A Dark Night (Book One of The Grandor Descendant series) (32 page)

“It’s what he wanted,
” Patrick said softly.

“And if the vampirism doesn’t take?”
hissed Ragon.

“It’s a risk he said he wanted to take,”
said Patrick, looking down at Ryder.

“You liar,”
cried Ari, sitting down on the floor next to Ryder’s bed. Crystal moved over to her, nudging her in the face before settling herself in Ari’s lap. “You made him do this. You bit him and you lulled him. You made him think he wanted this, but-”

As her desperate eyes looked up
at Patrick, she thought she saw the tiniest hint of regret, but any sympathy she might have felt towards him was smashed by the realisation that Ryder could die- for real.

“
-I didn’t,” said Patrick, and there was a genuine tone to his voice that made Ari certain he was being truthful. “I would never force… this, onto anyone who didn’t want it. Ryder knows the risks, the consequences, what he would be giving up.”

Ari blinked dumbly
up at him.

“How long?” she asked simply.

“When the moon comes up again, we will know,” said Thomas.

“I want to stay with him,”
said Ari.

Instantly Sandra moved over to her, and taking her hand
, said, “Oh sugar, if he wakes he will be a fledgling; their unpredictable and ravenous for blood. In fact it might be a good idea for you to get out of the house for a while.”

Ari looked over to Ragon, who was nodding his head slowly.

“What?” Sameth asked, and Clyde turned to look at him.

“Sameth, you know full well what trouble fledglings can be. What’s the point of us all being here to protect Ari from Kiara when
all Ryder will want to do when he’s a vampire, is drain the first person he sees, which will be Ari?” said Larissa.

“I will take Ari to
-” Ragon began to say, but Ari interrupted.

“No. I need you to stay here;
I need you to watch Ryder,” she pleaded.

She couldn’t leave Ryder alone, and Ragon was the only person she trusted enough to stay with him.

“But… Kiara,” Ragon began to say.

“Someone else can look after me,”
said Ari.

“I would like to volunteer my services,”
said Clyde, sticking out his chest. “My car has full grade UV filtered windows, we could leave now. I am sure there is a motel that we can bunk down in for the day.”

At the mischievous grin on Clyde’s face, Ragon shook his head, b
ut Ari moved over to him, “I want you to stay here. Please, for me?”

“I will watch Ari,”
said Sameth, now moving into the room and placing one firm hand on Ragon’s shoulder. “I am older than Clyde; I will be able to match Kiara should the need arise. Which… I am sure it won’t.”

Ragon glanced at
Ari, his sad eyes meeting hers.

Ragon n
odded once and said, “Okay, if Ryder’s transformation goes smoothly, I will join you tomorrow night.”

“
I can go with Sameth and Ari too,” said Sandra.

“No,” Sameth said quickly
, before adding in a more calm manner, “Ryder will need as many vampires to control him as possible. The last thing we need is for Ryder to cause a scene that the Elders find out about. Besides, the less of us that are with Ari, the less attention it will draw.”

Sandra
looked disappointed but did not argue; while Clyde watched Sameth with narrowed eyes.

“Well there’s no point leaving until it gets
dark. Ryder won’t become a fledgling until tomorrow. We might as well get some rest now; Sameth and Ari can leave an hour or so before sunset,” said Cambridge, his loud booming voice slicing the tension in the room.

“It’s settled then,”
said Ragon.

Everyone in the room nodded. Ari, who had remained next to Ryder, felt Ragon reach for her hand. Grudgingly she accepted it, then, when everyone else had left the room, allowed Ragon to steer her back downstairs.

It wasn’t until Ari and Ragon were back in bed, that she remembered their previous
conversation. For a few minutes neither talked; Ari lay awake, resting her head against the soft pillows, unable to remove the horrible image of Ryder’s lifeless body from her mind.

When she thought her head would explode, A
ri rolled over and said, “What’s it like to be a new vampire?”

Ragon
turned to face her and whispered, “Close your eyes.”

Ari hesitated, but then did so, thinking that
Ragon was trying to get her to fall asleep. She was just about to say that she couldn’t sleep, that there was too much going on in her head, when she felt Ragon rush away, and then a moment later return.

“Close your eyes,” he reiterated
and Ari closed her eyes again. “It’s hard to explain,” he said. “I remember feeling like a vampire more than I do being a human, but the first time… the first time you realise that you can do almost anything, every sense is heightened.”

As he said this Ari’s nostrils were assaulted by something floral smelling
- jasmine? Ragon was holding a few stems of the sweet smelling flower under her nose, gently brushing the petals over her cheeks and lips. She breathed in deeply, letting the delicious smell intoxicate her.

“Every smell was intense, completely overriding the senses.
It was like everything was new, and each touch was a different experience.”

As soon as he finished speaking,
Ari felt him place a cube of ice against her warm skin, tracing a path along her collar bone and sending shivers along her arms and down her spine.

“You could hear everything and see everything, and for a while that all felt wonderful.
But eventually as time passed, there was less and less mystery in the world… until there weren’t any surprises left at all,” he said.

At his words,
Ari felt sad, she was just about to say this when Ragon spoke again.

“
Until I met you.”

Chapter 1
9 – A Vision

Several hours later a loud knock at the door dragged Ari from her slumber. She sat up quickly, but laid back down, her head rested against Ragon’s chest. Outside Crystal was barking.

“It’s time,” Sam
eth yelled.

Ari moved sluggishly out of bed and replied, “Ok,” while searching for a pair of jeans to put on.

When she had finally dressed, Ragon was sitting up in bed watching her.

“I’m sorry,” said Ragon, and when Ari looked confused he added, “about before, when you asked if I would disassociate
you. Part of me wants to… for you. But I don’t think I would be able to.”

Ari didn’t answer at first.

She knew exactly what he meant and moved over to the bed, quickly kissing him on the lips and saying, “I need you in my life.”

“The moon isn’t going to slow down for you,” Sameth’s loud voic
e said, penetrating through Ari’s bedroom door. “Ryder will wake soon.”

Ragon grimaced
and swept Ari into his arms, saying, “Promise me that you won’t do anything foolish.”

Ari smiled, jumped out of his arms reluctantly
and moved over to the door, saying, “Me, foolish; never!”

Ari had wanted to check in on Ryder, but Sameth’s insistence that they had to leave immediately, prevented this.

“Look after her,” Ragon said from inside the house, as Ari and Sameth moved towards the car.

“Look after Crystal,” Ari yelled back, following Sameth’s fast pace.

Sameth, who had been racing to the car, had not answered.    

Ari wound down the window to wave, while Ragon’s eyes locked on hers as he said, “I love you.”

Ari’s face broke into a smile;
her heart was skipping with happiness but before she could respond, Sameth’s foot was on the gas and they were driving away. 

Ari watched from the side door mirror as Ragon faded into the distance. She could still hear his words, telling her that he loved her; in that moment she knew she felt the same. She wished that she could go back and tell him how she felt, but it was too late now. Still, she only had to wait a few hours before they would be together again.

Ari and Sameth did not talk as they drove. Ari’s thoughts had been locked on Ryder and Ragon, and she didn’t spare any thoughts for anything else. The pair
had been driving for only a few minutes, when a shiver ran up Ari’s body. Her hands and feet were tingling and she felt dizzy. As she let the sensation take over, it began to transverse her extremities, slowly advancing its hold of her, until she was numb all over. She had been looking out the window, watching the houses blur past, when she went rigid and her eyes widened. Had she not been looking out the window, Sameth would have seen that one of her eyes had turned green, but he continued to drive, completely oblivious to her condition.

Slowly the window she was looking out of began to fade into darkness.
She was transfixed, seeing something other than the rush of trees or the blur of street lights as the moon began its accent into the night sky. No longer was she in the car, but standing in a cold dark room that she recognised- Ragon’s family mausoleum. There was muffled screaming coming from somewhere. She turned and gasped. Tied to the same stone bench that she had slept on all those months ago… was a person. Inching closer she realised who it was- herself. She looked at her mirror image dumbfounded, until her eyes fell on the silhouette of someone advancing from the shadows. In the darkness of the tomb, it was impossible to make out who was walking towards her. Suddenly a large silver knife was bought into focus, just as the face of the stranger was revealed; she knew who it was- Sameth. In Sameth’s left hand was a long silver blade, and there was a look of malice in his eyes that she had not seen there before. Looking back at herself, she saw a dull metallic grey tape placed around her mouth; it was the same gaffe tape that Sameth had used on Patrick all those nights ago, to stop him from singing.

“I’m doing you a kindness,”
said Sameth, continuing to move closer to her…

“You all right Ari?” Sameth asked from the driver’s position, pulling Ari from her vision.

Ari’s face had turned white; she didn’t know
what had just happened and she shook herself, trying to pull her mind back to reality. For a moment she stared across at Sameth, her mind involuntarily flashing back to what she had just seen. What the hell was going on? Shaking her head in disbelief, Ari’s thought trailed to the only possible solution- she had just had a premonition. But seeing into the future was impossible- wasn’t it? Ari let this thought reassure her, until another disturbing realisation hit her. Hadn’t she thought that stopping time was impossible, and vampires and witches, and all the other things that she had come to know were real? Was it so hard to believe that she had somehow just had a premonition of Sameth attacking her?

Shit
, she thought. But why would Sameth want to hurt her?

“Ari?”
asked Sameth, recalling her once again to the current place and time.

His voice was not the same calm
, cool voice she had grown accustomed to, there was an edge to it, one that left Ari a shivering.    

“Where are we going?”
she asked finally, forcing herself to speak.

“To a hotel
- remember?” Sameth replied.

Until now, Ari hadn’t been paying much attention to where Sameth was driving. But as she looked out of the window, she was suddenly desperate to know exactly where they were. If what she had seen was real, then she needed a plan. She considered trying to stop time. But if she were somehow able to do this, what would happen? What if only Sameth froze, then they would crash, and that might kill her before Sameth got the chance. Trying to remain calm, she surreptitiously unbuckled her seat belt, pretending to turn up the radio as she did so.

“Oh wow!”
she said, fanning excitement as her locked on a service station they were just about to pass, “can you pull over for a moment?”

Sameth looked at her confused. She was pointing to a
green vending machine next to the closed service station.

“Just there
… it’s one of those movie rental booths. I have been dying to watch this new series on HBO; we might as well have something to entertain us while we wait,” she said.

Sameth frowned but pulled over.

“Do you mind grabbing a couple of dollars,” she said, reaching for the car handle and beginning to open the door. “I think I have seen Ragon throw some change in the console.”

Instantly Sameth began searching for coins
while Ari exited the car, moving quickly over to the movie rental machine. When she was a few paces away, she broke into a run. She didn’t know where the hell she was going to go; she just knew that she had to get as far away from Sameth. The adrenaline, which had been pumping through her veins since her vision, aided her flight. She was running as fast as she could, making her way behind the service station, when suddenly the sound of a car door slamming broke her concentration.

“Ariana?
” said Sameth.

Instantly Ari paused, hiding behind a large dumpster that serviced the petrol station. She was panting loudly, and she clasped her hand over her mouth, desperate to muffle her breathing.

“Ari, where are you?” Sameth yelled again.

A few moments of silence followed this, and Ari tried hard to concentrate.
If she could just stop time again then she could get away.

“Come out, come out, where ever you are,” his voice cooed.

There was something eerie about the way that Sameth spoke that confirmed her worst fears. She remained motionless as he blurred into a nearby bush and searched it. This was it; her chance to get away. If she got back to the road, she might be able to flag down a car.

Moving slowly at first,
Ari inched around the service station, careful not to make a sound. Soon she was facing Ragon’s car, and for a moment she wondered if Sameth had perhaps left the keys in the ignition, but the road was no more than thirty seconds fast sprint from her. Seeing the head lights of a car on the road, she broke into a run. She was waving her hands in the air, fighting the urge to start screaming, but before she could reach the road, the car had sped away, and she watched the red tail lights fade into the distance. She was just about to plan her next move, when something hard hit her in the back of the head, and she fell down, hitting the pavement with a loud thud. The last thing she saw before she blacked out was Sameth reaching down and picking her up, a grim look of determination plastered on his face.     

When Ari finally came to, it was to the feeling of tight binds being wrapping around her ankles. She tried to speak, but felt sticky tape wrap around her mouth, silencing her. Her eyes were dulling in and out of focus, but finally they pulled a handsome blonde face into view- Sameth. Blinking a few times, Ari looked up at him puzzled, and then the events from before she had been struck came crashing back to her. Her head rolled around groggily, and she felt the hard stone underneath her. From her premonition she knew where she was- Ragon’s family mausoleum. Her vision had come true.

A
fter Sameth secured the last knot around Ari’s ankles, she watched him move back, admiring his handy work.

“I really am sorry about all of this,” he said. “If it weren’t for your ability to stop time
, I wouldn’t have bound you, but… I can’t have you getting away from me.”

Ari mumbled into the gaffe tape, and Sameth moved over to her quickly, pulling the stick
y tape across her face, so that her mouth was no longer covered.

“But why?”
asked Ari.  

“I would have already killed you
at the service station… put you out of your misery, but I had to know,” he said, moving so that he was standing directly in front of her. He reached down and looked Ari straight in the eyes, “How did you know? Back in the car, something happened and you knew what I had planned.”

Ari was breathing hard when she said, “I saw you
.”

The gaffe tape had left a thick layer of sticky residue on her mouth and face, and it pulled tight as she spoke.

“A vision?” asked Sameth, “You really are a talented little… mortal. You can stop time and see future events.”

Reaching to stroke his chin, Sameth considered Ari.
He remained deep in concentration, until he produced a large knife, and Ari recognised it instantly from her premonition. Light bounced off the gleaming silver blade, reflecting her eyes eerily, as one blue and one green eye shone in its reflection.

“I don’t unders
tand,” said Ari, choking back tears.

“I have to kill you,”
said Sameth.

“But why?”

“For centuries I have been in love with Kiara. Perhaps you know a little of love?” he said, “though judging by your lack of response to Ragon’s declaration earlier when we left, perhaps not? But when you have sat and watched the person you have loved for over four hundred years, only for them to fall for another… it changes you.” 

“But you helped Ragon get away from her?”

“No! I helped Kiara get away from Ragon,” Sameth corrected. “There is an old saying; keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. I have watched Kiara from a distance for ages; she’s a misunderstood entity but I love her none the less. I have tried to overcome this weakness, but… I can’t. I need her, and as soon as Ragon told me of how she wanted you dead, I knew this was my chance to get her to see me, not him… but me.”

There was a horrible gleam in
Sameth’s eyes, replacing the cold calculating look that had been their previously, and Ari tried to force herself to stop crying.

“You couldn’t just take her fl
owers like a normal person?” she said.

Sameth laughed saying, “
I think she would prefer your body. Can you not imagine how unbearable it was; watching her swoon over Ragon while he despised her? He never deserved her affections, but I appreciate her; when I kill you she will know that.”

A fresh wave of tears
spilled from Ari’s eyes and streamed down her face. Love- this was all about love.

“You’re going to kill me?” she
said, her voice shaking.

Sameth nodded.

“Please don’t cry,” he said, his cool fingertips brushing lightly against her cheek so as to wipe away her tears. “Kiara would not have killed you quickly; she would have seen that you suffer. She would have tormented you. With me, it will be over in a second- you won’t feel a thing.”

Ari couldn’t help but cry harder at these words.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said, her breathless voice amplified by deep sobs.

“Can’t you see? I am doing you a
kindness.” 

“A kindness would be to untie me and let me go,”
said Ari.

“I can use this,” said
Sameth, looking admiring at the blade in his hand. “In one fast motion it will all be over; no more senseless attacks, no more difficult decisions with Ragon… no more pain.”