Chapter 25 #2
I hesitated for a moment, but Vail moved with confidence and sat down. I followed suit, sinking into the chair next to Vail as Vladimir awaited our response.
Vail presented the bag of Vampire-killing drugs to Vladimir, placing it in his outstretched hand. “I want to know if you’ve seen this before and if you know how it’s made?”
Vladimir, with an air of nonchalance, took a small amount on his long fingernail and tasted it. A momentary pause had me gripping the chair arms before his eyes flicked to Vail.
“Interesting,” he remarked, the weight of that single word lingered in the air.
In a commanding voice, Vladimir shouted into the room, “Sydney!”
A young Vampire swiftly appeared, and Vladimir mixed the whole bag of powder into the cup of blood in front of him on the table, handing it to Sydney.
“Drink this,” he commanded. The young Vampire obediently drank the whole cup, and I watched, frozen, as he finished the last drop, a single trail of blood running down the side of his mouth.
Almost immediately, Sydney convulsed, eyes rolling back and violently throwing up blood all over the table.
Vail and I quickly moved out of the way of the spray, but Vladimir sat there watching as Sydney collapsed lifelessly on the floor.
I had never witnessed the drug work at such high potency before.
The fear that gripped me was visceral; I truly realized the threat this substance posed to Vampires everywhere.
“I have not seen this before,” Vladimir said, breaking the heavy silence. “Where did you obtain this?”
“It’s all over Lakeview,” Vail said. “Can you help us?”
“No, I cannot. I don’t know anything about this, nor have I seen this before, and you bringing this here into my house feels like a curse,” he declared, anger edging his words.
Vail’s expression crumbled, “Vladimir, please. I don’t know what to do.”
“Nor do I, little witchling,” Vladimir replied, then for the first time, his gaze fixed upon me.
“You,” he said, pointing a long finger at me. “You have a question on your mind that you want to ask me.”
I met his gaze and decided to voice a question that I had harboured for a long time. One that would often slip to the front of my mind.
“Empty Vampire graves,” I stated, and I saw Vail’s eyes widen with disappointment.
Vladimir looked at me and chuckled, the sound mingling with a bubble of blood in his throat.
“Vampires cannot come back from the dead, darling. If that’s what you’re asking.
Unless they were not properly dead before.
But often, from what I’ve heard, people will go and unearth Vampires for their blood or jewellery.
Sometimes witches use them for rituals. Why do you ask? ”
“No reason, just something I saw a long time ago,” I replied, my hand instinctively reaching for the necklace I wore.
“Your necklace is a peculiar thing, isn’t it?” Vladimir remarked.
“It belonged to my mother,” I kept my voice steady as I spoke.
“I want it,” Vladimir demanded.
“It’s not for sale,” I retorted.
As Vladimir stared at me, his gaze piercing and intense, I felt a sense of unease creeping over me. It was as if he was peeling back the layers of my soul, searching for something hidden within. I struggled to maintain eye contact, feeling a magnetic pull that I couldn’t resist.
Then, Vail’s touch on my hand broke the trance, grounding me. “Thank you for your time and advice, Vladimir, but we must get going before the sun comes up.” With her firm tug, she signaled our departure, sparing me from Vladimir’s gaze.
I turned around before we exited, looking back toward Vladimir. He was drinking from a cup of blood and staring at me, smiling.
“You’ll be back,” his voice echoed behind us, sending a chill down my spine. I tried not to dwell on what he knew. As we retraced our steps and neared the exit of the warehouse, we turned a corner and nearly collided with a Vampire.
“Sorry,” I said, moving around her, but she grabbed my arm.
“Stop,” she commanded, pulling me to her. Her face was adorned with piercings, and her eyes were so pale they were almost white.
Vail pulled me once more, determined to keep moving.
“I can help you,” she offered.
“How?” Vail halted, turning to face the Vampire. She slipped something into Vail’s hand and leaned close to her, whispering in her ear.
“Find Sable,” she instructed.
Vail looked down at the paper in her hand. “Who’s Sable?” she asked, but the Vampire had already disappeared into the shadows.
We returned to the car, and as we were speeding down the highway, Vail read the business card. Sable Half-Vamp, Nightshade Club.
“Half-vamp?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Vail responded.
After driving for a while, Vail suggested we check into a hotel, saying we wouldn’t make it home before the sun rose.
I agreed, and Vail pulled off the road when we found a hotel. With just one hour before sunrise, we managed to secure the last room available. Upon opening the door, we were met with an overwhelming display of pink: pink carpet, pink bedding, and pink wallpaper.
“I think I’d rather stay outside in the sun,” I remarked.
“It’s kind of cute,” Vail countered, flopping down on the bed. Grateful for the blackout curtains that most hotel rooms have, we kept them closed for Vail’s sake. I hung the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and went to the bathroom.
Thoughts of Connor crept into my mind. He was probably waking up for work, expecting to see me. I grabbed my phone, fingers hesitating over the keys before typing:
“Hey, something came up. Let’s rain check.”
I couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment that settled into my chest. I brushed my teeth and slipped into a white, fluffy robe.
Emerging from the bathroom, I found Vail already cocooned in the bed, engrossed in some trashy reality show on the hotel TV.
I climbed into bed next to her, the sheets feeling crisp but not quite as soft as I’d hoped.
With the lights off, the only illumination in the room came from the TV, casting a cool glow on Vail’s face.
Memories of the last time we shared a bed danced at the edge of my mind, but I pushed them away.
“Stop looking at me,” Vail said, and I felt a flush of embarrassment and turned my gaze away. She turned off the TV, leaving us in darkness, and then rolled over to face me.
“Want to talk about it?” she said in almost a whisper.
“Talk about what?” I replied, though I already knew what she was referring to.
“About you asking Vladimir about Draven?” Vail propped herself up on her arm, her eyes searching mine in the darkness.
“I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask,” I admitted quietly, the weight of my words hanging heavily in the air.
“Rosie,” Vail’s voice was soft, her hand warm as she reached out and placed it on mine, resting on the pillow. Her touch was comforting, grounding me. “Don’t you think that if he were still alive, he would have found you by now?” she asked gently.
“Yeah,” I replied, but the uncertainty lingered in my heart.
Despite my attempts to convince myself otherwise, a small spark of hope refused to be extinguished.
Deep down, something whispered to me that Draven was still out there.
Maybe that was why I kept moving, why I couldn’t stop.
Because some part of me still believed I’d find him again.
A tear rolled down my cheek, and Vail, sensing my distress, pulled me into her comforting embrace. “It’s okay,” she reassured, pressing her lips into my hair. “I can distract you if you’d like,” she offered with a hint of humour, playfully pinching my nipple.
“Hey, don’t make this weird,” I said with a chuckle, playfully kicking her under the sheets. The lighthearted moment was a welcome distraction from the weight of my thoughts.
“Do you think you will ever tell Connor that you’re a Vampire?” Vail’s question cut through the air.
“He would kill me if he found out. He’s a Slayer, Vail.
And besides, I just met him two weeks ago,” I confessed, the weight of the truth settling heavily on my mind.
I was always going to have to keep my guard up with Connor.
As much as I’ve thought about being with him, there would always be my secret standing in the way.
“If you’re so afraid of him, why do you keep seeing him?” Vail’s question hung heavy in the air, probing the depths of my uncertainty. “Clearly, you two have been intimate with each other.”
I paused, searching for an answer amidst the tangled emotions. “I’m hoping he might provide some insight into the drug.” But I didn’t tell her that there was something about him, a magnetic pull that I couldn’t resist.
“He’s going to find out eventually,” Vail insisted.
I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “Let’s just go to sleep, and when we wake up in the evening, we will find this Sable.”
I drifted to sleep in Vail’s arms, and it was the first time in a while that I didn’t dream.