Indulgence (241 page)

“Well they certainly aren’t yours anymore.”

“And they certainly can’t protect you! Caz was hot on your
trail and Lorenzo wanted to have a family meeting to discuss how to handle the
situation!”

“Caz?”

“Yes, Casper Devoe, Luscious’ henchman. You remember him
from the Halloween party don’t you? He was getting closer to you. He scouted
out descendants in Cocoa Beach, then Tennessee, then that young couple in
Columbus. I knew he was at the hospital the day before your accident; I could
smell him all over you. And then he showed up at Jordana’s party. And what did
your
siblings want to do? They wanted to talk. Well there was no time to talk. If
Caz was that close, then Lucious and Delilah weren’t too far behind, and I was
right, wasn’t I? I did what I had to do to protect you!”

“Leave,” I yelled, pointing a finger out over the valleys.
“And never, ever return.”

Vincent paused and eyed me from head to toe. “It’s too bad
you don’t want to join me. We really could have enjoyed eternity together.”

“Leave!”

Vincent took a deep breath and sighed. “Your wish,” he
placed one arm in front of him and the other in back and took a bow, his eyes
never leaving mine, “my command.” With that, he stood up and in two huge leaps
he was out of sight.

I stared out over the lake and into the ridge where he had
just disappeared. Everything had happened so quickly I had to wonder if it had
happened at all. I took a deep breath and swallowed the cool air into the pit
of my stomach. The anger still churned, but now that he had left, it seemed to
subside. Could he really be gone, just like that? I expected more of a fight
from him. I thought he would try harder to convince me to go with him. If I was
such a prized possession, how could he just go? The depth of my anger must have
shown through so much that he knew he couldn’t convince me tonight. Or was
there something else?

I walked to the edge of the ridge and looked down. Fog
rolled up over the jagged landscape like a bubbling caldron. I hopped off the
ledge and descended into the darkness. I had to see for myself if Vincent was
gone or up to something else. I landed on an outcropping and searched through
the fog in the three directions around me but saw no sign of him. I took a step
off the ledge and descended several hundred feet below to the river’s edge. The
riverbank was smooth dirt dotted with rocks. There were no foot prints. I took
a deep breath but could only smell the crisp fall air. Vincent’s scent was
nowhere to be found. He must have moved so fast that I couldn’t pick up his
scent.

I looked around again. The moon had moved towards the west
and reflected brightly off of the stream.
What am I doing
, I thought to
myself. I told Vincent to leave yet I was down here looking for him. I should
have known better. He wasn’t going to stick around and be humiliated by my
rejection. His ego wouldn’t allow that.

I looked into the stream and saw my reflection staring back
at me. The tears had stopped but trails of blistered flesh were temporarily
left in its place, some already starting to heal. I looked sad and felt confused.
I didn’t know what I was supposed to do now. I desperately wanted to look for
Matt but had no idea where to even start or what to say to him if I found him.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back to the castle or just leave and start
fresh someplace new. Something in my reflection caught my attention. Something
was different. I examined my mirror image trying to identify what was off. My
eyes. They were a pale version of the vibrant rings I was accustomed to seeing.
My belly let out a growl that snuck up to my throat. The back of my throat felt
like it was on fire. I needed to feed.

I turned toward the wall of rock that I needed to scale to
get back to the lake and my house. From there, I would run back to the castle
so that I could hunt with one of my siblings.

I leapt towards the ravine, aiming for a rock jutting out of
the side but as I approached the rock, I missed it. I expected to land on my
two feet on top of the rock, but my new found agility failed me. I wrapped my
arms around the rock as my legs dangled below. “What was that all about,” I
muttered to myself. I swung my legs back and forth until I had enough momentum
to swing myself up and around, where I landed on my original target. I took a
deep breath and pondered what had just happened. After relaxing for a minute, I
realized I was drained. It must be a combination of not eating enough on my
first hunt and my argument with Vincent that had zapped me of all my energy. I
wondered again what I should do – run back to the castle and hunt or rest first.
A flare of heat ignited in the back of my throat...eat, I need to eat.

I set my sights on another rock, several feet above me. If I
could make it to that rock, then it would be just a short jump to the top and I
could head back to the castle. I dug down to find some energy and sprang
towards my target but missed again. I didn’t land anywhere near where I wanted.
I hit the side of the ravine and slid down, rocks and brush scratching my skin.

I slid down the side finally resting on another jagged outcropping,
small rocks and other debris hitting me on their way to the river. I realized I
needed to take smaller jumps to get to the top; I just didn’t have the energy
for anything more than that.

I took small leaps, expending all of my energy, and
eventually made it back to the lake. I bent over and grabbed my knees taking in
a much needed breath. I surveyed my body. My blouse was ripped and several
scrapes appeared on my arms. I had a hole in the knee of my pants and even
broke a heel off of my boot. I sat on the bench and took my boots off; they
were of no use to me broken. I hung my head and decided I needed rest first
before hunting. There was no way I had the stamina to run back to Castle Adena.

I got up and walked towards my house, remembering the important
rule Marlo had taught me when it came to meditating…find a safe place. I
grabbed the handle of the backdoor but it was locked. I formed an open palmed
fist with my right hand and pushed it through the glass. I apparently had
enough strength for that because it broke on my first attempt. I pulled my hand
back and it was a bloody mess and stung with venom, but at least it would heal
itself. I unlocked the door and walked in.

It felt like I was home, like I had really lived here for
the three years Vincent had said I did. Everything was familiar to me, but that
was probably due to Vincent’s contrived, and quite convincing, images. I walked
through the living room and came upon the sofa table where the framed
photographs were displayed. I picked up one of me and Jenna. I felt the sting
of a tear touch my eye but I fought off the tears as I did not want to deal
with the fiery pain. I missed my best friend Jenna so much and wondered if I’d
ever be able to see her again. I then grabbed the photo of Matt on his motorcycle
and stared at it before holding it to my chest as if hugging his photo would
make me feel better. It didn’t. I set down that picture and picked up the next.
This one was of me and Vincent on the Lake Erie shoreline at sunset. We were
sitting on the beach with the bright orange sky behind us. We had our arms
wrapped around each other in a playful embrace. We both looked so happy.

I felt disgusted. I slammed the frame down against the table
shattering the glass. I flipped over every other framed photo of the two of us.
I didn’t want to see him, even in a photo, after what he had done to me.

After breaking all of the picture frames, and throwing a few
across the room, I stomped up the stairs to the loft bedroom. I threw myself on
the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The bed was soft and feathery like a
cloud, but I wasn’t comfortable and this wasn’t going to help me rest. I sprang
from the bed and landed on the wall overlooking the living room. I surveyed the
rooms below me and decided this would be the best place to rest.

I crouched down, assuming my meditation position. I pulled
back my hearing but was having a difficult time. This morning’s events were
still running through my head like a marathon runner. I took a deep breath and
tried again. The sounds of the cricket’s chirping and the soft breeze began to
fade. Slowly, my eyes began to close. I heard a noise from below, it sounded
like something moving over broken glass, but I fought to keep my concentration.
I had to rest before my run back to my family and my next hunting trip. My
hearing turned to deafness and my vision faded to blackness. As my sense of
smell cut off, I caught a tiny whiff of something pungent. My mind went blank
and I was out.

I wasn’t sure how long I perched there but the next thing I
knew I was falling off the wall and sailing across the living room. I landed
with a great deal of force against the fireplace. My senses were all over the
place. Every nook and cranny of the brick was visible to me. I could see every
grain of wood in the floor. Sounds flooded my ears as if thousands of radios
were blasting at the same time. I looked up to the loft and saw a shadow move
amongst all of the fine details I was trying to comprehend.

I used all of my will power to pull in my senses, to gain
some self control. Pretty quickly all of the minute details faded into complete
pictures and the ruckus in my ears was replaced with the breeze and crickets,
and another noise. Heavy footsteps were clunking down my staircase at a slow
pace. I stuck my nose in the air and caught a whiff of a pungent, earthy smell.
It was the same scent I had picked up right before I slipped into meditation.

“Well, well, well,” a raspy voice rang from the stairs, one
heavy footstep following another. “Look who I found.”

The figure emerged from the foyer, his black, glass-like
eyes leading the way.

“Lucious,” I hissed. His menacing figure stood at the edge
of the foyer, his bitter scent filled my nostrils. His long black hair cascaded
over his shoulders which were cloaked in a long black coat. He stepped forward
and a glimmer of the rising sun illuminated his silhouette. His build was
strong and muscular and tall, an ominous combination considering the feral
expression his face wore. His eyes were a frightening shade of black, like
coal. It was like looking into the depths of nothingness.

“You know who I am?” Lucious asked sarcastically.

I stood up, fireplace bricks crumbling around me. The
scrapes on my arms from my fall down the ravine were gone except for a few pink
scars which were rapidly disappearing. Venom from my fresh cuts from my trip
into the fireplace, courtesy of my uninvited guest, was stinging in their
place. But I felt better than I had before; I had some of my strength back, so
I must have gotten just enough rest. But looking at Lucious, I wasn’t sure if I
would have enough stamina to outrun him or the strength to take him on in a
fight.

This visit couldn’t be good news for me after the promise he
and his mate, Delilah, announced at the Halloween party. He was here for me. He
was going to kill me.

“I would ask what you want,” I boldly stated, trying to give
the impression I wasn’t afraid, “but I already know.”

Lucious chuckled. He stepped down into the living room and
walked towards the kitchen. “I am surprised to find you here alone, Allison.
That is your name, right?” He threw his head over his shoulder when he said my
name and then looked away like he wasn’t the least bit interested in me.

I turned my body as Lucious walked into the kitchen but
didn’t respond to his question.

“You have my sincerest regret that we were not formally
introduced before, well,” he turned to face me across the kitchen counter,
“before all this.” Lucious pointed at the fireplace.

I said nothing, not knowing where Lucious was going with
this conversation. Instead, my mind clicked ahead, assessing my situation. How
was I going to fight Lucious? He was so much bigger than me. And not only that,
I hadn’t been in a fight since becoming a vampire. Heck I was never in a fight
as a mortal, how was I going to know what to do?

Lucious walked out of the kitchen and back into the living
room. As he walked in front of me, the couch the only separation between us, he
stuck his nose in the air and took a long sniff.

“You smell even sweeter since he changed you.” Lucious
walked next to me and grabbed my chin. “Tell me Allison, why did Vincent
transform you?”

I stared down at the ground, wishing my body would go into
attack mode so my armored skin would protect me.

“Answer the question!” Lucious yelled, his voice thundering
through my tiny house.

I jerked my head up. “I don’t know,” I said with a
surprising amount of calmness.

Lucious stepped closer and pressed his face next to mine.
“I’ll tell you why,” he snarled. He grabbed my throat with his left hand and
slowly, effortlessly, hoisted me in the air. My body clenched in fear and all I
could think was that I was going to die in this moment. I grabbed his one hand
with both of mine hoping for some relief.

“Because he knew you had no chance against me as a mortal,”
Lucious snarled. I grabbed at his leather cloaked arm, hitting it, hoping it
would release me. Lucious chuckled, maybe at my feeble effort or maybe at the
thoughts running through his head. “And by changing you, he thought you might
have a chance to fight me off!” Lucious exclaimed as he threw me across the
room into the wall. His laughter filled the house.

I landed on the ground and gasped for air. I grabbed my
neck, rubbing it for relief. I scanned the room looking for a way out of the
house. I had to get Lucious out in the open if I wanted any chance at winning
this battle. But with my last trip across the room, I was further away from the
door, my only escape.

Lucious bent lower, his head even with mine though he was
still across the room. “Where is your dear boyfriend Vincent?” he growled.