Valley of Dust (2 page)

D
AMN IT, ANTON, Selene almost got exposed. Where were you?” Lucien screamed. He knew Selene could not die, but if that man had hurt her physically or emotionally, her powers may have shown faster then she could handle them. The thought of her being in pain stung him. Lucian knew she could not die, but he didn’t want her to find out in such a catastrophic way. He remembered the day he met her. She was young, about five, and he knew she was different. Lucian was drawn to her aura from the moment he glanced at her, and he knew she was his destiny. Lucian didn’t understand exactly why Selene was his destiny. He just knew he needed to protect her and keep her safe. His ability to see auras was not completely perfect, but in rare cases he could see them perfectly. After seeing Selene as a child, all he could see was a golden glow shining bright from her. Selene was a live strigoi, only she did not know it yet. She was rare, being born from two mortals just like his brother Anton and he had been. Live strigoi born from human mortals were rare, but they could bear fertile children with other live strigoi. They were not like the undead strigoi women frozen in time at the moment of their death. Selene had never known her true fate, but he knew she would never truly be accepted into the mortal world. When she had turned eighteen and ran away from home, he had wanted to be like the Greek god Hades and take her away with him down to his underworld, but he knew force was never the way. History had proven that often. Watching Selene settle down in Spruce Pine, North Carolina and attend Penland School of Crafts made Lucian realize the joy it brought her and he couldn’t steal what she worked so hard to achieve. He instead decided to live close to her and protect her from afar. He had realized after so many years protecting her he had fallen in love with her. He didn’t want to own Selene, he wanted her to love him as much as he loved her.

Lucian had bought a hundred acres of land surrounding Deer Park Lake near Spruce Pine’s apartments where Selene lived. The main house where Lucian lived was further away from the lake and main roads. He built his main house closer to the mountains. The mountains gave Lucian the privacy and comfort he needed to live in the mortal world. Lucian also built his property to look over his employees’ houses. All Lucian’s employees were undead strigoi, except Carla. He made sure Carla’s house was closest to his just in case the undead strigoi in his territory decided to use her as a late night snack. All of his employees had impeccable records, but he knew one could never be too cautious, especially for someone so frail like Carla. Lucian’s house’s main purpose was to be close enough to Selene in case of dangerous situations like last night happened. He felt if she only lived with him she would never have felt the pain from the attack.

Lucian was the leader of the strigoi. He was the executive director of the Strigoi Society. The undead and live strigoi obeyed him for they acknowledged a leader by power alone. Lucian was by far the most powerful live strigoi. Lucian and Anton had been strigoi for over a thousand years. If it wasn’t for the curse, he would have probably been like his brother Anton, a heartless womanizer. Since he had this curse, the Gypsies made sure that he could never make an undead his or he would easily absorb her by the curse. It was a terrifying curse; he was feared for it, and everyone feared the Gypsies for putting it on him. Lucian had always been alone, even though he had his brother Anton. Until that fateful day he had been drawn to Selene. It was a strange pull, one he had never experienced before. When he found what was pulling him toward them, it was an odd little redheaded girl. At first glance she looked like a boy, but she had a golden glow around her that only he could see, and her aqua green eyes were like the sea in the Bahamas. Selene was a live strigoi, he had no doubt of this. She would never be able to truly belong with the mortals. She was an odd child, never showing fear.

Lucian, a leader and a stranger, was looking at this child, and she had met his gaze and glared right through him. He knew her soul wanted to escape and cause mischief. That is what most young strigoi did when they did not realize their power. Their soul would leave their body in search for others. It was a way to find other live strigoi like themselves. At that moment he told her encouraging words to keep her soul in place. It was a spell to keep her from searching for others like themselves. He never realized he would have to visit her dreams constantly to keep her soul from escaping at night. She truly was a powerful child, breaking his spells nightly. “Anton,” he said. “Yes, Lucian,” Anton said. “Where were you? You have kept her secret? None of our clan has found out about her, correct?” Lucian said. “No, Lucian. No one knows. She is well hidden.”
Good
, he thought,
he was not ready to reveal her to the council quite yet. Both the undead strigoi and the live strigoi stole life, and he wondered how she would take this new life
. He had to be quick now. She had a serious cut on her neck, and he knew modern medicine would not heal her anymore. Lucian would have to send Anton to guide her into her emerging powers. He had a hunch from when she was little that she might be an elemental strigoi, one who consumed the elements, but it was just a hunch. Another worry he had was that Anton’s actions had left a messy job for him to clean up. Anton had killed the attacker with incredible strength, causing a massive hole that could not be explained. There was a dead man with Selene, the only survivor. Manhunts would begin, Selene would be questioned, and he would have to send the strigoi police task force to take over the case soon before people found out too much. Lucian’s assistant, Carla, kept him in the loop with mortal affairs and when he would need to get involved. She was the first mortal to be chief of mortal affairs. It was an extreme honor to have such a title. However, he knew no one but Carla could pull off the job with such ease and grace.

When he had found Carla, she had just graduated from Harvard Law School. She had a brilliant mind but never quite fit in. At the time Lucian was on a case to find a rogue undead strigoi. It was that unfortunate day he had to meet Carla face to face. The undead strigoi they were tailing finally came out of hiding, and of all the people he could bump into he found Carla in her law firm’s parking lot alone. In an instant, without thinking, Lucian jumped from his car, disregarding protocol. He knew Carla was a mortal woman worth saving. With his speed, he instantly got a hold of the undead strigoi’s neck and relinquished his power to devour him before the undead could hurt Carla. Dust flew everywhere when he finally had devoured the undead rogue. “Please, I will do anything, just don’t hurt me,” Carla said. Pain was in Lucian’s eyes when he saw how scared she was. He was ashamed and knew he must have looked like a monster to her. Carla, however, picked up on his feelings and reached out in a way to thank him. “It is okay. I am sorry I was so scared. I have just had a lot happen to me. May I ask what are you?” Carla said. “If I said I was not human, would that bother you?” Lucian replied. Carla laughed and said, “Not at all. I find humans are just as capable of horrors as any monster. Oops, I didn’t mean to infer you were one. It is just the only reason I got this degree is to put the true monsters away. After my family was killed and I was left to live, I needed a way to survive and make them proud of me,” Carla said. “Here is my card. My name is Lucian Balan, and if you come work for me, I promise your safety and a job where you can be selective with your monsters. Think about it and call me,” Lucian said. “I will do it! I am sick and tired of getting coffee for jerks like my boss. I need more,” Carla said. “Done, in ten days I will have everything prepared and you can come work with me in North Carolina,” Lucian said. “North Carolina? What is there?” Carla asked. “Let’s just say someone I need to protect. She is very important to me, as will you be soon.” Lucian smiled.

Lucian smirked remembering how eager Carla was to do the job he had assigned her to a tee. She loved everything she did and always smiled. Her aura was enchanting and similar to Selene’s. He felt when they met there would be an unbreakable bond between those two. He was glad he had hired someone capable to work in North Carolina but watch over many states for the true monsters from his society.

It was good to have eyes and ears everywhere. He even had a department in the CIA and other nations for unexplained murders or missing people. This helped to keep his society a secret. There would always be missing people with his strigoi in the world, but some did not follow the rules, and he needed the mortals’ government power to assure he could catch the undead strigoi who went on rampages. Sadly he could never do that to his brother, and he was one of the worst criminals out there. Anton was also on the council, which gave him some immunities. Anton occupied third position in the council; he only had to answer to Alexander and Lucian. Almost all the live strigoi were on the general council, and all had special immunity. There was an exception to the council, however. Lucian had appointed two of his finest employees who were considered in the eyes of live strigoi lower than mortals. Dieter and Bruna were undead strigoi living on his property, but they were also the most trusted individuals when it came to finances. Not only did they run all of Lucian’s finances, they also were given the titles chief of financial and operating officers. There was no way to kill live strigoi, so it was hard to make them follow all the rules. That is why he had trusted a mortal woman Carla and the undead couple Dieter and Bruna to such important jobs. They had something to lose and followed rules to a tee. He wished he could trust his live strigoi council members, but in his thousand-year experience, they only looked out for themselves. Carla had just walked into his office. “Lucian, there is a detective on the case, he will be speaking with Selene. Do you want me to intervene?” “No, Carla, not just yet. We will let it go a bit before we interfere,” he said. “Yes, sir,” Carla answered, and with that she was gone. Carla was a brilliant mortal and one of the very few who knew their secrets. She was loyal and protective of his family. Well, maybe not Anton, but not many were fond of his arrogance. She had known about Selene for a while and always joked about needing another woman around to keep the mansion less dull. It was dull around here. The maids he hired kept to themselves and never came close to Carla as instructed for her safety. Dieter and Bruna never visited the main mansion because of their workload and love for everything quiet. Lucian had a feeling that the gardeners would have more of a job once Selene joined their household. He laughed at how much work it may cause. He felt sorry for Carla, but soon her job would be much easier; she would be Selene’s assistant and have more of a relaxed role with mortal affairs. He hoped they would get along; they had many things in common, but that’s not the only thing that makes a good friend.

I
AWOKE DAZED AND confused. The nurse came in telling me that my stitches had reopened and I had lost a bit of blood. She tried to comfort me until the doctor came and told me that I would have to remain in the hospital until the cut on my neck began to close. In the meantime I would not be allowed to talk much, and a liquid diet was being implemented. My next of kin had been informed, but as I knew, no one showed up.
Why would they come to visit me? I was no one to them
,
I thought. The days and night at the hospital were extremely lonely, almost depressing. This night was going nowhere. I had exhausted every channel on the hospital’s cable television, and everything was a bore. I wished I had my Kindle or sketchpad. My room today again was too sterile for my taste, and it smelt of bleach. The nightgown I was wearing looked very worn and was a shade of light blue. I shuddered at the thought of how many people had worn this gown or how many had died in it. Shivers went down my back as I went to cuddle for warmth in my blankets, but the stale blanket managed to give me no comfort or warmth. My blanket was so stiff I wished I had a visitor to at least bring me one of my soft plush blankets.
How long would I be here?
I thought. Tears welled up inside of me; it was unbearable to hold them back as I lay in my bed curled up in a ball.

It sounded like my door opened; that’s when I opened my eyes to see who was there. I saw a familiar man in my room. At first I thought I was dreaming from all the drugs I was on, or maybe hallucinating. He was wearing a white coat.
So he must be real
, I thought, maybe an on-call doctor. He gestured to me with his hands to get on the wheelchair.
Maybe I was getting an X-ray
, I thought, they randomly did those things when I least expected it. This man was tall and had beautiful long hair tied back in a ponytail. He had truly amazing features. His eyes were almond brown, and his hair had a familiar silver color to it. I caught myself staring while he helped me in the chair. I blushed when our eyes met. I was quite embarrassed, but he didn’t show much emotion to what happened. The moment I was in the chair, he began to whisk me away out of my room. The air felt less like bleach and increasingly like the outdoors. For the first time since my hospital stay here, I felt free, and it was exhilarating. It was soothing to leave the cage of my hospital room. I felt free like how I lived in my one-bedroom apartment.

Before I knew it I was out the door in the garden. Since I had arrived at this hospital, I never knew there was an outdoor garden. It was raining outside, but I didn’t care. I gestured to the mysterious man that I wanted to go outside, and within seconds I could feel the rain on my skin. The fresh water was flowing down my face, which brought a calm to my lonely heart. There in front of us was a giant oak tree. The tree was ancient and looked exquisite. The mysterious man suddenly went in front of me toward the tree, and he said, “Touch the tree, Selene.” I was shocked at first that he knew my name and hesitated, but then I realized my name was on my room and my wristband. “Don’t be shy, Selene. Touch the tree and imagine that you are one with the tree,” he whispered this into my ear with a smooth voice like silk, which made me jump with fright. I wanted to laugh at him for saying such a weird line, but something drove me to obey. I rose from the chair in an instant and slowly went to the tree, touching the bark. At first I could sense nothing, but then I tried harder, and that’s when I perceived it. There was a glow coming from this tree. The tree was full of life, a very long life. It coursed through my body, like the tree and I were one. I could feel the roots and how they enjoyed the rain as much as I did. I was one with the tree, sharing with each other our knowledge.
How lively it was
, I thought,
especially for something that could not communicate
. Oh, how I wanted to be that tree. In that moment of thought, something felt wrong. I was surging with power, but I could no longer feel the tree’s life. The tree was no longer with me. I opened my eyes and gasped: right in front of me was a tree that was dead. It was no longer the tree that was once so vibrant with life. I fell back into my chair in despair as tears flowed down my face just like the rain.

Before I knew it, I was in my room again. In that moment I truly felt like I should be caged. The mysterious man then gently picked me up and whispered smoothly in my ear, “Now be a good girl and forget what happened tonight.” His lip were so close to my ears it sent shivers down my back. He was amazing; I never thought I could be aroused by a man that easily. He had a smooth seductive voice. He reminded me he would come back if I was good and did as I was told. At first my face was blushing, but soon it was seething with anger. How dare that man patronize me, and before I could tell him off, he was gone. I hated being controlled or being told what to do. My body rejected that man once he uttered those words. As I lay down and lowered my blood pressure, I realized something: this was the first time I didn’t mind a man’s company. Well, at least until he was a complete ass. I fell asleep with the thought that maybe there was hope for me to find love and friendship. That night I dreamed of a garden in spring and enjoying the sun with no worries. If only…

When I awoke, there was an eerie feeling in the air. No one was around, not even my liquid food had been delivered. My stomach growled with a need to consume the mush that they considered food. I decided for once to ring for my nurse. I wasn’t quite hungry, but if I were to be confined to a room, I would at least like my mush. The red button that called the nurse took longer than I expected. When the nurse finally came, she looked like something bad had happened to her. The way she looked reminded me of how eerie everything felt now. She wouldn’t say much, but the one thing she did tell me was that the doctor would come to see me shortly. I assumed it was to check on my stitches. Though at the moment I could still feel no pain. I imagined the nurse was still slipping pain medicine in my IV. When the doctor arrived, he was more courteous than the nurse had been. He didn’t have the disturbing, eerie look like the nurse had. He explained to me that last night there had been a bad storm and their precious hundred-year-old oak tree was struck by lightning, or that’s what they believed. I gasped at the thought that last night really did happen and it was no longer a dream but reality. I kept my mouth shut, knowing that if I said it was me I would be on a one-way ticket to the mental institution. The thought of a mental institution brought bad memories of how my parents had sent me once to break me. It almost had. The constant medication, patronizing, and learning if I did not conform to society I would never truly belong almost brought tears to my eyes. “So, Ms. Holmberg, by your face I can see you’re a nature lover too,” the doctor said. I nodded as I snapped my mind away from the past. I was glad he hadn’t thought anything else. I was always paranoid in these situations. As the doctor was peeling back my bandages, he looked surprised. The stitches were no longer there, and there were no scars to be seen. “Ms. Holmberg, this is really good news. I am curious where my stitches went, but I am pleased that you have finally healed. With this progress and some blood results, you might be able to go home today,” he said. “Really, Dr. Murphy, I can go home?” I asked. I was overwhelmed with joy; getting out of here is what I had been wanting for the last three days. This place was never for me; it only brought sadness. I didn’t even care how my neck was. I just wanted to check out of here. “Yes, Selene, you should be able to go home today assuming all your blood work comes back normal,” he said with a smile.
Home
, I thought,
could I really consider my one-bedroom apartment home?
It wasn’t much. My living room was filled with all my art media from school and side projects. My room was colored like the sky and was kept very simple. Hmm, I guess I could call it home; it was mine and a good start. Then I realized the horrible truth: I had been in the hospital for three days now and I had not called work.
Oh shit
,
I thought,
how will I pay for rent?
I had very little savings and lived night to night bartending. I hoped that the doctor would give me a note explaining why I had not called. I really didn’t want to lose such a great job. After all, I was one of the owner’s favorite bartenders; maybe I could get off the hook just this once. I had so many thoughts going through my head, which surprised me since I had all this medicine in my system. I knew one thing that would calm my mind and that was some reality TV shows. Those shows always helped me to fall asleep. It would have to be a really boring one, otherwise it might not help, but they were the best cure to help stop anyone from thinking. As I was watching the television, I realized it was working and I slowly but happily fell asleep.