Indulgence (242 page)

“He isn’t my boyfriend,” I choked out.

“Oh, I see. Trouble in paradise?” Lucious walked slowly
towards me, kicking a framed picture of me and Vincent that I had thrown
earlier.

“Something like that,” I said. Springing to my feet, I
grabbed the fireplace poker that was lying on the ground and charged Lucious. I
drew my right hand back, holding the poker like a spear, and aimed for my
enemy’s throat. I leapt in the air and as I did, Lucious let out an evil laugh.
He caught the spear with me still holding on to it and tossed me into the
kitchen.

“Is that all you have?” he cackled through his laughter.
“Allison, you are going to have to try harder than that.”

Lucious continued laughing as I darted out the broken door.
The cool morning air was not welcome against my icy flesh. The sun was starting
to rise in the east so I headed west, where it was still a bit darker. I leapt
over the shrubs that bordered the woods, ran a few paces and came upon a huge
tree. I scaled it and perched myself on a branch. I couldn’t see Lucious but I
could still smell him. I stooped there in silence for what seemed like an
eternity until his harsh voice broke through the morning air.

“Come out, come out where ever you are,” Lucious sang in a
slow, wicked tone.

I closed my eyes to allow my ears to concentrate on the
sounds in the woods. I heard a branch snap to my left and turned to look. I
strained my eyes but couldn’t see anything. I closed my eyes again hoping to
concentrate like Max had taught me on our hunting trip. I let my ears
concentrate on my surroundings. I could hear his footsteps in the distance.
There was no mistaking it was Lucious; no one else lived remotely close to my
house. I kept my eyes closed and could hear each slow and methodical step he
took looking for his prey; looking for me. Then he stopped. I kept my eyes
closed. He wasn’t moving but I could hear his breathing. He must be trying to
trick me, to make me believe he left the woods so I would come out. I slowly
opened my eyes, each diminutive detail of my surroundings presented in front of
me. It was the visual equivalent of the thousands of radios I had heard when
Lucious woke me from my mediation. I let my sense of smell guide my eyes to my
target. There he was off in the distance. Lucious was casually leaning against
a tree picking at his nails. He either wasn’t taking this seriously or was
overly confident that his ploy was going to work.

I pushed myself to the edge of the branch, my eyes never
leaving my attacker. I gingerly pushed myself from the branch, and landed on
another branch on the tree in front of me. Lucious didn’t move. I did it again,
quietly moving to a tree closer to my target and again, he didn’t hear me. I
repeated this a few times until I was closer to Lucious, yet still too far away
for my normal vision to see him. I quietly scaled down the tree. I was going to
have to do something here. I couldn’t run because Lucious would hear that and
besides, he could pick up my scent and follow me. There was no escape; I had to
face my enemy head on.

I felt the pit in my stomach flare up and the back of my
throat burn with desire for another meal. Nothing seemingly wanted to go my
way. Not only did I have to escape Lucious and his planned demise for my
existence, but I also had the need for another hunt. Nice timing.

I paused at the base of the tree, readying myself for the
attack and then his voice cut through the morning air.

“You smell just like him, you know,” Lucious stated.

I froze. Lucious stood by the tree playing with his nails
like he was uninterested in the situation. “Just like Cain and the rest of his
family. Did your new friends tell you about your long lost ancestors?” He
looked up and appeared to look straight at me though I had no way of knowing if
he could actually see me. “But your scent is stronger. Why is that, Allison?”

A chill went down my spine as my enemy spoke my name.

“It’s a shame really,” he continued, standing straight up,
“that you are one of his. It’s such a shame to have to rid this world of such a
beautiful vampire.” A half hearted smile spread across his lips and he leapt
out of view. My eyes scanned the woods for him but I couldn’t find him. I could
smell him, so I knew he was still near.

“You don’t have to kill me, Lucious,” I yelled, hoping for a
reply so I could determine the direction he had gone. “I have no issue with
you.” Part of me was really hoping that Lucious would just take me up on that
and leave me alone, but I knew better.

His wicked laughter rang through the forest. “You may not
have issue with me,” his voice sounded like it was coming from all directions,
“but I have issue with your great ancestor that left me for dead…twice,” he
sneered. “And for that, all of his descendants must pay the ultimate price.”

Two feet landed with a heavy thud several yards behind me. I
whirled around. Lucious stood there, his jacket gone. He wore a high necked,
skin tight white t-shirt over tight black denim pants. His arms were covered in
tattoos which caught my attention but I didn’t have time to analyze them. I
instinctively crouched, a low growl grumbling in my stomach. Lucious assumed
the same stance; his upper lip curled back revealing his teeth which glistened
with venom. I dug deep for some energy and pushed off the ground and ran
towards Lucious. He ran towards me as well. The growl in my belly bubbled up my
through my throat and out of my mouth which coincided with a giant leap off the
ground. Lucious leapt in the air as well. Mid-jump, I felt my skin harden into
my protective armor.

I collided with Lucious in mid-air. It sounded like two cars
crashing into each other, metal on metal. The clanking rang throughout the
forest and the valley below us. I wrapped my hands around his neck as we fell
to the ground and quickly realized this was no ordinary t-shirt that Lucious
was wearing. The high necked collar was made of metal, a protective covering
for his Achilles heel.

We rolled over the forest floor. Lucious rolled on top of me
and straddled my chest. He easily pulled my hands from around his neck and
pinned my arms to my side. He laughed a sinister laugh as he read the
expression on my face at my realization of what was around his neck. He slowly
wrapped his left hand around my neck and sneered, “You really didn’t think it
would be that easy, now did you?”

I gasped for air as I flailed my legs trying any way to get
Lucious off of me. He threw his head back in laughter, the sound clattering
through the valley. He calmed down and dropped his head to look at me.
Something in his eyes had changed. They weren’t coal black. His eyes had a red
tint to them and gleamed like gems. It took me a moment but I realized I had
seen these eyes before. They were the same as those of the serpent in the
garden. The black turned into red, a harrowing sight against Lucious’s ghastly
expression and stark black hair. He drew his lips back and the long fangs
slowly protruded. I could now understand how my prey felt before an attack.

Lucious threw his head back and lunged for my neck and in
doing so loosened his stance. I shook my arms free, grabbed his arms and kicked
him over my head. He landed against a thick tree with a thunderous sound and
slid down the trunk, bark falling around him. I sprang to my feet and assumed
my fighting stance.

“Oh,” he purred. “You do have a little fight in you.”

“Come on,” I hissed, curling the fingers on both of my
hands, inviting him forward. “Let’s get on with this.”

We both let out growls as we charged each other. This time I
lifted Lucious overhead and heaved him into a boulder. Another deafening sound
echoed through the air. My strength surprised me and apparently surprised
Lucious too.

“You are much stronger than I expected,” he said as he
lifted a hand to touch his bloody lip. “Especially for an infant.”

I charged at him and lunged in the air, one leg extended at
my target. But before I could deliver the kick to his chest, Lucious grabbed my
leg. It was as if I had frozen in midair for the briefest of moments, and then
fell crashing to the forest floor on my back. The fallen leaves didn’t provide
much of a cushion.

Lucious pounced on top of me and we rolled around in the
dirt and leaves. He again pinned me on my back, his red eyes blazing with
hatred and the venom flowing through his veins. He shoved his hand towards my
neck so I shifted my head to cover the only vulnerable part on my body. I used
my left hand to push on Lucious’s neck. I clawed at the metal collar, barely
able to discern it from Lucious’ armored skin. I knew that I had to remove this
contraption if I had any hope of seeing nightfall.

Lucious grabbed both of my hands, stood up and whipped me
across the forest. I somersaulted through the air and landed flat footed on the
ground. It seemed I was getting more coordinated as this fight progressed.
Lucious looked perplexed as I stared through the trees at him. I ran towards
him, leapt towards a branch, flipped myself around it and planted a kick square
in his chest. I amazed myself with my power after seeing how far I had kicked
him. I ran towards him again and sat on his chest, pinning him to the ground.
Lucious hissed and writhed beneath me as I tried removing the metal brace, the
only thing between me and my existence.

“You’ll never get that off,” Lucious uttered through labored
breath. “You aren’t strong enough for that.”

“Never say never,” I replied and winked at him as I pulled a
chunk of the metal loose.

Lucious looked shocked that I had the strength to break
through what he thought was an impenetrable collar. I shoved my hand towards
his neck to take another piece, my confidence growing at the realization that I
could defeat him, and as I did, he let out a deep growl and shoved me off of
him. I went sailing through the air and as I landed on the ground, Lucious
landed on top of me. He threw his head back letting out another snarl and I
responded with a deep rumble of my own. Our roars echoed through the ridge like
clapping thunder. Lucious turned his head to look at me, his lips curled back,
his fangs protruding from his mouth. I held his chin with my left hand as I
used my right to claw at the band around his neck. I pulled off another chunk
and tauntingly waved it in his face. Another growl bellowed from deep within
him; his eyes more piercing than before.

I kicked Lucious off me and he landed in a clearing where
the rising sun covered half of the forest floor. I walked over to him and
planted a foot into his jaw which sent blood and venom flying. His venom hit
the dry leaves, instantly igniting a smoldering fire. I grabbed Lucious by what
was left of his protective collar and dragged him to the part of the clearing
where the sun was shining. I knew the sun wouldn’t kill him, but it would
inflict some serious pain, maybe even give me the upper hand in this fight.

I sat on his chest and slowly pushed his upper body into the
sun’s rays. Lucious rolled his eyes back to look at what was coming and panic
washed over his face.

“Nooooooooooo,” he yelled. He knew what was about to happen
and it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

The sun slowly washed over his ashen face and as it did,
pain became apparent. Lucious’ body shook violently. He tried to buck me off of
him but I held steadfast. I grabbed the collar and yanked on it. A growl
billowed from my stomach as I exerted my energy in attempting to free the
collar from his neck. Lucious thrashed with pain as the sun boiled the venom in
his blood. His body jerked violently and he was cursing me in a language I
didn’t understand. But I focused all of my attention on the collar wondering if
it would ever come free. The sun burned my hands as well; I felt the venom
beginning to simmer underneath my icy skin. I eased my grip for the slightest
of moments trying to muster more strength and then tugged on it again.

A loud snap rang through the air. As the collar gave, I
tumbled backwards from the amount of power I had used to break the protective
shield. Lucious rolled out of the sunlight and gasped for breath, trying to
recover from his boiling blood. I sprang to my feet. I had Lucious where I
wanted him.

I lunged at him, flying effortlessly through the air. As I
was about to land on him, he pulled his knees to his chest and threw a kick
with both legs that hit me in the chest, reeling me back from where I had just
come. I crashed into a fallen tree but immediately popped back up ready to
fight. Lucious was crouched across the clearing from me.

“Let’s go little girl,” Lucious summoned.

“You’re all mine old man,” I hissed in return.

We ran towards each other, clashing in the air again like
two metal boulders colliding. Our hands interlocked and we twisted each other’s
hands outwards like we were playing a game of mercy. Both of our arms shook as
we tried to overpower the other but I was gaining the upper hand. I was
overpowering Lucious.

Lucious fell to his knees as I twisted harder. He wrinkled
his nose in pain as he continued to quiver. I briefly turned his wrists up,
providing momentary relief for him, and then sharply twisted them back,
snapping both. Lucious let out an agonizing howl. I pulled him to his feet and
towards me and head butted him, sending him into a tree. Lucious was dazed. I
could see in his eyes the reflection of the fire burning behind me. It was like
looking into the fiery depths of hell. I marched up to him and grabbed him by
the neck, as he had done earlier to me. I hoisted him high above me.

“Good riddance,” I snarled and dug my nails into his neck.
His venomous blood spilled over my hand and stung my skin. The pain was too
much to bear so I dropped his limp body to the ground; he struggled for breath
as he choked on his own blood. I hovered over him and finished the job. I sunk
my teeth into his neck and took a bite, ripping his life line from his body.
Venom spilled over onto the ground, singeing the fall leaves.