Wake of Darkness (12 page)

Alexander suddenly pushed off of
his chair to stand. He walked to Sophie and stopped directly behind her. Dante and
Jim exchanged a look.

“Sophie. What are their names?” His
voice was commanding.

She seemed to visibly relax. “Masumi,”
she responded immediately. “…Celia.” Alexander stiffened, but almost
immediately sighed in relief. “…Charlie, no
Chaz
.”

He placed his hands carefully on
her shoulders, glancing quickly around the room before speaking again. “Good
work. Now, what else do you see?” he whispered in her ear, calmer this time.

Laney looked at Dante.
What’s he
doing? It’s going to wear her out. She looks like she’s going to pass out. The
first time is always the hardest
.

The patriarch shook his head,
Wait.
He knows what he was doing; how far he can push her.

Sophie’s breathing slowed and her
head sunk to her chest. Dante watched as she swayed ever-so-slightly from side
to side like a monk in meditation. Laney and Catherina kept tight hold of her
hands and watched her warily while Alexander continued to grasp her shoulders.

“Celia’s tall…curly hair…really
thin and she likes to wear black.”

Alexander nodded in recognition as she
continued. “Masumi is…closer to…Laney’s size…Japanese…she walks like a
dancer…Chaz is Celia’s companion…She’s the leader…They’re on their way here.”

“That’s very good, Sophie,”
Alexander encouraged. “Look around. Can you see anything else?” he asked
gently. “Perhaps something of their surroundings?”

Her brow furrowed in concentration,
but suddenly, her eyes shot open and she was falling, her legs folding
underneath her. Alexander and Laney caught her. Sophie looked around, confused.
Zoey and Jim were immediately at her side.

What happened?
Sophie
thought.
She’d lost the image altogether.

“You have done remarkably well,
Sophie,” Catherina answered before Dante or anyone else could, looking down on
the younger woman who had sunk down to the floor at her feet. Sophie still
leaned against Alexander.

“Are you alright?” Dante asked,
stepping closer to her.

“I think so,” she said rubbing her
head before suddenly realizing who she leaned against. She shot out of his
embrace so quickly that Dante caught her so she wouldn’t fall.

“Geez, Soph. He won’t bite!” Jim
exclaimed with a chuckle.

“Unless you
want
him to!”
Laney joked, her laugh ringing through the air.

Alexander stood and straightened
his shirt as he stared emotionless at Laney.

Sophie was mortified. She could
feel her face burning with embarrassment.

Why won’t they all just leave me
alone about him?
She asked herself.

 Jim and Laney had teased her about
him since she’d arrived and she didn’t fully understand why.

Zoey smiled sympathetically and
looked from her to Alexander and back again before returning to her seat.

Dante helped Sophie back to her
chair.

“
Amor tussisque non celantur,”
Dante
murmured under his breath with a meaningful glance at Alexander.
Love and a
cough are not concealed. Perhaps it is not love, but it will be easier for you
both to admit the connection.

Alexander glared at his brother and
shook his head once. “Do you know when they are coming?” he asked Sophie calmly,
watching her carefully from his adjacent seat.

Catherina interjected, “I believe
they will arrive in a week,” though she couldn’t be sure because Sophie wasn’t exactly
sure of the timing herself.

Sophie closed her eyes and tried to
slow her breathing down, pinching the top of her nose between her eyes as she
fought off the dizzy feeling that had overcome her. She sighed. “Okay, would
somebody please tell me what the hell is going on? What just happened?” She
sounded weak.

Jim pointed to Catherina. “You want
to know why Catherina's the leader here? That’s why,” he said.

What? What does that even
mean
?
She thought back and dropped her hands on the table in frustration.

“Sophie,” Dante began gently, “the
females of our kind are gifted with many special talents. One such talent is
that in groups, you may more finely attune your telepathy. I must say though,
that I have never seen it have such a powerful affect on anyone as it has upon
you. It is quite interesting.”

Sophie snorted.
Interesting,
huh?
She tried to understand what had just happened as everyone talked. Her
mind was so hazy and later, she didn’t remember much of what they talked about.
She just remembered that if felt like a swirl of sounds flooding her senses.  

“How are you, Sophie?” Laney asked—her
voice saturated with concern so mature it took Sophie a moment to recognize it
when her voice that cut through the confusion.

“It’s weird. When I first came
out—or came to, or
whatever
that was—I wouldn’t have been able to tell
you what I saw. It’s starting to come to me, though...I
think
. It’s
starting to make more sense,” Sophie said, but really she was just talking to herself.

“Do we have anything to fear of
these three?” Catherina coolly asked, pushing Sophie for the fleeting
information.

“No,” Alexander answered for her.
“I am…
familiar
with Celia. She is, no doubt, simply passing through,” he
explained, disgust in his voice.

“Yes, I noticed you seemed
relieved,” Zoey said, exchanging a knowing look with him.

“They’re looking for us,” Laney
pointed out.

Alexander sat back in his chair
suddenly. He pursed his lips in thought.

“What do you mean you’re
familiar
with Celia?” Jim asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

“From many years ago,” was all
Alexander answered.

Dante nodded in agreement. Jim
looked at him for an explanation, but Dante just shook his head.

Sophie sighed heavily and put her
face in her hands, her elbows resting on the table, and she closed her eyes. It
suddenly felt like she would fall over; she was so weak.

“Are you alright?” Catherina demanded
briskly.

Alexander glared at Catherina.

“Uh…yeah, I think,” Sophie replied
weakly, looking between Catherina and Alexander, wondering about the dynamic
there, before realizing she didn't care and adding, “I need some air.”

She stood up and started walking
towards the front door. Jim and Dante exchanged a look while Alexander scowled
at Catherina.

“Do not look at me like that,”
Catherina said. “
You
were the one who pushed her.”

“Damn it Catherina…” Alexander yelled
back at her, slamming his fist on the table.

“
STOP HER!”
Zoey yelled
before she disappeared.

Sophie walked down the front steps.
She saw a man standing on the street corner; the movement barely caught her
eye. He sneered at her.

“Gotcha!” he yelled triumphantly
and started barreling towards her.

Sophie backed away from him, toward
the house, but the stairs behind her tripped her feet out from underneath her
body. She landed on the wood steps with a crack and gaped at her would-be
attacker. He was now pinned against a tree with a piece of stray wood lodged in
his chest.

Sophie looked up to see Zoey
standing over her. The redhead’s hand was still in mid-air, holding the
vampire’s stake in place by using some unseen force.

“Oh my God!” Sophie yelled in
surprise. Alexander suddenly appeared, placing himself between her and the
vampire.

Jim was there too. He stalked
towards the vampire who was spouting profanities in their direction. Zoey
followed close behind him. Her hand was still raised and she walked slowly, gracefully,
and with a purpose towards the vampire.

“Are you alright?” Alexander asked,
offering Sophie a hand.

She took it and hauled herself off
the ground. “Yeah,” she replied in a whisper, watching Zoey and Jim.

The vampire was staring at Sophie
with his coal black eyes. A cold rush of adrenaline shot through her body.

“Don’t you want to know where your
mother is?” he yelled.

“What?”

The vampire started cackling.
“You’re all going to die.”

Jim pulled a long knife out of his
belt and ran it swiftly under the vampire’s chin. “You first.”

The vampire’s head bounced to the
ground. Zoey’s shoulders relaxed as the dead body slumped over the makeshift
stake.

“I’ll take care of it,” Jim said to
her.

Zoey turned back for the house
without saying a word.

Sophie stared at her. “How did you
know?”

“I heard him,” Zoey replied simply,
before walking back inside.

“Come on,” Alexander said, tugging
at her arms.

She couldn’t look away from the
bleeding body. “He said something about my mother.”

“It does not matter,” he insisted
gently.

She glanced up and saw him looking
down at her with a pained tenderness she didn’t understand, but she was too
distracted by what Jim was doing to let her eyes linger on Alexander for too
long.

Jim gathered the dismembered body
parts and started to walk around the house. Sophie stumbled forward and peered
around the corner, leaning against Alexander.

“What’s he doing?” she asked.

“Burning the body,” he replied
quietly.

Her knees threatened to buckle
under her. The adrenaline had dissipated so quickly that it left her feeling
weak.

“I think I need to lie down.”

“You've had a busy day,” he agreed,
before steering her back towards the house.

She leaned instinctively against
him. It was nice to be able to lean on someone.

Why is the world spinning?
She
thought to herself.

“You’ll be alright,” he whispered.

He practically carried her up the
first flight of stairs, and she barely noticed when he swung her up into his
arms effortlessly to carry her up the second flight. They were in her room a
moment later. She was somewhere between consciousness and sleep, but she could
tell that she was lying down when he pulled a quilt out from the trunk at the
foot of her bed and tucked it around her body to keep her from shivering; she was
nearly in a state of shock after the experience.

She opened her eyes and tried to
smile; he was being so nice to her. He paused when he realized she was staring
at him.

“I’m sorry,” she quickly whispered.

He shook his head and opened his
mouth to say something. She held up a hand to stop him.

“No, really. I mean for earlier;
for jumping away like that. It just…startled me, is all. You know—when I woke
up or whatever in the dining room.” She shook her head. Her mind just
would
not
be clear, but moving it in the hopes of finding clarity had been a
mistake; her head was pounding. “I can’t make my brain work.”

“It’s okay,” he whispered and
kissed her forehead quickly, his lips barely brushing her skin.

She stared up at him, wide-eyed in
disbelief.

“Rest for now,” he said in an
equally quiet tone and was gone before she’d recovered, disappearing before her
eyes.

Sophie pulled the blanket closer
and stared at the door, but her mind was blank, like it was trying to catch up
to what had happened: the trance she’d been in, how the vampire who knew her
mother had almost attacked her, Zoey's unreal speed, and then Alexander’s
behavior. She wasn’t sure which one had shocked her more.

The bed felt like it was spinning.
She closed her eyes and tried to breathe. She didn’t know how long it took for
her to slip into unconsciousness, but at some point, she fell into a deep, dark
sleep.

Chapter 12

Sophie had only been passed out for
about half an hour, but she felt as rested as if she’d gotten a full night’s
sleep. She threw the blanket off of her body and swung her legs down on the
side of the bed. It took a few seconds for the blood in her body to keep up
with the quick movement, and she felt light-headed.

“Whoa,” she said, and tried to
steady herself.

“Hey kiddo,” Jim said.

She looked up quickly to find him
in the hallway outside her door, where he’d stopped in mid-stride as he’d
walked past. She smiled warily at him.

“You okay?” he asked, leaning
forward through the doorway, his hands bracing his weight on the doorframe.

“Yeah,” she replied, nodding. “I
feel pretty great actually.” She exhaled and looked around the room in thought.