Shadow Born: Book 1 of the Shadow-Borne Chronicles (7 page)

Before Alec had time to think of anything else, the man before him swung his fist, aiming for Alec’s face.
 
For the second time that day, time slowed down to a crawl.
 
He acted instinctively and ducked the blow easily, then when he came back up he balled his right fist up and punched the man in the face as hard as he could.
 

Alec had a lot of pent up fear and anger inside of him and he used it to defend himself.
 
His punch landed solidly on the guys jaw and to Alec’s surprise and horror, the man was suddenly knocked off his feet and thrown at least ten feet backward by the blow.
 
Alec was also convinced he felt bones break in the man’s face.

Before Alec had time to digest what actually happened, one of the men facing Marc turned, and in a blur of speed no human should ever be able to achieve, was standing in front of Alec.
 
This man too swung his first at Alec, and again time slowed and he felt he had all the time in the world to react.
 
He stepped backwards, but didn’t swing at the man.
 
The man blinked in surprise and pushed his attack.
 
This time he did a one-two punch at Alec’s head, which both missed, and then dropped and tried to sweep Alec’s legs out from under him.

Alec easily jumped in the air and avoided the leg sweep.
 
When the man came back up, Alec pivoted, brought his leg up, and kicked the man in the face with all his might.
 
This time he was sure he felt bones crunch.
 
This man too was knocked off his feet and flew backwards to land with a harsh thud, some distance from where he had started.

Alec turned to find Marc with the third man’s arm twisted behind him and slammed the guys head down to meet his knee on the way up.
 
Marc grabbed the man by the back of his shirt and literally threw him several yards to his right.

When Marc turned, he looked disbelieving.
 
With a quick sweep of his eyes he located the bodies of the other two men.
 
He gave Alec a look that he couldn’t read, and then said, “Come on, we have to get you out of here.”

Alec didn’t understand what was going on and he wasn’t going to take the time to ask at the moment.
 
He followed Marc back to his car at a run and both men hoped in.
 
Marc started the car, slammed it in to gear and gunned the engine.
 
In a matter of moments they were away from the park and on the freeway headed north.

Alec sat back in his seat and tried to digest what had just happened.
 
This was insane.
 
He honestly wondered if the horrible events of his abduction had finally caused him to lose his mind, because he sure as hell felt like reality was crashing down around him.

Marc was driving like a bat out of hell down the freeway, all his concentration on the road ahead.
 
He didn’t turn to Alec and he didn’t say anything.

After a moment, Alec finally worked up the nerve to speak.
 
“What the hell is going on Marc?
 
Who were those guys?
 
How did they… how did we… I…” he didn’t even know how to ask the questions without sounding ludicrous.

“Silas will explain everything.
 
Alec… I’m sorry.”

Marc didn’t say anything more.
 
He just drove at speeds that were reckless, whipping around other cars when they got in the way or were too slow.
 
He took an exit that Alec wasn’t familiar with and turned on the fourth or fifth road to their right.
 
Eventually he pulled in front of a large mansion with a gate and two guards at attendance.
 
He nodded to the guards as he pulled the car in front of the gate.
 
They nodded once, examined Alec for a brief moment, and then the gate slid open.
 

Marc quickly pulled up in front of the large house, turned off the motor and got out.
 
Alec followed suit wondering what in the holy hell was going on.

Marc opened the door and invited Alec in, which Alec thought was strange, but no stranger than the rest of the night he supposed.
 
Marc nodded to an older man who was dressed in what seemed to be some sort of butler’s uniform and motioned for Alec to follow.

Alec didn’t really have a lot of time to take in the extravagance of the house, but they walked through an open area with a white marble floor and sweeping stairways on the right and left that led up to a second story.
 
They walked straight on down a hallway with a red carpet runner and pictures of various people on the walls.
 
Spaced every so many feet were tables against the walls that held flowers, and vases and other odd accouterments that you might expect to see in a well-furnished mansion.

Marc led Alec to a T intersection with large hallways that went left and right, but didn’t go down either, instead Marc walked straight to a set of double doors with men standing at attention on either side.
 
They nodded once to him and he opened both doors and ushered Alec inside.

What Alec saw when he entered made his heart start to thud erratically in his chest and he stopped dead in his tracks.
 
He was in a large sitting room with hardwood floors, polished and shining.
 
To his left was a wall that was nothing but books, and a desk in front of it.
 
To his right was a fireplace that was unlit but looked like it was used often.
 
What had caused him to panic was this room was set up almost exactly like the room in which he had been strapped to an altar and forced to drink blood by Clarissa Wight.
 
There were cosmetic differences, but the placement of the couches and chairs and the other furniture in the room was almost an exact duplicate, except the altar was missing, of course.

Marc saw that Alec had stopped and was staring wide eyed at his surroundings and motioned for him to come to him.
 
Alec started forward slowly, his feet dragging and his mind screaming for him to run.

Towards the back of the room, Alec noticed a man sitting on one of the couches talking to a woman in a black evening dress.
 
When Marc and Alec approached them, their conversation stopped and the man said, “Could you please excuse us?”

The woman made a reply and walked across to the doors to exit.
 
When the doors shut quietly the man narrowed his eyes.

“What is
he
doing here?”

Marc stepped forward.
 
“We were attacked.”

The man’s eyes snapped to Marc’s face.
 
“By whom?”

Even as scared as Alec was at the moment, he couldn’t help but admire the man in front of him.
 
He was older with steel gray hair cut short and piercing blue eyes that Alec swore could see straight through him.
 
His face bellied his obvious age, showing no wrinkles or lines.
 
He was handsome in a regal sort of way.
 
He wore an expensive, tailored gray suit and tie and sat on the white leather couch with his back straight and broad shoulders back.
 
His voice when he talked was rich and deep and strangely made Alec wonder what the man’s singing voice was like.
 
If Alec hadn’t been scared shitless he would have laughed at such an absurd thought.

Marc quickly ran through the events; showing up at Alec’s, talking for awhile and then going for a walk in the park for some air.
 
“Once we were there I thought we were being followed but wasn’t sure.
 
Then Alec explained to me all the recent changes he’s been going through and…Silas, he’s exhibiting abilities.”

Silas’s eyes flicked back to Alec and examined him.
 
He stood up, walked over to a table and grabbed a decanter of brown liquid and three glasses and then sat.
 

“Please sit,” he said and poured drinks for all of them.

Alec sat on the smaller leather sofa to Silas’s right while Marc remained standing.
 
Silas handed them each a drink and saluted. “I have a feeling we are going to need this.”

Silas quickly downed his drink and then sat holding his empty cup.
 
Alec took a sip and realized that he was drinking some sort of expensive scotch.
 
He felt the liquid burn its way down his throat to settle warmly in his stomach.
 
He took another sip savoring the taste.

Silas poured himself another and set the decanter on the table between himself and Alec.

“So what sort of changes and what…abilities?”

Marc looked at Alec who sat there, afraid to speak.
 
After a moment Marc said, “It’s okay, you can trust Silas.
 
Tell him everything you told me.”

So in a small quiet voice Alec explained the changes he’d seen in his body and how he’d been round and dumpy before.
 
He also told him about his falling forty feet, and landing on his feet with no injuries.
 
Silas listened intently, never saying anything or interrupting.
 
When he was finished, Silas looked thoughtful.

“So, when you were walking, they overheard this story and decided to attack?”

Marc nodded.
 
“I assume so.”

Silas thought for a moment.
 
“Marcus, did you recognize the men?”

Marcus?

“I’ve seen them before but I’m not certain who they work for.
 
Could be some of Laramie’s men, but that’s a guess.”

“Hmmmm.
 
So you were attacked by three men at once and then?”

“Two came at me and one at Alec.
 
I only saw a little of what Alec did, I’m not sure exactly what happened since I was a bit distracted, but suddenly the guy attacking Alec went flying off into the dark.
 
That’s when the second man broke away and went after Alec.
 
After a few minutes, he followed the first and I finally took my man down.”

Silas looked shocked.
 
“You fought two of them and knocked them out while Marcus fought one?”

Alec was trembling but he took a deep breath and then started detailing what had happened.
 
He explained how time seemed to slow down and how he was able to get in a punch and then a side kick that had thrown both men to the ground a ways away.
 
Silas looked thoughtful.
 
“Impossible.” he said so quietly Alec wasn’t sure he’d even heard him speak.
 
Silas just looked perplexed and kept shaking his head slowly.

Alec cleared his throat and finally got up the nerve to speak.
 
“Uh, can one of you please explain what is going on here?
 
I’ve been through some weird, crazy shit here lately and I would like some answers.”
 
His face blazed with embarrassment but he wanted to know what was going on.

Silas finally looked at him and there was compassion in his eyes.
 
He sighed and turned towards Alec.

“Alec, I was hoping that this wouldn’t be necessary, and that Doctor Schubert had been wrong.”

“Doctor Schubert?
 
My specialist from the hospital, Doctor Schubert?” Alec asked confused.

“Yes,” Silas answered.
 
“But he doesn’t work for the hospital.
 
He works for me.”

Now Alec was really confused.
 
What the hell was going on here?

“Alec, what I’m about to tell you is going to be difficult for you to hear and more so for you to believe.
 
But we can prove to you all that we say is true.
 
Okay?”
 
At Alec’s nod he continued.
 
“Now, I want you to listen to me and don’t panic or freak out,” he said the last part as if those words were alien on his tongue.
 
“Let me explain and then we will answer your questions, if we can.”

Alec nodded once, a cold hard ball of dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

Silas sighed.
 
“Marcus and I are not exactly what we seem.
 
To put it bluntly, we are vampires.”
 
Silas watched Alec to see how he accepted the information.

“I’m sorry…you’re what?”
 
Alec couldn’t have been any more stunned if they had said they were from the moon.
 
He had expected to hear they were serial killers who had formed a special club, or cannibals who liked to invite their food in to play with before supper.
 
But vampires?

“Vampires,” he said very clearly.
 
“Yes.
 
I know this isn’t what you were expecting to hear.
 
But it’s the truth.”

Alec shook his head.
 
Anger overcame his normal quiet, shy demeanor.
 
“This is too much.” He stood up from the couch and set his glass down half empty on the table beside him.
 
“After the hell I’ve been through…after the pain and fear I’ve experienced, you come up with this shit?
 
What the hell is wrong with you people?
 
Why are you doing this to me?”
 
He turned and stormed off towards the door.
 
He was getting the hell out of this insane place, going home and locking the doors tight and never coming out again.
 
The world had gone bat-shit crazy.

Between one blink and the next suddenly both Silas and Marc were standing in front of the double doors that led out.
 
Alec stopped dead in his tracks and swung his head around to the couches.
 
No Silas or Marc.
 
They really had reached the doors before he had and they had just suddenly…appeared.
 
He was losing his damn mind.