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The night surrounded me and I finally gave up and pulled out of bed. I found my shorts and slid them on, retreating to the quiet sandy beach where I took a seat. The silence of the pre-dawn lake was soothing and I scavenged up some rocks, tossing them at the flat surface and listening as they skipped over the water. The gentle lapping of waves calmed the nerve bundle in the back of my neck.
It was time to try to unlock the labyrinth of my mind. I concentrated on breathing, on the steady drum of my heart. Each beat brought me closer to a calm state and I closed my eyes, imagining an endless hallway lined with doors. Each door represented a memory and I approached the first one.
The handle turned easily, but the door didn’t budge and I studied it closer. My gaze fell on the deadbolt lock and I muttered under my breath, searching my pockets for a key, but I came up empty.
“Damn it,” I cursed and found the same set up on every door but the last one. I reached for the doorknob, but a warning siren went off inside me and I pulled my hand away. Instead of opening the door, I placed my palm flat against the surface, trying to gauge the level of danger beyond the barrier. What passed into me made me yank my hand away and step back. The layer of evil streaming through the door chilled me to the core and my eyes flew open to the dark horizon.
“What the hell happened to me?” I asked the moon lit sky.
A shuffle behind me caught my attention and I climbed to my feet, turning. I thought the imaginary door in my mind chilled my blood, but the air went frigid as I stared at the feral, snarling thing behind me. I wasn’t sure what it was, but the saliva dripping from its sharp canines was enough to make me step back in the sand. The report of gunfire in the big house pulled my attention away and the thing leaped at me.
I really don’t know where the reaction came from, but the minute it hit me, I twisted and tossed him over my shoulder, sending the thing splashing into the water. The next thought that scrambled through my head was Valerie, and I stepped in that direction but the diseased monster charged again, and I snapped my head in its direction, angered by his tenacity. I think I might have snarled too, but the pooled up power in my chest shot out and the thing turned to dust.
I stared for a minute and then broke out in a run, barreling into the little cottage and willing every light on in the area. It took a moment to understand the screaming wasn’t Valerie, but she stood to the side with her hand over her neck and bloodstains on her nightshirt.
An unquantifiable anger let loose and the beast burst into flames. Valerie looked at me and then beyond and I spun, ready to strike again, but I reined it in at the sight of Tom with a gun in his hands.
You two all right? He thought and I glanced back at Valerie. She nodded and I followed suit.
“What was that?” I asked.
Vampires. Tom’s thought echoed in my head.
“Does Raven or Hannah need me?” Valerie said, stepping next to me, her face forming a mask of worry.
Tom’s gaze landed on her scar free neck and he shook his head. I got it before it could do any damage.
“How many this time?” Valerie asked and Tom held up two fingers.
“Three,” I corrected. “One attacked me on the beach.”
They both turned my way and I shrugged.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I said to their probing stares.
“Damn,” Valerie said and stared at her bloodstained hand. “They haven’t bothered us for a while. Why now?”
Tom’s gaze drifted in my direction and then back to her, but his mind was closed tight and so was hers. The now guarded expressions told me more than words, and I turned and stomped back out of the house, opting for the open gazebo at the end of the point instead of the beach. I climbed up on the railing, straddling the thick wooden post, and leaned on the side beam. Neither of them came after me and I was both thankful and endlessly frustrated at their insufferable silence.
I stared at the moon-dance on the still lake, wondering yet again what the hell kind of world I lived in. It wasn’t until the soft shuffle of feet reached my ears that I focused my attention to the dark entry.
“Chris?” Valerie whispered, stepping into a streak of moonlight.
“Why would it be my fault?” I asked, the bite of the words coming through in my harsh tone. She dropped her gaze before stepping next to me and looking out at the water. “Val?” I asked when she didn’t explain.
Her sigh gave me chills and when she looked at me, I stifled the need to recoil. “It isn’t your fault.” She didn’t say anything more, but she slid her hand in mine and squeezed.
I swung my leg over and stood facing her. “Then why did Tom look at me that way?”
She met my probing stare. “Because, they’re still trying to use us to get to you.”
Her answer wasn’t what I expected and my brow rose. “Me?”
She let out a strained laugh. “Yeah, you dummy, you’re the goddamn brass ring.”
I didn’t understand the reference and my head cocked to the side trying to frame her words in something equitable. “Brass ring?”
She stared at me and I could tell she was debating on how to answer.
“Chris, as I’ve told you before, you’re special. There are some forces out there that would like to manipulate you to do their bidding, and what they want you to do is pure evil.”
My gaze moved to the beach and the reality of what I did to both vampires hit like a gale force wind. A layer of gooseflesh traveled over my skin and I understood her meaning. In the wrong hands, I could be this world’s worst nightmare.