Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 129

Even though it was relatively warm in our climate, I had brought my black leather jacket to wear over the new T-s.h.i.+rt if I had to leave my office. I wore long sleeves as often as I could to hide the scars and bruises. I hated being reminded of them. I owned many items that irritated my sister, and this one just made her list. It didn't surprise me that she commented on my s.h.i.+rt, just as it didn't surprise me that she never asked me about my injuries. Being a pa.s.sive aggressive sort, I enjoyed offending her.

"I still don't know why he's letting you go on vacation. To the upper levels of Earth of all places? I deserve time away from here, not you. I wouldn't go up there though. I'd pick somewhere more fun like Mars or Neptune. I hear Saturn is beautiful this time of year. Hey, did you get those reports done? They have to be processed today, you know."

"Yes, I'm almost finished actually." I hit the Enter key on my computer to submit the last fake report. "There, I'm done," I said and held up my hands in a victory symbol.

"You're such an idiot." She said as she wandered around my office, grimacing at the movie posters lining the walls. "You know, maybe I should tell Father where you got your new s.h.i.+rt, shopping on the internet all the time? These movie posters are ridiculous."

I kept my cool. I knew Stephanie was looking for a fight. But she wasn't going to push my b.u.t.tons today. I felt elated with setting another group of humans free and visions of my upcoming vacation. "If you want anything from there, you know I can get it. Everything to do with s.h.i.+pping and distribution comes through me."

"What would I want from Earth? Come on!" She stormed around my office, waving her hands, her voice shrilled. "Yes, I think I'll bring Father in here while you're on vacation and show him your laptop, and iPhone, and your posters, and your books, all of this stupid 'fan of mankind' c.r.a.p. What do you think about that?" She hit each item with emphasis as she pranced around. Then she picked up a vase I had recently bought on eBay. It had the symbol of the sun on it, representing the Egyptian G.o.d Ra with a blue background that I imagined was the same color as the oceans on Earth.

"Stephanie," I warned.

The vase shattered in her hands.

I thought of a four letter word starting with "C." It stayed lodged in my brain, radiating like a red neon sign in front of my eyes. I bit my lip, so I wouldn't say it as I watched her continue her rant. I swallowed down the insult. "You're reaching supersonic levels with that shrieking, sis. You promised you wouldn't say anything to Father."

Pointing an accusing finger at me, she said, "As long as you keep processing my paperwork, I won't. But face it, 'sis,'" she hissed the word sarcastically. "You're a daughter of Lucifer, same as me. Learning everything you can about humans, buying their trinkets, it won't change the fact that you aren't human. I bet you even pretend to be human on the internet. What is it you play on again? MindLook? Twizzler? It's pathetic. Father's not going to put you in charge of his next project if you can't get on board and play the game. No wonder you have all those cuts and bruises from your training sessions. He wants you to be strong like me." Annoyed with the dust clinging to her hands from the broken pottery, she slapped at her pants leg.

"It's Facebook and Twitter, thank you very much. They're social networking sites. And no, I don't pretend to be the Queen of England on any of them. You can't do that. But you wouldn't know that, would you?" Realizing I was yelling as well, I paused to steady my anger and continued the debate more calmly. "Father's 'projects' as he calls them, his plans for world domination, are his own. Not mine. You can be in charge of the next one, when and if, he ever comes up with anything, okay? Why he has this fixation on making me 'stronger,' I have no idea. I'm not interested in fighting any battles for him!" I raked three thousand dollars worth of smashed pottery into a trash can. Suddenly, my hip vibrated. I retrieved my iPhone from the pocket of my jeans and read the incoming text message from Wally.

Meet ur father at the winery.

"Oh no."

"What, what is it? You look like you've seen a ghost," Stephanie replied.

"Wally just texted me. He says Father wants me at the winery," I mumbled.

"Oh really?!"

My office filled with Stephanie's laughter.

I grabbed my black leather jacket and crumbled it up in my arms, hugging it violently. "I love your range of emotions, sis. From satanic screaming to laughing hyena. Very nice."

"Don't get p.i.s.sy with me just because you have another training session. And don't call me, 'sis' either. Father says we're sisters, but I don't think it's true. Think about it, you big baby. How can we be sisters if we look nothing alike?"

I watched as she stormed off down the hall. Maybe Stephanie was right. We didn't look anything alike. And we hated each other, pure and simple. Real sisters showed genuine love for one another, compa.s.sion, trust, respect. Right? Stephanie didn't love me. She loved only Father. And sisters didn't argue, did they? We argued all the time about him, about my purchases, about how well I treated my "mutt" as she too called Blick, about everything.

I decided to not let it bother me. We both were getting what we wanted. Stephanie had grown tired of being in charge of the processing center. The tedious routine of placing the new arrivals and submitting the paperwork was exhausting for her. She wanted a challenge and wished Father would give her one. And I didn't mind helping her with her job. I had found a way to save some humans, even if it was only a few lost souls who had thought suicide was a better fate than living on Earth. Once they arrived in h.e.l.l, they realized they had made a grave miscalculation.

One of these days, I knew Father would approach me when he figured out the perfect scheme for corrupting mankind. That's why I stayed in my office, giving the impression I was very busy with my job of s.h.i.+pping and distribution, instead of shopping on the internet, chatting with my friends on Facebook, and releasing humans. Because Father and Stephanie didn't understand technology, they didn't realize that s.h.i.+pping and distribution wasn't a full-time job. Once I programmed the paths for what went where, the job pretty much took care of itself.

I had learned a lot about mankind while surfing. I couldn't help myself. I was drawn to Earth - the people, the landscape, the mystery of it all. I felt a connection. Perhaps I did have human blood in me. I had never known my mother and Father always ignored my questions when I asked about her. So far, my attempts to research online for any information on her had failed.

Before I made my way down the hall, I composed myself for my next "training session" with Father. Slowly I slipped on my jacket. Stephanie had a great sense of humor, even if she didn't know it. As I straightened the sleeves of my jacket, I listened to my heartbeat and breathed deeply. I thought of my breathing exercises Blick had taught me in an effort to stay calm during the torture. I looked at my blurry reflection in one of the filing cabinets. We had no mirrors anywhere in h.e.l.l. Silently I thanked Blick for the martial art techniques he had taught me. I could tell my arms and shoulders were more muscular. For that matter, my whole body was more defined. I hadn't tested my strength yet, but I knew I was getting stronger. And yet, around Father, fear paralyzed me.

When I sparred with Blick, I imagined I was Sarah Connor in the movie The Terminator, looking toned and ready for action. I sighed. Even though Blick was trying to condition my body more, I knew mentally I still struggled. Standing up to my father wasn't something I could face yet.

I considered texting Blick. Maybe he was right. Would Father beat me unconscious this time? Would I be worth saving if Blick got to me in time? Was there a way we could escape and leave this place forever? I let out another sigh and placed my iPhone on the desk. It was too late. I'd just have to explain that to Blick later.

As I made my way through the winding maze of halls towards the exit, I thought about how Father acted during the sessions. He was very positive and optimistic. He talked on and on about his schemes for revenge. He must have thought the motivational speeches kept me focused. But the pain was what kept me focused, as long as I could stay in front of it and not let it overwhelm me.

Father hadn't thought of anything big in the last few thousand years. Usually his schemes were obvious things like accelerating global warming or releasing our colony of fire-breathing dragons onto Earth. Something G would not allow to happen. I didn't know how, but the House of G always knew what was going on down here. That didn't deter Father however. He kept scheming and plotting his next move. It was just sad.

I had told Blick many times that the chip Father carried around on his shoulder was really unhealthy. "I realize it sucks to be a fallen angel and not welcomed anymore in the House of G, but get over it. Life goes on," I would tell Blick. He was the only one with whom I could share my opinions about my family. I couldn't tell my online friends the whole story. Anyways, the girls and I spent most of our time chatting about an actor who played a vampire in a TV show, instead of talking about 'real world' events. It was a fun distraction. If any personal questions came up, I quickly deflected them. My online friends on Earth didn't want to know about my problems.

Chapter 3.

Loyal Workers As I approached the main entrance to the winery, I heard a growl to my right side and saw a flash of fur appeared before me. The smell of dead skunk hit my nostrils.

"h.e.l.lo, my lady."

Pulling the flap of my jacket collar over my nose, I stepped back to adjust my balance and save what oxygen I had left before I fainted from the smell. Father's h.e.l.lhounds reeked to high heaven, an odor I realized Blick did not share. "Don't jump out at me like that, Cedric. Why aren't you guarding the main gates?"

"We're on heightened alert today. Do you have your badge?" Cedric barely reached my height of 5' 9" but he diligently worked at being authoritative with anyone other than Father.

I hesitated, remembering I had left it in on the desk with my iPhone. "Can you just call Father? He's expecting me."

"You realize in this organization we have security measures in place for a reason, my lady. The House of G would love nothing more than to know our secrets. Besides that, if His Highness sees another error on my attendance reports..." His voice trailed off and I recognized the fear in his eyes. He also knew of Father's disciplinary techniques. Father starved his 'mutts' regularly to keep them 'engaged,' as he called it. Actually, it kept them obnoxiously polite, extremely moody, and ready to do Father's bidding.

Wally and Cedric were both promoted from the Jackal Patrol, a group of scrawny, filthy scavengers who fought the colony of Dragons on weekends for remnants of human flesh. Stephanie delighted in torturing any new arrivals she didn't like by ripping off 4" x 4" sections of their flesh and devouring it. Sometimes if she had a full stomach, she'd share the small portions among both groups and watch them fight for each piece. Other times she'd toss a human into the arenas with a jackal or dragon and tell the person to fight or die trying. It made the games between the lions and Christians in Roman times look like a friendly game of tag football. It sickened me to think of it, but at times I wanted to remind Cedric or Wally where they came from.

"Yes, Cedric. I understand. Shall I go back for it? I don't want to be late for my meeting though. Hey, why are you green today?"

Annoyed with my questions as I tried to stall entering the winery, the h.e.l.lhound's fur bristled. "We were helping His Highness with some pigment placement for the new line."

I frowned when I heard the t.i.tle the h.e.l.lhounds used for Father, at his request of course. His Highness, like he was some sort of royalty. What a joke! "Is he hoping to find a new hair dye for Leprechauns? I mean with that color and your natural black roots, I can see..."

"What? No, my lady. For the new line of products, the wines, he's searching for the perfect color so he dyed us."

I stared at him, puzzled, trying to ignore the 'My Lady' term. "We?" I asked.

"Wally and me. He dyed us earlier this morning and Wally got a snoot full of it. He'll be out for hours. His Highness is working on resolving the colors this morning before the guests arrive."

Another one of Father's lame-brain ideas, going into the wine business. With a wine that was green? What was Father thinking? I searched the gravel path running alongside the front entrance of the winery and spotted Wally pa.s.sed out under a holly bush. I hadn't noticed him at first because he blended quite well with the emerald green leaves on the shrub. "Father doesn't know how lucky he is to have such loyal workers, Cedric."

"Thank you, my lady."

"Stop calling me 'my lady.' Look, why don't I go get my badge while you catch a quick bath?" I fanned myself with the right lapel of my jacket.

"That won't be necessary." Cedric bared his rotten teeth at me and blocked my path.

Finally, I thought. I'll get to practice some of what Blick had shown me. "Bring it on," I taunted. Then suddenly, I felt a blast of pain centered on my neck.

"Took you long enough, Wally," Cedric growled. "His Highness wants her unharmed, remember? I hope you didn't put too many volts in her with that stun gun. Oh, watch it, she's gonna fall."

Chapter 4.

Another Session "She seems to be waking up, your Highness."

As I regained consciousness, I heard Cedric's voice and felt that my hands were restrained. I tried to move, but I couldn't. I was tied to the chair I sat in. I opened my eyes. A gauzelike hood obscured my vision. I tilted my head a little from the left to the right, hoping I could see something. I could only make out a few shadowy figures. Father had to be behind this. And my sister too. Instantly, I regretted leaving my iPhone behind.

"You can bet your vacation is cancelled now." I heard my sister's voice hiss in my ear.

Father asked in a reasonable tone, "Why can't you learn to respect me? Did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"Kill her. We don't need her." Stephanie's voice came from behind me. She was pacing around the chair. I could barely see her figure out of the corner of my eye. She moved quickly around me. When she hit my injured shoulder, I calculated where she was, but I was powerless to fight her. Pain blazed down my arm.

"In good time," Father replied.

"What did you tell him?" I asked Stephanie, hoping she'd answer me. She didn't. I continued to reason with them. Somehow. "Father, whatever she says, it's not true." I spoke to shadows through the hood.

"Ah yes, your sister told me everything," Father said. "I should have known. Cedric, remove the hood."

The h.e.l.lhound's paws thumped across the floor as he approached me. His movements beat in time with the pain radiating in my right shoulder. The stench of skunk hit me again.

I felt a tug at my neck, and the hood slid free. Father and Stephanie stood laughing before me. Their 'snake faces' were already showing. When demons get excited, our true nature comes forth. And today, Father and Stephanie looked like two giant green reptiles dressed in their Sunday best. Father wore a grey suit with a black s.h.i.+rt and tie while Stephanie looked ridiculous in a long blue turquoise silk gown. I found it ironic that they wanted to appear human when they both hated the human race vehemently. Oddly enough, their style of fas.h.i.+on didn't blend in well with the grotesqueness of their appearances. Or maybe that was just my silly notion.

As I looked around, I realized we were in the tasting room that led to a courtyard on the bottom floor of the winery. It dawned on me as well that I had yet to see my own 'snake face.' Maybe I wasn't a demon like them? I glanced down at my legs to see what I was wearing. Had they dressed me up as well for the tasting party? Thankfully they had not. I let the thought of being truly like them drift away as I prepared for the session to continue.

Full-length gla.s.s windows surrounded the tasting room. I could see across to the courtyard. The guests mingled under vibrant fire red blossoms of the j.a.panese maple trees as they examined Father's new wines.

"Shall I bring them in, your Highness?" Cedric asked.

"Yes, that will be fine," Father replied. "Line them up here. Stephanie, will you grab that gun on the table there, and the bottle of wine?"

When she appeared before me again, my sister held a gun that was the size Dirty Harry would carry as she handed Father an opened bottle of wine. Cedric returned with two figures who I thought were Father's guests. Instead, they were humans. He shoved them to the floor in front of my chair and made them kneel before me.

Neither one of them said a word, but obviously, fear was etched on their faces. I didn't recognize them from the night before. The woman had a kind face with large blue eyes and blond hair. The man had dark hair, dark eyes, and a strong jaw. Both were tall and slim.

"Father, what are you doing?" I asked, struggling against my restraints even though I knew I couldn't help the two people. Father ignored me.

He glanced over at Stephanie, nodding. She responded by digging her fingers into my shoulder, separating my arm from the socket.

I drew strength from the renewed pain ripping through my shoulder and arm. I directed my anger at Father. "Stop this game, Father! Stop it!"

Instantly he zoomed in before my face. He slapped me so hard my teeth rattled. "Shut up, you little wench. You started this, do you hear me?" His forked tongue almost hit me in the face. "A fan of mankind indeed?! I'll show you." He paused for a moment smoothly his tie over his s.h.i.+rt. His hot breath repeatedly stung my face. Then he stood and regained his composure. "Do you not recognize your friends? They are some of the new arrivals, who mysteriously found their way up river again, instead of staying with us? Any idea how that happened?"

"I'm not in charge of new arrivals, remember? Ask her." I thrusted my head in Stephanie's direction, avoiding the humans' frightened looks. I was too ashamed to look at them.

Father smiled at me. His long fangs fell over his lips. The green snake pattern on his skin now covered all the visible parts of his body beneath his suit. He motioned to Stephanie. "Go ahead."

She responded by walking behind one of the humans, raising the gun to the back of his head, and squeezing the trigger. The gun exploded and the man slumped to the floor.

"Nooo," I gritted my teeth.

"Who helped you?"

"No one," I spat.

A second gun shot rang out. I watched the female fall to the floor. Blood spurted from the wound in her head. Nausea surged in the pit of my stomach and I fought against my restraints. The wooden chair bounced from one side to the other, holding me secure.

"You don't have to tell me who helped you. I know," Father replied.

I froze.

Chapter 5.

A Fine Batch "Stephanie," Father called.

Again my sister yanked my arm.

More pain surged through me. I screamed in agony. "No, no!" Then I heard the doors to the courtyard open and I saw Blick enter.

His ma.s.sive height and stature filled the room. Silver highlights like sparks off a firecracker twinkled amid his black fur. He seemed to be glowing a bright green.

As he walked into the room, he transformed from the h.e.l.lhound I knew and loved into a beast of a demon. His h.e.l.lhound features where still in place with his long wolf nose, gleaming golden eyes, and his large upright muscular stature. But his fur was a mossy green, a hideous color similar to my father's green snake patterned skin. I was startled to see Blick's change, but I hoped against hope that it was all an act, a way to lull Father into a sense of authoritative security.

A twinge from the nerves running up my neck from my injured shoulder reminded me of my situation. The pain affected my level of concentration. I struggled to stay conscious. I pulled a portion of my lower lip into my mouth and bit down hard. The blood washed over my tongue and I swallowed down the liquid. The new injury reinvigorated me. I blinked my eyes a few times to grasp what I was seeing.

Father reached out and took Blick's newly formed hand, shaking it. "I'm so glad you're on the right side, son. Your demon look suits you well. I can understand you now. I'm so glad we had that chat earlier." Father laughed. "I never knew you were a brother of Anubis. Had I known you were one of us...well, we can discuss that later. For now, you will help us show her her place, yes? Stephanie, give him a gla.s.s and pour the wine."

Blick smiled at Stephanie as she scoffed at him and handed him the filled gla.s.s. He drank the liquid. "A fine batch, your Highness."