The Vampire Diaries: Bound By Blood (Kindle Worlds Novella) (10 page)

Dear Blood Diary,

Tonight was one of the creepier nights of my existence, and that’s saying something.

There are many witches in this world. Okay, well maybe not many real witches, but they are certainly out there if you know where to look. Luckily, I’ve made it a pastime to keep track of such witches both good, and bad. Especially the very bad.

The very bad didn’t much care about upsetting the “balance of Nature” and all that other crap. The very bad could be bought, for the right price.

And this witch that I knew of in the backwoods of Virginia could be bought for a very special price. A human price. A price we were very willing to pay.

Once we arrived, and dropped the bound and gagged wino bum in her basement (what she was going to do with him was anyone’s guess, but I didn’t envy him for a minute), Helen had us sit with her in the center of her bare living room floor. Stefan looked a tad nervous, and I didn’t blame him. Witches were supposed to be our natural enemies. They were supposed to represent the balance of Nature. However, not all of them adhered to what they were supposed to do. We all have free will, still. Some of just choose to exert that free will by feeding on the living.

Hey, I didn’t make the rules … and I never asked for this either. As always, I could thank my brother for my eternal predicament.

Anyway, no reason to beat a dead horse over that.

Or an undead brother.

Helen’s name was the nicest thing about her. That face most certainly didn’t launch a thousand ships. Maybe a thousand nightmares.

Someone had gone to work on her face with a knife. I counted four slashes that never healed right. Her graying dreadlocks always reminded me of snakes. And once or twice, I’d swear they moved on their own accord. Like Medusa.

Anyway, we weren’t here to chitchat, and once she had us seated I told her why we were here.

“You wish to obtain information on the prophesied Elemental,” she said, nodding. Some of the candlelight caught her murky eyes. How she saw out of those cataract-laden orbs, I hadn’t a clue.

“You’ve heard of him, then?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s a him this time?”

“This time?”

“The Elemental has appeared a number of times, in different parts of the world, doing the job that some of us witches have forsaken. Yes, the Elemental can be either male or female.”

“Is the story true that the Elemental can make vampires invincible?” asked Stefan.

She turned her horrific face toward my brother. To his credit, he didn’t even flinch. “More than likely the Elemental will do its job, and destroy the likes of you.”

Stefan looked at me. I merely shrugged.

“That’s all well and good, but is the rumor true?”

“It’s no rumor, Damon the Vampire. Yes, the Elemental could be a source of eternal strength to your kind.”

“What must we do?” asked Stefan.

“Stay far away from him.”

“And if we don’t stay far away from him?” I pressed. “If we seek eternal invincibility?”

The old witch sighed heavily, and as she did so the candles surrounding them flared brighter. Yes, she was very much in tune with Nature. She looked forward, between Stefan and me, and said, “Then I suggest you feed on his heart.”

Stefan looked at me, but I was still looking at the old witch. “You mean actually, you know, feed on his heart?” I asked.

She nodded once, and with that, the candle flames winked out of existence.

D. Salvatore

We were in my truck, which smelled like old French fries and a pretty woman.

It was late afternoon, and we were parked outside of town near the abandoned stone quarry. Below us was a massive open pit, its contents robbed by man, the Earth scarified by our presence here. Interestingly, I could almost feel the assault on the Earth, feel its life force being stolen, ripped away. Then again, I was an Elemental. Or, so I had been told.

For me, this didn’t feel like another client meeting. For me, this felt like something a little more. For Gracie Lockwood, not so much. That she might be feeling something similar for me was not only doubtful, but selfish on my part. My life had just gone from mundane to insane. How could I possibly inflict my life onto someone else?

And, for that matter, how un-freakin’-fair was it that I should meet a girl who made me catch my breath every time I saw her? I mean, I’d spent years and years alone, living peacefully and comfortably, eeking out a simple, if not unique, existence. That would have been an ideal time to meet my soul mate.

Soul mate, pal?

Wishful thinking. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure what a soul mate was. All I knew was that the girl sitting next to me had captured my heart unlike any other in all my life.

My weird Elemental, fire-starting, rain-creating, wind-blowing heart.

I sighed as I looked out over the great pit, where miners had spent years removing gypsum and iron ore and God knew what else. The mine, long since depleted, had been abandoned for years now and sat like a scar on the Earth, just outside of town. Funny, I had never thought of it as a scar before. Truth be known, I had had no feelings about it.

But now I did. Go figure.

Parked next to my own truck was Gracie’s car. She had arrived with two iced coffees, which I thought was considerate of her. We had made some small talk, and I had gushed like a smitten teen. I wasn’t sure she knew that I was gushing. Maybe she just thought I had a speech impediment.

“So, now that you have me out here in the middle of nowhere, overlooking your bizarre idea of a scenic view,” said Gracie, sipping her iced coffee and watching me, “what did you want to talk about?”

“Vampires,” I said.

She nodded and continued watching from over her plastic cup. “I figured as much.”

“I met two of them this morning. Two brothers.”

“The Salvatore brothers, I assume.”

I glanced at her. “You assume correctly. How do you know about them?”

“You could say my family has a long history with the Salvatores, especially the brothers. Why do you bring them up?”

“Well, for one, because they are vampires.”

“Mr. Long, in this town, that doesn’t mean much.”

“What do you know of this town?” I asked.

“Nuh-uh, Mr. Detective Man. You tell me why you brought up the Salvatore brothers first, and then I’ll tell you what I know. Maybe.”

I sipped my own coffee. The setting sun was warm on my face, shining nearly directly into my car. Michael had said that the vampires of this town wore magical rings to exist in sunlight. I had to admit that I had already checked Gracie’s fingers for rings … and found none. Also, she didn’t give off that pungent hint of death. In fact, she smelled good. Very, very good. With no perfume on at all, her fragrance contained hints of toothpaste, soap, and the sun-kissed skin of a silky blonde who liked the outdoors, probably as much as I did.

She’s no vampire,
I thought. She’s too … clean.

I considered her proposal then nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll tell you what I know, if you tell me what you know.”

“You might have yourself a deal there, partner,” she said.

“Damon Salvatore all but admitted to killing your sister and her boyfriend.”

Gracie had been about to drink from her straw when she paused. “He said that?”

“Actually, yes. Worse, he seemed proud of it.”

“Damon has always been a dick.”

“You seem to know him,” I said.

“I know of him. Through whisperings from my family. Remember, Mr. Long. I don’t live in town, and for the most part I have been shunned by my family. I am not privy to all the family secrets.”

“But you know about the vampires?”

“All the founding families are privy to the vampire problem, Mr. Long.”

I knew of the founding families, of course. You couldn’t go anywhere in this town without hearing something about them, or celebrating something about them. If ever there was a town that idolized its forefathers and foremothers, it was this one. Now I was beginning to see why.

“Privy, in what way?” I asked.

“The founding families have made it their life’s mission to control the vampire problem.”

“Then why do the Salvatore brothers walk in daylight?”

“The Salvatore brothers are in with the sheriff and other family members. They have proven to be helpful at times … .” Her voice trailed off.

“While other times they kill wantonly,” I said.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“They have to be stopped,” I said.

“I agree,” she said, setting her jaw. “I don’t much like vampires.”

We had both forgotten our iced coffees by now. The sun had set a little more, shining even more in our faces. I relished the warmth, even as my mind raced.

“They said something else, too.”

Gracie looked at me. “Do tell.”

“They said that it had come to their attention that I was much more than a private detective.”

“Oh? And why would they say that? Do you have your own deep dark secret, Max?”

God, I loved the way she said my name, drawing it out like a caress. I focused my slightly scattered thoughts. I debated how much to tell her. Really, really debated, then said, “I think so, yes.”

And then I told her everything, I mean
everything
.

Dear Bloody Diary,

We got a surprising visitor today. Imagine my astonishment when I opened our front door to find Gracie Lockwood standing there.

“You killed my sister,” she said.

“When? Who? You’ll have to be a little more specific.”

“How’s this for specific?” she said, and proceeded to level a few devastating punches that sent me reeling across the foyer.

I sat up, holding my jaw. “Let me guess,” I said, still feeling the effects of the blows. “You inherited the werewolf gene?”

She was on me again, moving supernaturally fast. But I’d had enough of her little tirade and swept under her in a blink. I was behind her before she knew it. I grabbed one of her arms and pressed her against the wall. I leaned in. “I’m sorry if I killed your sister,” I said. “But if it’s any consolation, I’m sure she was delicious, whoever she was.”

“The campers, last week.”

“Oh, yes,” I said. “She was especially delicious.”

She spun out of my grip, swept my legs out from under me, and, as I fell, I just managed to stop a wooden stake she had been wielding. Turns out, it wasn’t meant for my heart. Instead, she drove it deep into my gut, where it veered off my spine. I hate when that happens.

I gasped and rolled over as Stefan came running in. He pulled out the stake and turned on Gracie. “What the hell is this all about?”

“Your brother is a bastard.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“I should kill him.”

“Get in line, sister,” I said, still gasping. “Wrong choice of words.”

Fury lined her face, and her pupils, I saw, had flared yellow. Oh, yes, she carried the Lockwood curse indeed. The werewolf curse.

“Other than the obvious, you’re here for something else, or else you would have driven that stake into my brother’s heart.”

“I should have.”

“Well, maybe. So, why are you here?”

The hellion Lockwood stared at me some more, breathing hard—and looking ravishing—and said, “I have a proposal for you, boys.”

My brother and I looked at each other.

“Go on,” said Stefan.

She did … and what a proposal it was.

D. Salvatore

I chose the spot carefully.

Actually, the spot had been Gracie’s idea. She knew of a clearing in the woods that would be perfect. She liked my idea, and, after I had given her a little demonstration of what I could do, she was very enthusiastic about my idea. Boy, did she hate vampires—and who could blame her?

I had brought Maggie, my .44 Magnum, which was in a shoulder holster inside my light jacket. Fat lot of good a gun would do. According to Michael, regular bullets only slowed a vampire. When I had asked what irregular bullets were, he had said “wooden bullets, of course.”

“This is a crazy-ass world,” I whispered and stepped out into the clearing.

Still, having the gun by my side felt comforting, although I knew I could do so much more than a gun could these days. I had mentioned to the two vampire brothers that they could be doing good in the world, rather than plundering the world. The truth was, that could be said about me, too. I now possessed phenomenal gifts that I could use for good.

It was something to think about at a later time.

For now, I had two blood-sucking brothers to deal with.

I checked the time: 7:30 p.m. It was the appointed time. Funny, I should have felt more nervous than I did. However, seeing those two cocky bastards today took away my nerves. Now, I just wanted to help put them away. And, since I knew no mortal jail would hold them—at least, not for long—I had a very different idea of how to put them away. Michael’s final instruction to me had been on working with the Earth Elementals, after all. Gracie had liked my plan. I liked that she liked my plan.

Yeah, I think I had a crush on her. Or more.

Go figure.

I made my way into the center of the clearing. There, I cleared my thoughts of Gracie and the brothers and vampires and Michael and everything. I did what I was taught and focused on my breathing and now, the whispering of the forest reached my ears. Soft whisperings at first, and then, more urgent. Michael had told me that with time and practice and long stretches of meditation, I would be able to understand the whisperings … and even speak back.

For now, I breathed deeply, filling my lungs and listened to the whispering … and was not very surprised when the whispering became more and more urgent. A breeze wafted over me, bring with it the tell-tale scent of decay.

They’re here,
I thought.