The Darkest Dream (The Darkest Trilogy) (22 page)

I screamed as loudly as I could, fighting against my captor in vain.
 
Darren was swarmed with attackers of his own and I was struck with fear.
 
“No!”
 
I screamed.
 
The panic was evident.
 
“Stop it!”
 
Of course, it was no use, but I continued to protest—to fight.
 

And then I was next to Demetrius, and Darren was being restrained by several of Demetrius’ vampires.
 
He was bloodied and already starting to bruise.
 
I felt Demetrius’ finger trail down my arm and I clenched my jaw, waiting for what I was sure to come.
 

“Let her go!”
 
Darren roared, and he almost broke free of his restraints.
 

It was a hopeless situation, and I felt a strange sort of acceptance wash over me as I acknowledged my fate.
 

“He’s never going to be yours again, Demetrius.
 
You’re doing all of this for nothing.”
 

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that, dear.
 
I wouldn’t be sure about that at all.”

The last thing I was aware of was him waving his hand in front of my face, and then everything faded to black.
 

***

I woke very slowly, as if coming up for air after having been suspended underwater for a great length of time.
 
My hands were bound behind me, holding me to a pole.
 
The room I was in was very dark, and it took my eyes several moments to adjust.
 
I fought against the grogginess and took in my surroundings—just a simple, dank warehouse.

I was alone in the room, but I could hear voices carrying through the walls.
 

When I heard Darren
yell
out, my heart wrenched in my chest.
 
It sounded as if he was being tortured.
 
He cried out again, this time calling my name.
 
I began to fight against my restraints, needing to find him.
 
I needed to—

But as I began to fight against the bonds, I found it to be a wasted effort.
 
I slumped slightly, sobbing quietly as his tortured scream sounded again.
 

“Darren!”
 
I finally screamed, trying to make him hear me.
 
His pained yelling subsided and I felt a bit of relief flush through me, but a moment later, light spilled into my room.
 
Momentarily blinded, I looked away, eyes squinting.
 

“You’re quite the fighter, aren’t you?”
 
His voice was, as always, chilling.

“I’m not afraid of you.”
 
I told Demetrius as he circled around me.

“You’re telling the truth, for the most part.
 
How
very
interesting.”
 
He dropped his head.
 
“Just because I can’t kill you, darling, doesn’t mean I can’t make things very painful for you.”
 
He told me—and though I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, Darren was a much more pressing matter.

“Where’s Darren?”
 

“Oh, he’ll be here soon, don’t worry.”
 
He stood in front of me now, holding my eyes.
 
“You’re really more concerned about him than you are about yourself, aren’t you?”
 
After a moment, he laughed.
 
“That
is
touching.”
 
He reached forward then and touched his fingers to the shrinking wound on my neck.
 
“Amazing, really.”

“I already told you, he’s not going to come back to you.
 
You’re going to die soon, and you’ll be just as alone then as you are now.”
 

“Didn’t I tell you not to be so sure?”
 
He retracted his hand and stared at me, raising an eyebrow.
 
“I warned you about putting so much faith in him, Lucinda.”
 

“Don’t say my name.”
 
He laughed.

“So ironic…”
 
He said, seemingly to himself.
 
I fought a cringe as he neared me once more.
 
“Darren is a monster.
 
There is no denying that, girl.
 
All he needs is a fresh little reminder.”
 
Demetrius leaned in then, breathing deeply.
 
“There’s that scent of yours.
 
Coming back at last.”

“You’re disgusting.”
 
I snapped.

“Your mother disagreed.”

“
Don’t
talk about my mother.”
 
I clenched my jaw then, looking away from him.
 
He laughed.

“You want to believe that I tricked her.
 
I didn’t.
 
She knew who, and
what
I was.
 
It’s not my fault she was so bored with her life.”
 

“Stop it,
”
 
I
warned through clenched teeth.
 

“The truth of it is,
Lucinda
, your mother begged me to take her away from her sad, pathetic, boring little life.
 
I only gave her what she was asking for.”
 
I lunged at him then, my chains clanging loudly against the metal pole.
 
He laughed.
 
“So
feisty
.”
 

“You’re
lying
!”
 
I screamed.
 
“You killed her because she wouldn’t have you—”

“I’ll admit
,
I was dying for a taste.
 
Gabrielle
was
an exceptional woman.”
 
His eyes clouded over.
 
“You know, you remind me so very much of her.
 
You have the same eyes.
 
The same wild, untamable nature.
 
It’s no wonder Darren feels for you the way he does.”
 
He leaned in and took another deep breath.
 
“He won’t be able to resist himself.
 
I know it.”
 

And almost as if called, two figures came through the door, dragging with them a bloody and beaten Darren.
 
I cried out, desperately wanting to go to him.
 
Demetrius laughed.
 
The two vampires on either side of Darren dropped him, turning and leaving the room.
 
“Oh my god, Darren,
”
 
I
breathed.
 
He tried to lift himself, and as he collapsed, I grimaced, tears flooding my eyes.
 
His hands were tied behind his back, I noticed.
 

After another moment, he tried again, first lifting himself to his knees and then to his feet.
 
When I saw his full figure, I swallowed hard at the lump in my throat.
 
He was covered in blood from head to toe.
 
There was so much of it that I realized it wasn’t possible that all of it belonged to him.
 

When he looked into my eyes, I was vaguely reminded of the look I had seen in the images Demetrius had earlier shone me.

“What have you done to him?”
 
I accused.
 
Demetrius only laughed, that callous laughter drudging up every ounce of hatred within me.

“I’ve simply given him a fresh little reminder.”
 
I was suddenly overwhelmed with disgust as I realized what he meant.
 
He’d been taunting Darren—all that blood—
 

“Darren—
it’s
okay, Darren.
 
I don’t know what he’s done—” I broke off, tilting my head so that I could hold his eyes.
 
Those violet embers were so dark, I had to look away.
 

Those weren’t Darren’s eyes—they were Demetrius’.
 

“That’s fresh human blood, Lucinda,
”
 
Demetrius
whispered in my ear and my stomach churned.
 
Fresh
—meaning from the source.
 
“It’ll be yours, next, dear Lucinda.”

Darren growled, lurching forward, as if seeing Demetrius so close to me angered him.
 
Demetrius laughed again, backing away ever-so-slightly.
 
“Oh, don’t worry, Darren.
 
She’s all yours.
 
I’ve only had that one taste.
 
She was always meant to be yours.”
 
Darren’s growl was guttural—animalistic.
 
The tiniest bit of fear began to creep into my body.
 

“I’m okay, Darren,
”
 
I
whispered.
 
“I’m okay.”
 
His eyes found mine, and what I saw forced a shiver down my spine.
 
They were filled with a frenzied kind of hunger—a bloodlust that he wouldn’t be able to fight against.
 

They’d broken him.

He collapsed into me then, his head resting on my shoulder.
 
“It’s okay, Darren,
”
 
I
whispered—pleading with him.
 

“She’s giving you permission, my friend.”
 
Darren did not speak, only raised himself and growled in Demetrius’ direction.
 
When he returned to me, his face had changed.
 
“Breathe her in—isn’t she just tantalizing?”
 
Demetrius was coming closer again.
 
“She’s calling out to you.
 
Her
blood
is calling out to you.
 
Almost as if she was made for you.”
 

Tears filled my eyes as he stared at me, because I watched as his will broke.
 
I watched him lick his lips subtly, as if trying to make a decision.
 

“You can have her all to yourself.
 
Drink her ‘til she’s dry, or keep her for an eternity.”
 
This time his growl was weaker, as if he could no longer protest.
 

When his eyes found mine, I knew he was gone.
 
I knew the man I had fallen in love with was gone.
 
My heart broke as I sobbed softly, shaking my head.
 
“Please, Darren.
 
Please.
 
Come back to me.”
 

It was no use.
 

He slumped against me once more, resting his head in the same spot it had been only moments before.
 
The former wound almost burned in anticipation.
 
Just kill me
,
 
I
thought, directing it at him.
 
As if stunned, he lifted his head and searched my eyes once more.
 

I saw nothing of the man I’d known remaining.

“Do it, Darren.
 
Become who you were meant to be.”
 
Demetrius whispered.

And as I felt his teeth sink into my neck, I barely even cried out.

I had nothing more to live for.
 

I was surrounded by a heavy murkiness.
 
The air around me was thick, the room poorly lit.
 
Everything felt as if it were moving in slow motion.

I lifted myself to my feet with only a bit of effort, surprised that I felt no pain.
 
Darren had—

I gasped as I remembered, my heart aching at the betrayal.
 

He was gone.
 

The room was quiet—very quiet, and I tiptoed around, trying to make out my surroundings.
 
Again, I was stunned that I felt no pain.
 
After Demetrius had bitten me, I could hardly even move.
 

At this, I came to a stop and raised my hand to my neck.
 

There was nothing.
 

No punctures, no blood, no pain.
 
Not even those leftover from Demetrius.

Nothing.

My head swam for a moment as I tried to figure out what was going on.
 
Was I dead?
 
Was this some kind of strange afterlife?
 
Had Darren turned me, and this was the world in which I would spend my eternity?
 
It was obviously not reality.

I turned my attention back to my surroundings, trying once more to figure out where I was.
 
It was when I bumped into a large, inviting bed that I recognized.

The motel room.

I hurried across the room, to the place where I knew the windows were going to be.
 
But when I looked outside, there was nothing but darkness.
 

What was going on?

“It’s a dream, Lucinda.”

I was startled by his voice, so far away, but still it sent my heart thumping wildly in my chest.
 
It did not calm upon seeing him.
 

“I’d call it more of a nightmare,
”
 
I
heard my voice for the first time.
 
It too sounded distant.
 
It struck me as strange that I was not afraid of him, even knowing he was no longer the man I had come to love.

Perhaps this is what my mom had gone through.
 

Darren almost laughed at the throwback to an earlier conversation the two of us had.
 
“I’m sorry, Lucinda.”

“Sorry?
 
For what, killing me?
 
Or turning me?”