First Death Pt. 04

"Yes," I said.

She opened her car door, "Go there when the sunrises," then shut it behind her. She knew she wasn't going to make it back. I watched her slink forward in the darkness, only a few yards in front of the car, she reached down and lifted open a metal gate, disappearing into the earth.

12:01 am.

I finally realized her indifference towards me was an attempt to spare me the emotional pain of losing her. I was pissed. If she didn't want to hurt me, why bother fucking me? Could she truly not resist her urge to feed or was it more than that? Maybe, it really was the last request of a dead woman.

12:07 am.

Jinx jumped into my lap; he growled, low and throaty, staring right into my eyes. It was like he knew what I was going to do before I did. I stared into the fully dilated pupils, barely rimmed with yellow, "She isn't going to make it, is she?"

"Meow."

12:12 am.

I knew it was suicide. I sat there, trying to talk myself out of it—if she didn't stand a chance, there was no fucking way I would either. It didn't matter though. I got out of the car and went to the trunk—I found a loaded Glock, a spare clip, a shoulder holster and a small maglite. I pulled Jinx out of the car despite his protests and opened a can of cat food, setting both on the ground before I closed the door and locked it, keys and clip in my pocket.

12:19 am.

"I'm sorry, Jinx, I'm sure you'd rather wait in the car but in case neither of us comes back—well, you can figure it out on your own," I grumbled to the cat while he devoured his food.

I held the gun in front of me, safety off and went down into the earth after Lily.

The stone stairs were old, just as if not older than the house itself. There was no light so I reluctantly turned on the flashlight, holding it in my left hand across my body, balancing my right with the gun on my own wrist. Dad had always kept guns around the house and instead of locking them up like most parents do, he made sure to teach Teddy and I how to handle and operate them correctly, instilling a respect for the weapon. A little known fact that I never shared outside of my small Midwestern town, for fear of being called a hick—I was state champion for trap shooting. I knew what I was doing.

As the light shined on the stone alcoves, showing dusty shelves and large stone boxes I realized exactly where I was—the house's original crypt. Had it been a different circumstance I would have been awestruck at the dusty untouched bits of history hidden away from everyday life but as it stood I was terrified. I looked down and saw Lily's wet steps in the dust and followed them forward.

It went on for a block, spanning the distance from the SUV to the house, dark, dank and creepy as hell the entire way. When I spotted light I turned the flashlight off and stuck it in my pocket, gripping the gun tightly with both hands while I inched forward.

The stairs led up to a room reminiscent of a small Roman bathhouse, though clearly hadn't been used in a long time. The small door that opened up into the room seemed to be built into a bench and I had to duck down to get into it. The room was large, but empty; the floor sunk down several steps into what would have been a pool, mosaic tiles lie broken and scattered about. I ignored my historical hard on and pressed forward, following the fading footprints that were left behind.

I went through another door that opened into a wide hallway; a bright, plush red rug ran the length, deep walnut paneling reached up to an immaculately decorated ceiling, old artwork hung on the walls and various antiques dotted the length. From there, it was easy to follow Lily's path—there was blood splattered everywhere, brain matter on the walls and still smoldering piles of ash which I could only guess were once vampires.

I tried to breathe slow, keeping myself calm. She said that younger vampires weren't much faster than wolves—though I doubted that I saw the true speed of a wolf, they seemed to move marginally faster than humans which meant that if I saw them first and had the element of surprise, I might have one shot. One shot before I died.

I peeked around a corner, checking to see if there was any movement before I eased around and quickly followed her path of destruction. I repeated this several times, knowing that I would never be able to find my way back if someone cleaned away the ashen trail of bread crumbs. Finally, I saw a large door open at the end of whatever numbered hallway I was in. I heard shouting and as quietly as I could, rushed forward, barely peeking to see what was happening.

Lily was on her knees, her hands in the air near her shoulders. There was a gun pressed to the back of her head. She looked pissed. I didn't hesitate; I stepped out and fired two quick shots, aiming at the last second for the head of the man holding the gun. I knew instantly that I had killed him; the gun fell from his hand and before it hit the ground his body burst into flames.

She moved faster than I could even comprehend, lunging forward. I barely saw the man standing in front of her, it never occurring to me that there was another one. Their bodies were a blur as they rolled around on the floor, growling and hissing like two stray cats fighting to the death. I stepped further in, keeping my back to the wall so that no one could surprise me from behind. I was able to distinguish Lily for a brief second when she was sliding back from the blur, her body crashed into mine and knocked me to the ground. As her assailant stalked forward towards us, she instinctively shielded my body with hers. His form became clear when he stopped a yard away. He was dressed immaculately, a mash of centuries of fashion—dark grey trousers, a lighter grey waist coat, a crisp white shirt under a cream colored vest adorned with a red cravat to match his red shoes. Only when I glanced up at his face—his pale white skin, haunting red eyes, his black hair was slicked back on the sides with the ample curls on top pouring forwards to cover his left eyebrow—did his freakishly familiar appearance resonate: he was Lily's twin.

There was a slightly amused smirk on his lush red lips, "Really, Lily? I'll admit, though characteristically foolish of you to come at me alone, bringing a human along as back up—well, it is a pleasant twist, even if it was futile." His charming, offhanded, thick British accent was even reminiscent of Lily's. He looked me over, his expression never wavering, instead he slipped his hands in his pants pockets, casually standing over us, "Let's call it a draw. Again. Maybe we do it in another hundred years?"

My heart was racing; I was scared shitless but I managed to peel my eyes off of Lucas and down to Lily. She had been completely disarmed, either using all her weapons before she arrived or losing them shortly after. I glanced at her right thigh; the impossibly black gun was still there, its sheen so matted it seemed to blend right into her pants. They had missed one.

In a flash, she was gone; all I felt was the wind ripping forward from her displacement. When I blinked, she had Lucas pinned to the ground on his stomach, wrinkling his expensive suit. The gun was in her hand, the barrel pressed into his back where he couldn't reach if they struggled.

He made an effort to sigh and looked bored, "You will not believe how much I paid for this suit, sister. It would be an insult to my tailor for you to destroy such a work of art and not kill me in the process."

This time, a grin grew on her face though I was the only one who could see it, "I'm pretty sure even if I shot you here, that quicksilver would kill you."

Immediately, his face changed, growing seriously stoic, "Yes, it would. But at this distance, it would also kill you. And your pet." He growled, "Now I have enjoyed our little reunion but as this attack was completely unwarranted, I must ask that you withdraw immediately. Death would not look upon you so favorably if you tip the scales out of their tender balance by killing me off."

"Unwarranted?" She fake laughed loudly, "You sent two filthy mongrel dogs into my territory. You had a man killed and," she inclined her head towards me, "you tried to kill his little brother too! That alone is more than enough reason for me to finally end you."

"I did nothing of the sort," he snapped out, "I haven't hired a wolf since that last worthless half breed failed to carry out his duties."

She broke her cool and punched him in the face. He knew exactly what he was doing—he provoked her into movement and it cost her the upper hand. As soon as she contacted his cheek he had thrown her off and towards the door; though only a few yards away, each precious foot meant a lower probability that she could hit him before he flittered from the bullet's path. Never the less, she held the gun trained on him while he straightened his jacket out, dusting his pants off, "You insult me, sister. You come into our home and accuse me of pettiness—I've known where you were all along. I still hold out hope that you will see the err of your ways and rejoin me. To think, that I would waste a second of my infinite amount of time to blot out some worthless human bloodline—" Lucas stopped mid sentence. Slowly, his head turned to me and he looked me over, "Was his older brother touched by Death?"

Her only response was flicking the safety off of the gun.

"How many siblings does your mother have?" He growled at me.

I wasn't going to answer but the ferocity of his gaze meant he'd get it one way or another, "None."

"And her father?"

That one, I had to think about, "Only an older brother."

A smile crept across his face.

"That's nothing more than a myth," Lily finally broke the air with her venom laced words, though from the way she spit them out it was clear the realization had just hit her.

"We are all creatures of myth, dear Lilith," his voice was cold.

I caught his tell, though it wouldn't do me much good. He drew in a deep breath before moving forward so impossibly fast, I just saw a blur—until a second blur crashed into him, knocking him back. In a fraction of a second, she was by my side; but the tables had taken a horrible turn, and her mercury bullet loaded gun was pointed at my head, her crushing grip on my bicep making it clear I wasn't getting away.

Lucas wiped his own fresh blood from his lips and looked furiously at his sister, "Would you foolishly waste this gift? Or more poignantly, would you kill an innocent?"

"If killing him means sparing the world, then yes," she said coldly.

Things were not looking good for me and I had no idea why, "Can one of you tell me what the fuck is going on?"

Of course, they both ignored me. Lucas, eyes still locked on his sister, "Don't be so naïve, Lilith. This one is for you and I, just like old times. If you like—we'll have him changed and kill the benefactor, then you can keep him around as your pet for an eternity."

"I wouldn't force that on my worst enemy," she spat out, "you know as well as I that there is only one immortal and we know exactly where that man is. There is no guarantee that drinking the blood of his descendant would do anything good."

"There's no guarantee that it wouldn't, either," he reasoned.

She said nothing; instead, I saw her finger move towards the trigger. I panicked and said the first thing that came to my mind, "Ian!"

Her movement stopped. Lucas raised a single brow incredulously at me, "What about that idiot?"

"This was all his idea," I stammered out, piecing the random facts together to form a hastily quilted story, "my brother died, two wolves tried to kill me, then my mother dies and he just so happens to show up after how long? He goaded you into this, Lily—he even said don't let him talk his way out of it, and he wanted to 'watch over' me while you were gone. This all makes sense—assuming you think my blood is some magical elixir, you take out Lucas or he kills you or you two kill each other and Ian is left as the most powerful vampire alive. Or dead. Whatever." My heart was racing so fast I figured that was what it must be like to be on speed. None of what I said would have made sense to a normal, sane human being—but my quick thinking rambling did make sense to them.

Lily and Lucas looked at each other. It was clear that their resolves weren't going to change but when you have hundreds of years to tick by, it was possible to set aside differences for a temporary truce to face a greater threat.

"I will help you," Lucas offered.

"No," she growled, clicking the safety back on and holstering the weapon, "that blood whore is all mine. This has been a long time coming—I can't believe I was blind enough not to see it."

"It stings a little to find out that someone close is plotting your death, doesn't it, sister?" His words were cool but venomous. There was obviously a more fucked up back story to their rivalry than she had let on; hell, she hadn't even hinted that they were twins.

Lily got to her feet and hoisted me up. I finally got a good look at her and it was apparent why she chose to wear black—most of her body was spattered with blood. Her pristine alabaster skin was marred with streaks of red; a few even looked like they were made by fingers desperately grasping. It was a chilling sight.

"Shall I walk you out?" Lucas said off handedly as if he knew she would refuse, "In case you run into whatever remains of my coven?"

I stuffed my gun into the shoulder holster not really thrilled by the fact that we were going to encounter more vampires.

"Fine," she relented, "but just to the side door."

"Of course," he said charmingly and led the way, "when this is all said and done, you will stop by so we can have a chat, yes? To determine the fate of the human, of course."

I didn't appreciate being talked about as if I wasn't there but Lily cut me off before I could snap, "Fine."

I was starting to feel like I didn't have an ally in Lily. As we walked through the second hallway, a vampire appeared out of room, gun drawn, ready to fire; when he saw Lucas and then Lily, he lowered it slightly but eyed me. He was thickly built, though just as pale as the rest with his light brown hair pulled back into a bun and a full though neatly trimmed beard. His eyes were red and his fangs were out but he seemed to be completely in control of his faculties, "It has been a long time, Lilith. I should have realized you were behind all of this."

"Hello Max," she said somewhat friendly, coming to a stop, "still a step behind, I see. Maybe in another century you'll be able to keep up."

He smirked and holstered his weapon. Lucas rolled his eyes, "Max, be a good chap and see my sister out to the door safely." When the man nodded, Lucas turned and looked at me; he had the same wicked dark hunger behind his eyes that Ian had. I got the impression that if left alone in his company, I wouldn't last long. He turned his gaze to Lily and offered her an almost sincere smile, "I really do miss you."

She said nothing but watched him leave. As soon as he disappeared around the corner, Max gave Lily a sideways smirk, "I see you packed yourself a lunch this time." The food references to me were getting a bit old.

"I'm full of the pathetic junk food that Lucas calls his coven," she threw back at him, falling into his step. I trailed behind, figuring I was the third wheel—but not too far behind.

"Eh," Max shrugged, "quality disappears with each generation, I'll give you that one. How many did you take out?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, counting, "Fifteen? No, seventeen. Plus the one Matthew shot."

"Wow. Wouldn't have expected that from you," Max looked at me, surprised by my ability to kill one of their own yet not the least bit outraged for his fallen comrade. It was kind of fucked up.

When we rounded the last corner I could see a door at the end of the hall that appeared to lead out into the night, however before we reached it a woman appeared from a room close by. She was hot; long blonde hair, a nice figure with ample breasts stuffed into a tight blue dress that—despite slinking down to her knees-didn't exactly cover up very much. She had a smug look on her face when she saw Max but when her eyes fell on me, then Lily, it turned to outrage.

Lily appeared to ignore the woman and continued towards the door but was forced to stop when she stepped in our path.

"Is this who I think it is?" She practically snarled. Her eyes were a bright red, white fangs indenting her pink painted lips.

Lily barely glanced at the woman before turning to Max; he regarded her for a moment before saying, "Step aside Beth. Lucas' orders."

Beth laughed. She caught me by surprise but was no faster than I would have been, if I had been paying attention; her hand reached into my jacket and she pulled my gun out. It was aimed directly at Lily's forehead, barely five inches away. I almost pissed myself; I froze out of fear but Lily on the other hand, appeared to be mildly annoyed. Her and her brother were a lot alike.

"Beth," Max said firmly but it didn't matter, the woman's mind was set.

"She is why he's been denying me? After all these years, she doesn't come back to join him but to kill him!"

Lily glanced at Max; he filled her in, "Beth has been after Lucas to declare her to be the one who sits by his side. He has steadily refused her because that seat belongs to you and always will." That last part was viciously aimed at Beth.

Lily sighed, "What are you? A fourth gen?"

"Third," Beth sneered.

Lily smirked and mockingly replied, "Oh, third, excuse me. Well, I'll concede that you have tenacity to you, despite your obvious stupidity. Now, either move or I will be forced to walk over your corpse."

Beth's face twisted in anger, "Not a chance." She flicked the safety.

There was a gun shot.

I blinked. My heart stopped before my mind could grasp what happened. Beth's face shone with surprise before her body glowed hot, then burst into flames. Lily casually handed me back my gun, "Please keep it secured."

I watched the woman stagger backwards before she fell to her knees and then to the ground, her corpse slowly smoldering into a burnt crisp. Lily glanced at Max, "I thought she'd be faster."

He was tense but kept his hands free of his own gun. Instead he rubbed the back of his head, "Fleeting stopped with the second generation." He tried to sound casual, but it was obvious that he was surprised. He played it cool and continued down the hall to open the door for Lily, "Next time, you could just ring ahead. I'll pencil you in an appointment with Lucas."

"I'll keep that in mind," she responded walking out into the night. I hurried after her, snapping the strap over the butt of the gun.

Jinx was sitting on the hood the SUV when we got to it. Lily immediately climbed in but I grabbed the cat first before joining her. She didn't speak, just held her hand out for the keys which I gave to her.

We drove in silence for over an hour before I got up the nerve to say anything, "You were going to kill me."

"Yes. And I probably still will." She was devoid of emotion.

Great. "Can you at least tell me why?"

"Does it matter?"

"To me? Yeah, kind of," there was bitterness in my voice, "If I'm going to die, I'd like a damn good reason. I did nothing wrong—I came after you and saved you, in case you've forgotten." I had arrived at the precise moment to help her but somewhere deep inside I knew that she might have gotten out of it on her own.

"There is one immortal. If you are familiar with history then I am sure you already know the story of his family. Long ago, there was a woman who made the ultimate sacrifice—she gave up her life for a child—a child of 'immaculate conception.' Her first born was a messenger christened by Good; he had the ability to persuade others, to tip the scales towards that side of the cause."