Adina Falling (Threads of Fate) (8 page)

BOOK: Adina Falling (Threads of Fate)
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“That’s what Gal likes about you. Well, your horn-dog side mixed with cute baby making.” I grabbed her hands, “I have to get going. I really need to get to the mall and get an outfit for my date on Friday night.”

“Oh yeah, tell me quick before you leave.”

“My mom.” I groaned, “In short, she met someone she liked. She gave him my number. He called me. We’re going out for sushi on Friday. End of story.”

“Leave it to your mother.” She laughed, remembering all the interfering my mother had done in the past.

“She wants me to find someone before the Elders take it upon themselves to arrange something.” I suddenly felt a bit defensive. I couldn’t believe I was sticking up for my mom, very unlike me indeed.

“That would stink, Adina. One thing the Elders are not known for is their matchmaking skills. Very lacking in that department.” Morgan had almost been forced to marry an Irish vamp who also happened to prefer men. Thankfully, she had met Gal at just the right time.

“I’ll go underground before I am forced into a marriage. Don’t worry; you’ll be the only one who will know my forwarding address.” I hugged her and headed toward the front door, “I’ll call you later.”

“OK. Hey, I might have Sheila come over here for a bit.” Morgan giggled, “It’s been awhile for me and Gal.”

“I glamoured her, she won’t even remember she had been fucked already. Although, she might wonder why she’s so sensitive in her delicious girl parts.” I licked my lips; I could almost taste her still. I needed a shower.

“Good, I think that’s what I’ll do while the babies are sleeping. Go…I only have a couple hours to suck and fuck before the hubby gets home!”

“Going! Have fun. Love you!” I put my sunglasses on and headed to my car. I had a very uneasy feeling that I was being watched. As inconspicuously as I could, I looked around as I climbed into the driver’s seat and let the luxury of my car securely embrace me. Not noticing anything unusual, I shrugged the sensation off and filed it under “paranoia of the day” and I headed to the mall. I was probably being hyper-sensitive, after all, Michael had just shown up out of the blue earlier, what would stop him from doing it again.

Buying something pretty to wear would be the perfect icing for the delicious cake of a day I ended up having.

 

I shopped and then raced home before I passed out with exhaustion. I was worn out; it had been an extremely long and busy day. The emotional ups and downs had been intense. And to make matters worse, I hadn’t done any writing. I’d hear about it from my publisher, without any doubt. Her voice would probably be the one waking me up the next morning, shrill and angry, demanding to know who I thought I was and did I not have any appreciation for what she’s done for me. It was the same song every single time I missed my deadline. Which happened pretty much every single time I had a deadline. Yet, somehow, my books always ended up on the shelves on the exact day they were scheduled for release. Amazing how those things just happened. I suppose I worked best under pressure.

I let myself into my condo, tossed my purse onto the kitchen counter and made my way into my room. I needed to cleanse myself. I was a dirty, dirty girl. Don’t let anyone fool you; vampires need to take showers too. Not as badly as, say, Werewolves or some other type of shifters but we got that not so fresh feeling as often as humans.

Once I was cleaned up and changed into something more comfortable, I decided to sit in front of my computer again to see if I couldn’t get my word count up for my work in progress. I forced myself to take some deep breaths; Vampires don’t breathe, we’re basically dead. Inhaled. Exhaled. More as a relaxation technique than for actual air in lungs. Closed my eyes and tried to summon my muse, imploring her to come forward with heartfelt yet somewhat raunchy dialogue. I waited and listened, I beckoned her to come whisper her sweet nothings into my ear so that I could document them forever in my book.

Yeah, I got nothing. No voices or whispers from my muse. There was even nothing from any chatty spirits that seem to like to hold conversations with me. They had all, apparently, taken the day off. I stared at my computer monitor for a few more minutes before I gave up for the day.

An urge to indulge in a nice glass of red wine struck me so I wandered over to my kitchen where I had a well-stocked and very expensive wine selection. I chose a bottle of Chianti, a less costly, Trader Joes brand. Why waste an expensive bottle when I’m just drinking alone. As an after-thought, I grabbed a bag of blood from my fridge, it was after sundown, my hunger was starting to surface and I definitely did not feel like going hunting tonight. It was a stay-at-home kind of night, perfect for curling up with a good book and a glass of wine.

I took my evening supplies and meandered into my bedroom. Placing my goods on my nightstand, I grabbed my cellphone to check for any missed calls or texts. The contraption had been unnaturally quiet these last few hours and I wondered if I had turned the ringer off because it was so unlike my phone to not be alerting me constantly. Not saying I was popular, I just seemed to receive a lot of incomings…texts, emails and phone calls. It probably had something to do with my chosen profession.

I pushed the power button, it was dead. I sighed, I hated being without my cell. It made me feel so disconnected. And considering I had given up my land line because I never used it, it made a dead cell phone even more devastating.

Leaving my wine and book poised next to my bed, ready and waiting, I ran around my condo looking for my charger. I could have sworn the last place I saw it was in the kitchen. Or was it my purse. I checked both. From the depths of my way-too-big Louis Vuitton bag, I fished out the certified Apple product iPhone cord. Problem was; I couldn’t locate the stinking wall piece anywhere. It wasn’t in any of the usual wall plugs. I felt like screaming; I really didn’t want to have to sit in my car and wait for my phone to charge but that seemed like the only choice I had.

With my phone and cord in hand, I took one last sweep around my condo before heading to the garage where I’d be camping out until my phone is reincarnated. One would think that vampires wouldn’t need their phones, right? We should be able to use some sort of telepathy or something for communication. Well, not so much. I’m sure there are some really old vamps that were practiced in long distance mind calls. But, being the young’un that I was, I didn’t have that skill yet.

In human years, I was 34. In vampire years, 34 too. Remember, I was a birthed vampire like my father, not a ‘made’ one like my mother. Physically I stopped aging at twenty-one which was completely fine by me. Some stopped aging younger, they’d forever look like a teenager which is way to young looking to live for eternity. Looking in my twenties, however, I’ll always be old enough for everything I needed to be old enough for.

When there was enough battery life to appease me, I ran back into the house just as all sorts of message alerts began vibrating the phone in my hand. Texts from Lucy and Morgan as well as an unknown number. And apparently my mother had been trying to reach me; there were about 10 missed messages from her.

Deciding to ignore the machine I worked so hard to bring back to life, I curled up in my bed; book in one hand, wine in the other and read until I fell asleep.

 

A recurring nightmare woke me, one that began close to a year ago. It was still dark out as I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. I was shaking, this particular nightmare had been occurring more frequently and it always had the same effect on me. The scene was always vividly the same, nothing ever changed. It was a horrific scene, one that took on a way too realistic quality.

In my dream, we were all huddled together, naked and hungry, trapped within the confines of a guarded wooden cabin. Skin and bone to skin and bone.

During the day, we busied ourselves by finding shadows to hide in to avoid the direct sunlight as it streamed in through the filthy windows. The dirt did nothing to dull the effect that the bright rays of light had on our withering bodies. Sun was sun and we burned from it. In my dream, evolution had somehow been reversed; we now lived in fear of the sun instead of embracing it. I was left with no idea of how or why this had happened, much like the rest of these nighttime hauntings.

With evening came some relief. Another day of deadly sunlight gone and the sweet familiar sanctuary of night embraced and comforted us as best it could. We were, once again, children of the moon.

It was usually dusk when the guards threw bags of putrid blood, tainted by sickness and suffering, into our cabin. We were so hungry that none of us cared that our rations were cold and diseased; we drank ravenously anyways, making sure there was enough for everyone.

The few drops we each received barely took the edge off our hunger but it was enough to strengthen our resolve and determination to stay alive.

There were some nights we would feel strong enough and we'd feast on each other, mixing our blood, becoming one. It was on those nights we'd talk, laugh and dance. Some would even find the strength to make love, even in the despicable conditions we were in, vampiric nature would take over. If driving us apart was something ‘they’ were trying to do, they were failing. My kind was becoming closer than ever.

I didn’t know how long we'd been trapped there; in what was once a summer camp, now repurposed as a kind of Vampire concentration camp. I do know that many of my kind were destroyed there. I was sure there were other camps, all over the world, serving the same purpose. Vampire annihilation. I felt it, a nightmare within that nightmare. I could hear far off screams of pain and torture.

I wasn’t sure who started this crusade, exterminating us, or why it was happening. I knew that it had something to do with humans and another species. I just couldn’t sense exactly which species it was.

In my dream, it was January 1st. I don’t know how I knew that but I did. The camps were beginning to be completely filled. Any non-human that was found was shipped to the closest holding center and then deported to a camp where they would rot and eventually die. I didn’t know how they were killing my kind; it wasn’t in any of the traditional ways. There were many of us that weren't caught; we went underground or under cover. There was a whole network of sewer systems and forgotten subway tunnels across the globe that had become our home, our training grounds. Vampire, Werewolf and Faerie, we became one with one common goal, survival. Over the centuries, we had all bonded, living together within our communities. This war would never separate us, we had come to far.

Armies were formed. Numbers as large as any human army. But we were harder to kill once we were armed and ready.

I was caught, my pride too big to allow me to go into hiding. I was put into a special camp. A camp that became home to the most powerful vampires, werewolves and faeries caught. How I was considered powerful, I was unsure. Another mystery that surrounded this horrific dream.

A war had been started by humans; we had finally been exposed and they were frightened. Instead of understanding my kind and trying to find a way to reconcile the fact we were not fiction, they decided to destroy us. Such a human thing to do-- rid the world of species they were intimidated by. It was a violent part of their history and it kept repeating itself. Funny, humans would consider Vampires and Werewolves to be blood thirsty yet, in hundreds of years; we never had wars that exterminated heartbreakingly large groups. We lived in peace.

I always seemed to wake up before I could learn more, before I could recognize faces of those with me in that cold prison. I didn’t understand this dream; it never seemed to make any sense. Yet, it was a constant. I never shared it with anyone either, I wouldn’t dare until I could make sense of it. But this morning, something within me was pushing me to go in front of the Elders. Tides were about to turn and with it, our lives.

My dream scared me. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was being given a vision by some greater being that decided I would know what to do with it.

“I’m just an erotica writer,” I cried into the darkness, “give me dreams about sex and I know what to do with them. This? This isn’t something I understand. I’m a nobody. I have no special gifts like the Elders. I’m just me. Adina.”

BOOK: Adina Falling (Threads of Fate)
8.24Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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