tactic was called for. She dashed around one of the larger tables in the room, putting it between herself and whoever was coming. Holding her gun firmly in her right hand, she cupped it with her left and stood aiming at the entrance.
Victoria felt fear surging through her blood. Her eyes widened as Jacob Connor McCloud rushed into the room. Seeing her, a twisted smile spread across his lips and he began to laugh.
"How appropriate," he said, his voice dripping with venom. "Don't tell me, you're one of Sands' whores."
Her eyes narrowed at the sound of his voice and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. She smiled, "Hello Connor." She tilted her head. "I liked you better when your hair was dark."
"You never liked me better," he hissed, his mouth pulling down into a frown. "You loved your dear brother more than me. So, have you come to rescue Sands or to kill me? Such choices one must make." Slowly, he edged closer to her, his own gun held down. Wisely, he did not raise it towards her.
Victoria matched his steps, keeping the distance between them and her eyes locked with his. "Of course I loved Claude. But you took that away from me, you took everything away from me. But as for Sands, the Guardians will take care of him, so I can give my full attention to you."
A harsh laugh escaped his lips. "That would be a first, my dear Victoria. If you had only loved me the way you should have, things would have been different between us. You were always so difficult. So contrary. Like now." He continued to move around the table as he spoke.
"Contrary!" she exploded. "I tried to love you as you wanted. I did everything to please you!" She hissed. "The problem was you and Lilith. I wasn't Lilith!" she screamed.
"Don't speak her name." His voice was suddenly cold as iron, his eyes narrow slits of steal. "She's here, isn't she? Viscalli said Sands would bring her to me."
Victoria shook her head in disgust. "Of course she's here." Victoria moved slowly to her left placing yet another piece of furniture in between her and her maker. "You never saw what you had, you were so obsessed with her."
"I had a cold hard woman who loved her own brother more than me and one who could never be what I really wanted," he growled. "I bet the two of you love sharing stories, don't you?"
"I hate you Connor. You made me hate you with each member of my family you murdered and then with each beating you gave me I hated you even more." Victoria bared her fangs.
"So you hate me enough to join forces with the likes of Lilith and Sands?" he snarled, his lip curling in distaste. "You don't know what you're dealing with, sweetheart." He leaned over the table towards her. "Haven't you heard about him? About them?"
Victoria didn't respond. She feared Jacob could see the doubt in her eyes.
His snarl turned into a triumphant smirk. "He's mad, twisted, a killer," hissed Jacob. "And she's screwing him behind Abberline's back. They all know it."
His words dug straight into her heart. "You're a lair!" she tightened her grip on her weapon. Suddenly Victoria remembered herself and she allowed her mind to brush up against Jacob's. It only took a fraction of a second, but she knew he was just mouthing rumors he'd heard fourth and fifth hand.
Victoria laughed. "You're a lair," she said softly. "And I'm not going to run from you anymore. Your lies sent me into isolation from our kind. A loneliness that was at times more than I could bear." She smirked as she announced: "Tonight it will all end."
"How?" he asked, raising his chin. "You just gonna murder me, girl?"
"I did once before," she whispered
"Yeah, bitch, I owe you for that one." His jaw clenched and his look glittered with pure evil. He began to raise his gun.
Without warning, there was the sound of a shot. Victoria jumped in surprise, her eyes still on Jacob. He had a surprised look on his face as blood blossomed from the hole in his neck. His gun dropped from nerveless fingers, then his body crumpled to the ground.
Walking silently, Sands came up beside Victoria. "I've wanted to do that for a long time," he said in a calm low voice.
Victoria stood there frozen, eyes fixed on vampire at her feet. She watched as the blood poured out from the small hole in his neck.
"Do you want to finish him off, or shall I?" Sands asked her, his gun already aiming at Jacob's heart.
"I'll do it," she said quietly. Victoria walked forward and knelt down on one knee. She placed the barrel of the gun against the side of Jacob Connor McCloud's head. "Goodbye Connor," she said flatly and squeezed the trigger.
"Stupid bloody bastard." Sands' voice was flat. "We should get back to the others," he said standing beside her again. "Come on." He offered her a hand. She was still in something of a state of shock. Looking up, she saw him gazing down at her, his face pale, a small quirky smile on his mouth.
The sound of his voice brought her back. She holstered her weapon and placed her hand in his. "Are you all right?" she asked as he helped her to her feet. "You look so pale." She reached for his cheek.
"Nothing a little being away from this place won't heal," he told her. "We're not out of danger yet." His gaze went to her now-holstered gun. "Better keep that handy." He reached with a hand to lightly touch her cheek. "I missed you."
Victoria exhaled deeply feeling as if she had freed herself from a tremendous weight. "I was so worried about you." she stepped closer. "I had to come."
He held up his hand, keeping her away from the hug she wanted. "I'm a little sore." He shrugged, looking down at the wounds from the silver that looked blackened around the edges. As if a mask was slipping into place, a frown darkened his features. "You should not have come. You put yourself in danger needlessly." His voice was stern, and even though Victoria knew he spoke out of fear for her, his words were pushing old buttons.
Her eyes looked at his wounds and the anger within her grew. Jacob had done it one last time, he'd hurt someone she'd cared about. "That's not important," she said dismissively, turning her green eyes on him. "They wouldn't have found you without me." She wanted to touch him but knew how painful the silver was, she could still feel the residual effects of the metal about him.
"You had nothing to do with it. He wanted me so he could lure Lilith..." Sands looked around. "We need to get you out of here. Now." He reached for her hand again and turned toward the east door, when Andre came in, bloodied sword in hand.
"Sheldon, are you all right?" the Spaniard asked, as he ran across the large room, his footsteps echoing.
"Peachy," Sands retorted. "We've got to get Victoria out of here. Viscalli is here."
Victoria pulled back, "What do you mean I had nothing to do with it! " she turned her attentions to Andre. She wanted Sands to know how much she had helped in the rescuing of him. She wanted him to know how valuable she had been. "Tell him Andre," she pleaded with him to assist her.
Sands looked at her, blinking as if confused. "I mean they weren't targeting you, they were after me. What did you think I meant?"
Andre sighed dramatically. "We cannot argue about this here, you two."
She narrowed her eyes at the both of them. "Fine." she said firmly. "You need a quick way out," she turned quickly to her right and headed for the heavy velvet curtains. Pushing them aside she revealed a small wooden door. "This is a servant's passage. It will take us quickly back down to the cellar and the tunnels." She was tired of being patronized, tired of being viewed as fragile, tired of it all.
"Good," Andre said starting toward the door. He stopped and stood opposite Victoria as Sands followed a little more slowly. "Sands, I have to say, your choice of tailors leaves something to be desired."
The expression on her face softened, truly looking at him for the first time. "Do you need help?" she asked.
Sands shook his head. "My legs are fine, thank you." He stopped at the door. "After you."
Andre tilted his head to one side then raised his eyes. Brandishing his sword, he went in first, stopped to check out the passageway, then continued on at a fast walk.
She wanted to say something to him, but was unsure of her own words. Jacobs words echoed in her mind. "She secretly screwing him behind Abberline's back." She knew they were lies, just rumors Jacob had been repeating them just to anger her, but they gnawed at her. "You follow Andre , I'll lock this behind us." she whispered to Sands.
"I can wait," he told her. Her gaze met his and she noticed that he blinked frequently.
"What's wrong with your eyes?" she asked as she pulled the door shut behind them. The narrow passage way grew darker.
"Nothing." He turned to look after Andre. "Come on."
She knew he was hurting. Quickly she knelt down and slipped the bolt into place at the base of the door. Victoria stood and smiled as she slipped past him. "Andre!" she called out, "Andre take the second set of stairs on the left. They'll take us directly to the kitchens." Victoria looked back to see if Sands was all right, she was fearful about his condition.
Just then she felt it again, an intense heat between her shoulder blades.
(To Be Continued)