Demon Vampire (The Redgold Series) (39 page)

Zack doubled over. He sat onto the coffee table. Only to have Kyli kick his feet from under him. Zack settled on his back after his head struck the table.

“What the hell?” Zack said in a daze, coddling his forehead. Most of the impact was to the back of his head. Zack rolled to his left and fell onto the floor. When he righted himself, his knees were bent and up in the air.

“This.” Kyli smirked.

“What?” Zack writhed on the floor.

“A what?” Kyli put her open hand around the back of her left ear, listening for Zack's pathetic response.

“A good ass-kicking?” Zack slowly got up.

“Well, a whooping, but an ass-kicking will suffice.” Kyli was being smug. She knew that Zack had no chance of winning against her in person. She wanted to prove it to him. To show him that his physical strength wouldn't be enough against Malio. Kyli wanted to show Zack just how much difference there was between his strength and hers. This was a lesson in facts, not training, not yet. First there was the realization of his lack of power. Then came the need for Zack to obtain some power of his own. “Now get up and hit me.”

“Why? I don't want to hit you. You're my girlfriend.” Zack was up, but hurting.

“Aww, that's cute.” Kyli hesitated. “You think I'm your girlfriend.” Kyli was trying to piss Zack off.

It worked.

Zack snapped. “How dare you, after the shit you dragged me into!” Zack stepped in close to Kyli's face.

“Bad move.” Kyli reminded Zack that he shouldn't get angry with her. Kyli quickly shoved her shoulder into Zack's chest, knocking him down onto the coffee table, nearly breaking the well made structure. Zack was thinking that she must have picked it out knowing its toughness would come in handy years down the line.

Zack coughed. A small trickle of blood slipped out of his mouth.

“Don't get close to the person attacking you, unless you intend to stop them from doing so. And don't
ever
tick them off as you do it.” Kyli was lecturing Zack now. She had her left hand on her hip and was wagging her right index finger back and forth with each syllable. A solid smirk, plastered on her face.

“So how am I supposed to defend myself against a 400 year old vampeal?” Zack coughed again and sat up, steadying himself.

“In your mind.” Kyli pointed to her head. “You have no chance while the fight is physical, he'll kill you. But if you can get him to enter your dream world, then you have a chance. He may have lots of gifts that he's accumulated over the centuries, but he doesn't have what you have.”

“How though? I can't do it can I? Not to him right?”

“Yes and no. You can enter his dreams if you want, but that's his world, his mind. Whatever skill you get through our training will be diminished there. It's his turf after all and his rules. Especially if he has any type of mental gift already. In truth we have no way of knowing what he can or can't do. Your best bet is to get him into your dream world.” Kyli stopped.

“Yeah, I get that. But how do I get him in here?” Zack pointed to his head.

Kyli put her hands on both of Zack's shoulders. “You're not going to like it. You sure you want to know?”

“I'll die if I don't, so tell me and let's get on with it.” Zack's face was sad and disheartened. He had no idea what Kyli was going to tell him. Experience had taught him that she was at best unpredictable. Kyli was a wild card to be played at her own whim.

“Okay.” Is the only word Zack heard before Kyli pushed him back with enough force that both of them flew into the couch behind him.

The coffee table broke and the couch tipped over as Kyli pinned Zack. She was holding him down and He didn't know why. Kyli's hands were pressing into Zack's shoulders. There was a cold sensation on his back. It was coming from beneath his left shoulder. It was cool and slippery. Kyli was pressed down on him and he had no clue why. She was kissing his neck. Kyli had told Zack there was a way to get Malio to enter his dreams. She still hadn't said how. Zack was getting dizzy and lightheaded. His vision was blurring. Zack looked around and Kyli was still on him, pressing into his chest vigorously. She was slowly pulsing, moving slightly in a rhythm that was unfamiliar to Zack. He wondered what she could be doing. Zack was feeling colder, the slippery feeling was turning warm now. Zack pushed on Kyli, his strength was failing him. He was getting weaker. Zack strained to his left to see what Kyli was pressing on. Zack's ears started to fade, the sounds of the room were leaving him, becoming muffled. His eyes were getting hazy. A feeling of confusion was setting in. Zack didn't know what was happening. The last sight he remembered before passing out was Kyli latched onto his throat, with blood covering her face. Zack's blood, that she was swallowing.

* * * *

A red ocean tinted the landscape. Its color hindered the hues of green and brown, poisoning their nature. There was fear within it, there was malice. The blood spoke with unheard words to those near. The ocean of blood was within Zack's dream.

On the shoreline, Kyli faced it, and shuttered. It had an evil feel, it was unnerving. The waves slowed. They seemed to move with intention and with a sentience about them. Kyli watched as the darker portions of the sea formed together. They assembled into a grand smile that spread over many miles, far out into the ocean. Kyli shivered from the thought of what this sea might represented for Zack. She was afraid of it and wanted to leave. The wind picked up, and was beating goose bumps up her spine. Kyli saw what looked like eyes in the distance, staring back at her. She remembered the painting of Zack's from when they went to the psychic. Kyli felt it call to her, telling her without words she was not welcome.

“Kyli, don't look at it. That's not me.” Zack wrapped his arms around Kyli with one hand shielding her eyes.

Kyli could feel Zack's touch, it was warm. He was warm.

“That
thing
is not me. I'm
here
, holding you, right now.” Zack turned Kyli around and placed her hand onto his chest. Zack squeezed Kyli tight to him.

The sight of the red ocean was encompassing, blinding. Kyli was trying to dilute the overwhelming sensation the demon had given her by thinking of something else, anything else. Zack's arms around her was the only sensation that calmed her thoughts. He was her grounding point. Zack's hand on hers was nice, it was reassuring. Kyli noticed the strength in which Zack was holding her. She was supposed to be training him in how to exert more of a physical connection on someone. It appeared that Zack was a natural.

Kyli looked into Zack's brown eyes. “Did you get taller?”

“I don't think so. Do I seem taller?” Zack replied.

“Maybe it's the dream. It's weird you know.” Kyli was dazed peering into Zack's eyes.

“What is it?” Zack asked.

“I can feel your hands, your arms. You're warm.” Kyli told Zack.

“Am I hurting you?” Zack was being cautious. He let up a little to make sure Kyli was okay.

“No, it's nice. You feel comforting to me in this eerie place.” Kyli realized she was leaning into Zack, pushing her body back into his. She was enjoying this little moment together with Zack.

“Let's get away from the shore. I don't like it here, I can hear it more there. Let's get off of the beach, Zack. I want you to take me into the field where you brought me before.”

Zack led Kyli a few hundred feet away from the shoreline. Down a lightly beaten path of sand with old wooden planks partially buried under the surface. Quickly, the shoe gave way to the open field of Zack's youth.

Instead of a dense forest or humid jungle to represent Zack's humanity, there was a vast plane of flowing wheat. At the edge of the beach there was a row of coarse trees, palms, and brush separating the shore from the beach. The small path was a transition into Zack's own mind. The part of him still untainted by the demon or the vampire infection. The scene was beautiful, it was an airy field of grain, with wind wisping by. The tips of wheat danced as the sky above slowly crawled by with thick gray clouds. It was warmer as opposed to the beach. It looked as if rain was imminent, but none fell. The atmosphere was wet and cool. It was temperate and enjoyable. The sun was covered by clouds, there was rain in the distance to provide the cool wet breeze. A shower on the far horizon was waiting to come by at another time. The hues were not vibrant or dull, they were playful. There was enough color to please the eye and nothing more.

Kyli liked Zack's mind, this was truly a well crafted world. “You made this?” Kyli asked in amazement.

Zack was partially insulted. She was doubting him. In a timid manner, Zack responded. “Who else? I don't just let people in for the weekend. This is my dream and I like the open calm of a field with rain in the distance. It reminds me of a picnic my dad brought me to when I was young. Of a time that I didn't have to worry about the details of the world. A place I could just sit and enjoy for what it was, as it was.” Zack was insightful, almost poetic when speaking to Kyli.

Zack was still holding Kyli's hand. Kyli noticed a clear change in the way it felt to her. It was colder than before. Kyli was having trouble sensing Zack's skin. The contact was numb, as if nothing was there at all. Kyli knew that this was because they had left the shore. The farther Zack was from the demon, the less influence it had over him. The less power it lent him. Unfortunately, the closer he was, the greater Zack's innate power was in the dream world. That was at least the theory, one Kyli had to test.

“Zack, you're going to hate me.” Kyli said with a frown.

“Why? I actually like you very much. I think you complement my personality. You test me to make me accomplish greater things.” Zack smiled. He hadn't figured out what Kyli was about to do to him.

“This is why.” Kyli gestured with her eyes for Zack to look down. Kyli had shifted Zack's hand on her left breast and Zack hadn't noticed.

Zack pulled back. “What the hell are you doing? I didn't do that, you did.” Zack braced himself. Ready for Kyli to strike him. “Don't hurt me okay?”

“Relax, I know you didn't do anything. That isn't the problem.” Kyli was expressing contempt for what Zack was doing.

“Then what is?” Zack was clueless.

“How did it feel?” Kyli folded her arms.

“How did what feel?” Zack played dumb.

“My breast. How did it feel?.” Kyli tapped her right foot, waiting for an answer.

“Well, I, I mean, I don't know. I'm not sure. What does that matter anyway?” Zack was gravely embarrassed. He couldn't see why touching Kyli would ever matter in his training.

Kyli was about to show Zack why feeling is everything in a dream.

Kyli stepped back and laid the facts down. “You can't tell me because you didn't feel it. I felt your arms holding me tight on the shore, but not here. This place is different. You're different here. You have less power here. If I had done that on the beach you'd of been grinning the moment I slid your hand up. That didn't happen here. You're weaker here, or rather stronger there. What I do know is that we are training here, in this field. Not there.”

“What's the difference?” Zack had regained from Kyli's unorthodox way of telling him he couldn't feel anything.

“We can easily see how much progress we've made here. Besides, that beach is creepy. I don't like the way it smiled at me.” Kyli began to take off the red dress she was wearing.

“Wait! What are you doing now?” Zack rushed forward towards Kyli, stumbling onto her.

Kyli had pulled off her dress to reveal the black skin tight sportswear she liked to wear around her apartment. “What's the matter? I'm just changing. In this place, I can wear anything I want. It's all about how you think of yourself. It's just cosmetics here. Back in the apartment we're still wearing what we were from the party.”

“You mean I don't have to wear this suit in here?” Zack peered down at the tuxedo that had been mangled by Kyli's ruff abuse. His mismanaged point making skills were evident. “How?”

“Think about what you wore the night we met.” Kyli folded the red dress. “Close your eyes.”

Zack stood up, closed his eyes, and remembered the long sleeve shirt, the relaxed pants, shoes and socks from that night.

“Open up, you did it.” Kyli informed him.

Zack's eyes looked down. He was wearing the same dark gray long sleeved t-shirt he wore the night they met at the club. The same black cotton pants and the same black shoes with white socks. Zack liked this, it was a freedom that was both amusing and practical. “I could get used to this.”

“Not too bad, but you could have left out the white socks.” Kyli uncrossed her arms.

Zack concentrated, the socks turned black before his eyes. “Is that better?”

“Now you're getting the hang of it.” Kyli adjusted the length of her shorts from the high mid leg to a caprice style. She pulled the bra-like top down into a thin, loose tank top. The fabric seamlessly stretched to meet her needs. “Now this is something a little more comfortable for kicking your ass in.”

“
If
you can.” Zack smiled.

Kyli leaped over Zack, landing a few feet behind him. With a powerful thrust she kicked Zack with one foot in the middle of his back. Zack heard his back crack, but felt only a dull, fleeting moment of pain. He righted himself and turned to meet Kyli.