Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) (76 page)

“You speak as if it hasn't.” Yugo cleared his throat. “I've lived a long time and I can assure you that there are many vampires far older and stronger than I. It happens. With time, misfortune comes. As a vampire you have to see past these little hiccups.”

“And do what? Forget we're human?” Moira shouted at Yugo, jumping up from her seat.

“It's been a long time since any of us were called that.” A hush came over the room as Yugo spoke. “Lucretia will live, that's all that matters. As vampires, we live on. Eventually there might come a day when she might be able to go and fuck them back for what they did, but not tonight.”

“What about the demon gifts? I'm sure they would give us enough power to kill those bastards!” Moira was thinking intuitively with her gift. She was passionate about defending Lucretia. She wanted to seek revenge for what happened to her.

Lucretia turned to Moira and then Yugo. “What demon gift? What are you talking about? Can you do more with your gift than you originally told me? How long have you been holding out on me?”

Yugo sneered at Lucretia. “You don't need to know what we're talking about.”

“Bullshit! You tell me now or I'll make a scene and kill this whole damn town!” Lucretia was livid.

“You won't do that Lucretia.” Yugo said confidently.

“The hell I won't! I'll burn the whole town and let everyone onto us. When they catch me, if they catch me, I'll feign a drastic fear of water, leading them to believe the only way to end my wrath is the one element I hate. After they drown me, thinking I'm no more, I'll come up out of the water and kill the rest of them for irritating me. I'll leave everybody behind with deep gashes on their throats. Everyone in the region will know that vampires were responsible for it. You hear me Yugo? Everyone!” Lucretia was giving Yugo an ultimatum.

“If I don't? You'll do all that? I doubt that. You hate being overwhelmed. Crowds of people make you sick. You'd sooner vomit on them than rip their heads off. Don't be silly Lucretia. This is something I can't tell you.” Yugo was holding his ground.

“Than I will.” Moira announced. “I will tell you about the demon gifts we harbor.” Moira was definite in her resolution. She wanted the revenge more than Lucretia did. She was determined to actualize it.

Yugo eyed Moira. “You can't do that Moira. Those that don't have one don't need to know. It is the highest of secrets, the worst of curses.”

Moira stared at Yugo and spoke to Lucretia. “I'm going to tell you everything you want to know.” Moira turned to Lucretia. “Let's go outside.”

Yugo sighed. “Moira, you can't do that.”

Moira angrily snapped at Yugo. “You don't tell me what I can't do to help another woman!” Moira was serious. “I'll help Lucretia raze this town tonight if I need to.”

“You wouldn't.” Yugo glared at Moira.

Moira stared right back at Yugo. “Watch me.” Moira took Lucretia's left hand and pulled her out of the room.

Yugo decided to leave Moira and Lucretia alone. Thinking that he hadn't told Moira everything there was about the gifts. Knowing that she couldn't divulge too much about the demons, Yugo was going to let Moira say anything she wanted to make her feel better.

Outside the room it was bright, the moon was high again. There were no clouds, it was a calm night. Moira searched the area for anyone that might listen in on their conversation. The area was devoid of people. The ship was silent. She sat down on one of the shipping barrels. Moira crossed her legs and sighed.

Lucretia wanted to know everything she could. “What are the demon gifts?”

“They are people that whisper to you with obscene offers of power. They are the evil in your head.” Moira closed her eyes. “I can hear him even now. He wants me to accept his power and use it as much as I want. He wants me to slaughter the world. He wants to sew the ground with corpses.”

“But how bad is that really? I get impulses to kill people every day. I do kill people every day for that matter. It's easy and it's become a part of me. I can't imagine how hearing a voice would be any different.” Lucretia folded her arms in disbelief.

Moira practically snapped at Lucretia. “It's different, trust me. He has a tone about him. It's welcoming. It's damning how inviting he is. When he asks to help you, he gives you a taste before any payment is made. He stands in your mind, beautiful, elegant. He commands your attention. He wants you to be happy.”

“Then what's the problem?” Lucretia asked.

Moira looked at Lucretia with a confounded expression. “He wants my soul.”

“What's so bad about that?” Lucretia asked.

“He wants to devour my soul and consume my personality. The deal is power for life. Quality traded for time. He eats you, mind and body. His very gift is a curse in itself.” Moira began to shed a tear. “He is a constant reminder that I will never have a normal life. The one common trait between us all is longevity. The demon gifts render that pointless. They steal it away from us slowly.” Moira's tears flowed down her face shimmering in the moonlight. “Eventually I won't be me. My experiences, my hopes, my dreams, he will take it all. As sure as time exists, I will die as I know myself.” Moira broke down. She uncrossed her leg and held herself, swaying back and forth on the barrel top.

Lucretia wasn't sure how to react. She was never the one to comfort anyone but herself. Her selfish nature did not lend well to these scenarios. “I don't know what to say, Moira. I didn't know that. I thought it was a form of greater power Yugo was holding from me. Something that I could learn or take from him.”

Moira kept crying.

“But you have time, right? The demon gift hasn't won yet has it?” Lucretia was trying to cheer Moira up. “What is it dependent on anyway?”

“Blood, large amounts of blood. If I starve myself, I die. If I gorge myself, I will lose my soul. My life is forfeit either way.” Moira moaned in sadness.

Lucretia took in a deep breath. “Oh, that does make things complicated. Is there something Orhn or I can do? Maybe something that Yugo can help with?”

“No. Yugo has helped me enough. He is cruel and far more insensitive than you are. I could never go to him again with my feelings about this.” Moira held back the sobbing to speak.

“Then why defend me in there?” Lucretia asked.

“If I'm going to die, I want my life to benefit someone.” Moira had high hopes for what she might accomplish before her death. She wanted to become a martyr.

“What about Orhn? Why can't he help you?” Lucretia brought up a good point.

“I don't want him to know about it. We just found each other. I don't want him to know that I will slowly lose my mind and die, or worse. I don't want to burden him with that.” Moira wiped the beads of tears away from her face.

“Then can I help?” Lucretia was planning something. Moira could feel it.

“What do you mean?” Moira asked.

“The men that did this to me were looking for a demon gift. They thought that I might know someone that knew you. They got nothing out of me.” Lucretia shocked Moira with her confession.

“You let them do that to you to protect me?” Moira was amazed.

“Not exactly. I did it out of principle. I never give up personal information to strange vampires that want to take it by force. Fuck 'em if they fuck me. I didn't give them a damn thing.” Lucretia was quite proud of her will power. “No I wanted to ask you about it and maybe go back there to kill them all if your gift was as strong as they said it might be.”

“They mentioned my gift directly?” Moira asked.

“They were looking for a demon gift that could read minds. My idea was that if the bastards wanted you so badly, we should come to them and fuck back.” Lucretia's crude use of language was inspiring Moira. “That is if you think my cause is worthy enough?”

Moira looked up at Lucretia. “Yeah, I would like that.”

Lucretia walked over to Moira, put her arm around her back and comforted her. “Okay, let's rip their nuts off and set them on fire.”

Lucretia's words were taken with a grain of softness. Moira was in no position to argue the way in which they were going to exact their revenge on the men who hurt her. She only wanted to be there to help with her gift. Moira knew that if she was able to use it, or rather die using it to help her friend, her life would be justified. Orhn never had to know about it. Moira wanted him to move on and forget her.

* * * *

In a small room on the other side of the port town that Yugo, Lucretia, Moira, and Orhn were staying in, seven men played cards. The room was filled with smoke from several cigars, a roasted pig on a nearby spit, and the constant squirts of fresh blood basting it. All of the men were dressed in the same thick black robes. On the left shoulders of every man there was a crest. The symbol of a red moon with a silver sword dividing it down the middle. The seven men were all involved deeply in the game at hand. It seemed as if they were passing the time just to kill time. The men were pale, and very clean shaven.

“How long do we have to wait here?” One of the shorter men said, sitting calmly at the table. His face was small and stout. Short blond hair and white full eyes made his face stand out.

“Yeah, she said within a day she'd be back.” A tall, larger man spoke up. His eyes a light red with tiny black pupils. His hair was white and gray.

“That bitch said she'd have her here. Someone tell me why we let her go again?” A man with black hair and full blue eyes said. His body taller than the other man but thinner.

“She said she'd kill us if we didn't let her go, remember?” One of the fatter men said. His hair light red and his eyes orange.

“So what's a little whore like her to say if it's all seven of us at once?” A medium sized man said. He had brown hair and completely hazel eyes.

“Yeah!” The first man cheered. His blond hair rose with excitement and his white eyes were flaring.

“She knows death far more than we do. If we had attacked her as she wanted, we'd all be dead by now. If you don't believe me, try it.” A young looking man with a small thin body said while mulling over his cards. His silver hair and eyes glared at the center table.

“Yes, but leave your money at the table before you do. We don't want to fund the demons directly now do we?” The last man at the other end of the round table jeered. His hair was dark red and his eyes a bright pink.

“Remember that we choose to hear her out when she returned. The chance to find and kill a demon vampire is something we can't pass up.” The silver haired young man stated.

“Yeah, the idea of gaining an ally is much more favorable than getting our asses handed to us by a ninety pound girl.” The man with the pink eyes laughed.

“I don't want to hear anymore bickering about what we should do. We already agreed to accept her if she did this. Now settle down and play.” The silver eyed vampire commanded the rest of them as if he held the sole authority of the group.

* * * *

In a dark alleyway in the middle of the night, Lucretia and Moira crept up to a wooden door. Light emanated from it, there were people talking inside. The shadows of the tall buildings around them hid all but every detail from even their keen eyes.

Lucretia peeked through the keyhole to make sure the room was full. She turned to Moira and whispered. “Yeah, that's all of those bastards. I'm ready when you are.”

Moira took a moment, she was eager to kill these men, but something was wrong. She hadn't heard Lucretia's thoughts all night long. The men inside were also blank to her. Normally she was able to listen to surface thoughts easily, but something had changed. “I don't know about this. I need a minute.”

“What's wrong? Are you having doubts? Moira, they violated me. Again and again they used me through the night. They even passed me off to their dog! These men need to die, now.” Lucretia tried to keep her voice down.

Moira felt something was off, she needed time to think. Lucretia was pushing this and she didn't know why. “No, I need to talk to him first.”

“Who?” Lucretia had no idea who she was referring to.

“Salas, my demon.” Moira forgot to lower her voice. Instead she had accidentally shouted out his name by mistake.

“What was that!?” The silver eyed vampire in the room asked everyone there. “There's someone at the door. Go check it out.”

Two of the vampires got up and walked to the door. The fatter one with light red hair and orange eyes went first to open the door. The other vampire stood back and watched. His tiny frame ready for whatever was to come. His eyes glared white as the blond hairs on the back of his neck raised.

The door burst open. Lucretia pushed the fat vampire back into the opposing wall, knocking him down. Surprisingly, he did not break through into the adjacent room. The blond haired vampire merely watched the splinted wood dance around him. He didn't bother to help his friend laying on the floor unconscious. The card game continued to play out. None of the men at the table decided to interact with what was going on. They were simply ignoring the ruckus.

“Payback bitches!” Lucretia yelled and ran towards the blond haired vampire before her.

“Not really.” The silver eyed, silver haired vampire said to Lucretia calmly before she could reach the short blond in front of her. “You're late chick.”