The Dark Rising (9 page)

“There isn’t anything we can do for him?” I asked, wishing for some sort of a miracle.

She shook her head.  “No, it’s up to him.  Most demons go crazy during these first days of bloodlust.  They become completely consumed, having no self-control what-so-ever.   They lose themselves to the addiction, attacking and killing any magical thing they can get their hands on.”

“And the ones who don’t?”

“They are extremely refined, like Damien, Douglas or Fiona.  They rise above the addiction and use it to their advantage.  That isn’t necessarily a good thing though.  Those individuals are very cunning, sometimes twice as bad as their counterpart.”

“How do they control the bloodlust?” I questioned her.

“They’re always drinking,” she answered.  “They put the blood in their food, their beverages, or they take it plain.  The feed is almost constant, and they absorb little bits at a time, which staves off the rage that overtakes them otherwise.  It’s comparable to a drug user who is on an I.V. drip.  They are constantly supplied, so it allows them to think clearer, in an evil mentality that is.”

“That’s just great!” I said in quiet exasperation, rubbing at my temples.  “So I’m married to either a stark raving lunatic, or the cunning devil himself … absolutely wonderful.”

“I’m sorry, Portia,” Krista replied, reaching out to grasp my hand.  “I do understand how you feel.”

She did know, I realized.  She had done this with her husband’s family and now her son.  I suddenly felt a lot sympathy and compassion for this woman and what she’d been through in her life.  I leaned forward to wrap my arms around her in an attempt to return the comfort she was trying to give me.  We hugged each other for several moments in silence, before she pulled away to stare at me again.

“I need to warn you of something,” she said, with a sorrowful look which told she was about to add to my burden.

“Okay,” I replied, trying to shore myself up for whatever blow she was going to drop on me.

“He’s going to come for you.  He will always come for you,” she said, watching my face.  “Demons are drawn to the powers of their victims.  Each time they hunt they’ll try to find someone more powerful than their last victim was.  Your magic’s stronger than anyone’s except for his own.  He’ll not be able to drink from anyone else now, besides you, and get satisfied.  Because of that, you will be his priority feed.”

“So you’re saying since I’m immortal and can’t be converted into a demon myself or die, I’ll just be his self-replenishing blood bank?” I asked, a bit sick at the thought.

“Something like that,” she agreed, looking sorrowful.

I ran my fingers weakly through my hair.  I didn’t know what to do.

“You could run,” she suggested, reading my expression.  “He will follow you though.”

“Run to where?” I replied, elevating my voice a little in frustration.  “Who’s out there that would be able help me with any of this?  And I can’t even be protected from him with charms or spells because he is a member of my coven.  Our combined magic won’t work against him.”

“What about trying to contain him somehow?”

I snorted.  “We barely contained him after the first blood exchange he had.  The strength of his powers has gone through the roof since then.”

Krista pondered things for a minute.

“Well, there’s only one other suggestion I can think of,” she said, eyeing me carefully.

“Which is?”

“Give him what he wants,” she spoke flatly.

“What?” I questioned, wondering if she had lost her mind.

“The two of you are bound together.  He wants you in more ways than one.  Even though he doesn’t remember things, he still loves you.  Maybe your love is what will guide him through this.”

I thought about this suggestion hard.  I loved Vance more than anything in this world and I wanted to be with him forever.  I just never considered doing so might consist of the rape of my soul.  I’d be subjected to his every whim, desire, and threat.  He could hurt me over and over again and I wouldn’t ever be able to do anything about it.

On the other hand, if I walked away from him right now, there would be no hope for him at all. 

“What if he doesn’t want me?  He might only be thinking of me as food right now.  He can’t remember our life together.  What if the memories I gave him aren’t enough to sustain our relationship?” I replied as doubts and fears began to pour through my head.

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” she said with a small smile.  “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.  You’re much more than just the next meal to him.  In fact, I would say the demon bloodlust will make him border on obsession of you instead.”

Great,
I thought.  A more obsessive Vance was exactly what I needed.

“So what do you think?” Krista asked.  “Can you work your feminine wiles over him?”

“I’ll try,” I said with a sigh, not really having to consider the decision for long.  This was Vance we were talking about.  I’d do whatever it took. “I don’t know how good I’ll be though.”

She stood, helping me to my feet, wrapping her arms around me to keep me standing.

“I’m sure you will do fine,” she encouraged me.  “Now let’s get you back to the bungalow.”

We left the house locked and we walked out to the car together.  I had to lean on her heavily, barely being able to control my own body in the slightest movement.  She helped me inside, buckling me up, and we drove up the giant hill to the resort on the top of the red rock cliff.  There was no sign of Vance’s motorcycle anywhere when we pulled into the parking lot.

We climbed out of the vehicle, and I saw Shelly run out of the back door to the office in our direction.

“Shelly!  What’re you doing here?” I asked in confusion, wondering why she was still around and awake so late into the night.  “I thought you went with the rest of the coven.”

“Brad and I stayed behind,” she explained.  “We aren’t any threat to Vance.  If he needs our magic, he can have it,” she said gesturing toward the amulet which generated her powers, hanging around her neck.  “Plus, my blood runs one hundred percent human.  He won’t have any desire for me.”

“He could still view you as a threat though.  You’re a part of the coven.  And like you said, you’re human and it would be easy for him to kill you in a fit of rage,” I replied, worried for her safety.

“I don’t care,” she replied with a bravado that didn’t quite reach her eyes.  “I won’t leave you behind.”

I reached my free arm out and gave her a hug.

“Do you realize, in my most desperate situations, you have always been the one who remained beside me?  You’re a good, good, friend Shelly.  I’m lucky to have you in my life.”

“I’m the lucky one,” she said with a smile, and she released me, only to place her arm around me, shouldering some of my weight from Krista.

The three of us walked over to the bungalows together.

“Come inside with me,” Krista said.  “Let me get you something to eat.  It will help you feel better.  You’re going to need to keep your energy up.”

I didn’t argue, and Shelly and I went with her into her place.   They sat me down at the small table in the kitchen.  I leaned over against the wall.  Shelly and I snacked on crackers and cream cheese together, while Krista made some sandwiches and juice.

“What did he do to you?” Shelly asked me point blank, eyeing me with concern.

I looked at her for a moment, trying to decide the best way to answer her question without sounding too awful.  In the end I decided it was awful so I just blurted out the truth.

“He killed me,” I said with a sigh.

“What?” she replied in a loud voice.  “How did he do that?”

“He drank every last drop of her blood,” Krista interjected for me.

“Sounds painful,” Shelly replied with sympathy.

“It was—extremely so,” I agreed, and we all sat in silence for a few moments, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

“Sorry this isn’t some spectacular dinner for you,” Krista said apologetically.

It’s fine.” My stomach growled in response.  “It looks delicious!”

The food tasted good.  I couldn’t believe how hungry I’d become after my ordeal with death today.  I wondered if Vance was feeling the same way, before I realized with a sinking thought that he had, and I’d been his dinner.

This was going to be a difficult situation.

I squared my shoulders against the lingering weakness and walked into the dark bungalow by myself, knowing he was in there waiting for me.  I could sense him.

“What took you so long?”  I turned to see his red eyes glowing out at me from the area of the sofa.

Though it was still very draining to use my powers, I mentally flipped on the light switch before walking carefully past him into the kitchen to get a drink of water, trying not to appear too weak.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he called after me, the sound of annoyance moving through his voice.

“I need to replenish my fluids,” I said back to him over my shoulder.  “I’m feeling a little dry this evening,” I added sarcastically.

“Really?  I’m not.”  He chuckled.

“Yeah, I kind of got that impression.”  I fished a glass out of the cupboard.

“Hey.  You killed me first,” he responded.

“That might be true, but the difference is I didn’t want to.  You gave me no choice.”  I returned to the living room with my drink in hand and leaned up against a wall for support.

“You’re implying I wanted to kill you then?” he asked, quirking his eyebrow.

“No,” I answered staring straight at him.  “I know that you did.  I was in your head,” I stated matter-of-factly.

He glared at me hard.

“I’m going to have to work on that,” he replied after a moment.  “I can tell from the memories I used to be pretty good at blocking you out.”

“Yeah, well you used to be pretty good at a lot of things that aren’t working too great for you right now,” I said watching him. 

An angry expression flashed over his face at me.

I finished chugging down my water, before I went back into the kitchen and placed the glass in the sink.  I didn’t hear a sound, but I turned to find him standing right behind me.

He moved toward me, looking at me with an intimidating stare.

I gave him a look of boredom in return, before I stepped around him to walk back into the other room.  I couldn’t allow him to realize how weak I still was, and I also knew if I wanted to keep him here I needed to play hard to get.  It was all about the game to him.

“Where are you going now?” he asked again, for the second time since I’d arrived that evening.

“To bed,” I yawned, and he followed after me toward the bedroom.  “I’m exhausted.  I’ve had a rough day today, thanks to you.”  I turned to face him.  “I think the closet out there, has some extra linens to make the couch down into a bed.  Goodnight.”  I reached out and slammed the door.

I stepped away quickly and began counting in my head.  One…two…I didn’t make it to three before the door came splintering off the hinges into the room.   Even though I had expected it, it still caused me to jump backward.

“I will not be sleeping on the couch tonight!” he fumed and he stepped inside, coming right up next to me.

I gave a nonchalant shrug.  “Fine.  Where are you sleeping then?”

“Here.  In this bed.” he argued, pointing down to the mattress with his finger.  “And nothing you do is going to stop me!”

“No need to shout.”  I lifted my hands in a surrendering gesture.  “I won’t prevent you from doing so,” I said, moving to walk past him and back out into the living room.

“Now where are you going?” he asked his eyes wide in frustration as he turned to follow me.

“Why to sleep on the couch, of course,” I responded, innocently, as if this was the most natural conclusion in the world to come to.  “You did say you wanted the bed, correct?”

I heard him growl behind me, before he yanked me by the arm, pulling me back to him.

“Ouch!” I cried out, almost falling.  I tried to remove my limb from his grasp but was unsuccessful.  “What’re you trying to do, pull my arm out of its socket?” I complained, frowning up at him.

He was glowering angrily at me now, and I could feel the heat rising quickly within him.

“Or maybe you were trying to rip it off,” I continued goading him, my own indignation beginning to rise toward him.  “Perhaps my blood wasn’t enough.”  I reached down to slap one of my legs.  “How would you like a thigh too, Vance?  I’m not sure if an arm will hold you all night!”

“Why are you getting so self-righteous on me?” he yelled at me.  “You killed me too!”

“I didn’t try to eat you!” I argued back.  “There’s a huge difference!  I was protecting someone else from your rabid thirst!  I did what I
had
to do, even though I didn’t want to! You made a conscious choice, twice!  First, when you attacked Babs, and second, when you attacked me!”

He let go of me then and stomped back into the bedroom. 

If I hadn’t been so angry, I would have laughed when the slivers of the shattered door suddenly reassembled back together and slammed onto the hinges.  He’d definitely regained control of his powers quickly.

This was going to be exhausting.

I went over to the closet and pulled out some bedding, carrying it over to the couch.  I made up a bed before I slid out of my jeans and crawled in, flipping out the light with a snap of my fingers.

I’d most certainly not intended to spend my night this way.  Had it just been this afternoon when Vance and I were making plans for a romantic liaison?  It seemed so long ago.

Now our future was completely changed, our relationship was hanging in the balance once again, and I didn’t know what to do about it.

I closed my eyes, trying to will my exhausted body to go to sleep, but my brain couldn’t rest.  I only knew one thing for sure—I wanted Vance, and I wanted him to want me too. 

I reflected back over our past together, realizing I missed the simple days when all we had to worry about were demons chasing us and people blowing up the school.  Every time we thought we saw the light at the end of the tunnel there was a cave in.