Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 137

Both angels squinted their eyes at me. I wanted to defend myself. Instead I retreated to the other side of the couch for some distance.

A tense silence enveloped the room.

"Rayea, is this true?" J crossed his arms as he lounged in my desk chair.

I sighed and exhaled slowly. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry. Blick's right. The zombie on the video screen has the same teeth as Father's."

"A creation of Satan," J replied, nodding and a.s.sessing the situation.

Both angels exchanged glances and then looked at J, awaiting orders.

"We'll need weapons, sir?" Blick asked.

"Yes, arm yourselves. We'll investigate the gym and be ready for action if necessary," J responded.

Michael and Blick gave each other a high five. When was the last time that they had been to a fight? I wondered. Training new recruits seemed like a boring task to me.

Blick pushed a b.u.t.ton on the base of a stone Pica.s.so statue that was sitting on the coffee table. I pulled my legs up and tucked them under me in case the table or floor s.h.i.+fted. Instead, one of his modern art paintings slid into the wall, revealing a tall iron door. "What can I get you, sir?" he asked J.

"I'm not going. I want to speak with G about this, face-to-face. Use the pa.s.sage if you run into..." J looked at the computer monitors where the frozen zombie remained. "A real emergency. A life or death situation only. Above all else, contain the situation."

"Yes, sir," both angels said simultaneously.

Michael asked, "Anything else?"

"Get something for the vampire. She's going," J said.

"We'll be right back," Blick answered as he and Michael descended a flight of stairs leading to what I could only imagine was a bas.e.m.e.nt filled with guns.

The voice inside my head laughed. "Ah yeah, let's go hunting zombies!"

I thought of a choice expletive to share later with the stupid voice in my head. My heart had fallen into my stomach.

Chapter 13.

Complicated For Your Kind J clapped his hands together to get my attention. "Join me. We only have a few moments, and I'd like to talk to you." He gestured for me to sit by him on the couch.

"You want me to sit near you?" I hesitated.

"Yes, yes. I'm not afraid of you," he replied, dismissing my caution. He moved the Bluetooth headset from the desk to the coffee table, so it would be near him to grab at a moment's notice. Then he crossed his legs and nonchalantly said, "None of this is your fault, my dear."

Needing to stretch my legs, I stood up and pushed my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans.

"We've been watching you for some time. Since you're an avid fan of the internet, it's been easy for us to keep up with you. I knew it was just a matter of time before your father would try something."

As he spoke, I located my iPhone and shoved it in my back pocket. "What do you mean?" I asked, turning in his direction.

"You're more human than demon, yes? You feel that way, yes?" With a tip of his head, he motioned for me to return to my seat by him. He removed his brown-and khaki-striped tie and unfastened the top b.u.t.ton of his white dress s.h.i.+rt.

I returned to my seat. "I don't think of myself as a demon, and I don't look like my father or sister. They are demons! Snaky-looking demons."

J's eyebrows rose in amazement. He scratched his right eyelid to cover his surprised expression.

"I'm still getting used to the idea of being a vampire," I continued. "So yes, I'm part human and part vampire, not demon. Luckily I didn't acquire more of my father's characteristics when he turned me," I said pointing to my eyes. "They are a dead giveaway."

"Yes, you have very interesting eyes, I must say."

"Reptilian, sir," I replied.

Wrinkling his nose, J chuckled and shook his head. "You're not a snake, my dear, so don't say you have snake eyes. They are simply different. What animal's eyes would you say I have?"

"Sir?" I asked, startled by his question.

J laughed. "Many have said I have the eyes of a hawk because of my piercing stare and this hooked nose of mine." He gestured to his face, and then shrugged.

"Oh." I nodded, pretending I knew what he was talking about.

He laughed. "You can probably see it if you look really hard."

He leaned closer to me and whispered, "Wouldn't you say my eyes are an interesting color at least?"

"I would," I replied, answering his question hastily. I wanted to catch his gaze again and confirm his conclusions about his appearance. He was rather attractive. But he interrupted my concentration as he continued talking.

"Being different doesn't mean you're bad. You're just unique. I'd like to think I'm unique." His tone had a degree of warmth and concern.

I did not answer.

J waved his hand dismissively. "It's no matter. I can tell I've confused you. I'm just saying, don't let that sort of thing bother you. Look past it. Embrace who you are, not who people think you are, or want you to be."

"With my being a vampire, do you mind my being here?"

J glanced down at his hands, obviously formulating his response.

I reached for my water bottle to act like I was not becoming uncomfortable with his silence.

Finally he replied, "I think Blick summed it up best when he said that you are somewhat complicated for your kind, a different vampire altogether." He paused, s.h.i.+fting his eyes about slightly as he considered what he had said, then nodded his head in agreement with his statement.

I smiled at him, understanding where he was coming from. That was a whole other conversation I had yet to have with myself and the voice inside my head. My situation and skill set as a vampire was definitely complicated. But J's confidence was so infectious that it rolled off him like the waves of the ocean outside the living room. You could see it in every movement he made. He knew who he was and what his mission was. I wanted confidence like that. I wanted that pride, that self-awareness, even that radiant aura of his. I could use it the next time I met up with my father. The more I talked with J, the more I admired and liked him.

"Back to your skills," he said, redirecting the conversation. "Have you seen your father engage in pyrokinesis?"

I thought about that for a moment. Could my father shoot flames from his fingertips or ignite one of his h.e.l.lhounds into a bonfire like I had done to poor Cedric?

The voice inside my head said, "That would be a negative, genius."

"No, I haven't," I declared to J.

"I didn't think so," he replied with an air of finality in his tone. His dark gray-green eyes flashed.

An image of a powerful hawk soaring above searching for the moment to attack his prey popped into my head. I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to process what I had just seen. My mind reeled with confusion.

Oblivious, J settled back into the couch and continued, "Yes, Blick told me about a few of your special powers. Give yourself some time. You'll learn to understand them more. It'll come naturally." J glanced at his Bluetooth headset on the table as it flashed. "We're almost out of time, my dear, so here it is. I sent Blick to watch over you, to be your guardian angel in h.e.l.l. Finally, when your father indicated he wanted to kill you, I knew we had to get you out. So without G's knowledge, I removed you both from the situation."

"But I heard Blick ask G to open a pa.s.sage. Was that you who did it, and not G?"

J's facial expression froze for a moment. Then he recovered and asked me, "Did Blick say those words aloud?"

I searched my mind to see if I could recall that one seemingly insignificant detail from that horrible day. Nothing. My mind drew a blank. "I don't know, sir. Does that matter?"

J tilted his head slightly. His whole face spread into a smile. "No, no, no. It's an outlandish thought. Nevermind. With the pa.s.sage, let's just say G isn't up on the latest advancements in technology. It would be too much programming to change it to my name, so we left it as is. If we had chip implants, we wouldn't need those." He pointed to the Bluetooth headset. "Implants would be a lot safer from a security standpoint, but G doesn't want to spend the money on it right now." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Would my father know of this pa.s.sage? Was it in place when he was...?" I elected to not finish my sentence. Surely J knew what I was referring to.

J threw back his head and let out a great peal of laughter.

It wasn't that funny, I thought.

"Why not use telepathy to control the pa.s.sages or channels?"

J wiped a few tears of joy from his eyes. He sobered up, considering my question.

"Blick and I used it all the time in h.e.l.l when we needed to communicate secretively, even that last time," I offered.

The voice inside my head said, "Uh oh!"

Wait, what? I thought. Then seeing J's reaction, I realized I had unintentionally revealed Blick's white lie from earlier. I scooted away from him on the couch and braced myself.

Raising his hand, he glared at the floor as if he were telling me to give him five minutes. Breathing in and out slowly, he calmed his nerves and let his anger dissipate. He straightened his collar and composed himself. Finally he said, "Let's just keep that between us. Shall we?"

With my eyes very wide, I nodded, hoping the admission wouldn't come up again. I glanced at the table to see if the Bluetooth headset was blinking. Timidly I asked, "Did G know that you sent Blick to h.e.l.l? Did he approve that?"

"Yes."

"And now G knows I'm here?"

"No, he doesn't know," he replied. "I haven't told him yet. He's been very busy. I haven't seen him for months. Then suddenly he showed up this week." J paused, watching his ear piece hum and buzz on the table. He sighed. "We're out of time." He grabbed the ear piece and returned it to his ear.

He clicked it and answered the incoming call. "Yes, I'm here. We studied the video and the team is going to investigate, but I need to report in. Do you have five minutes? Okay, good. That'll be fine." Quickly he disconnected the call. I marveled at his multi-tasking abilities.

He smiled briefly and looked away. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the couch.

Racking my brain, I wondered if I could be brave enough to ask J a question telepathically. I had to know more. "Did you know I'd become a vampire? Was that your plan?" I studied him, waiting to see if my thoughts registered with him.

He took a quick sharp breath, acknowledging my inquiry. Turning to face me, his thoughts slowly filtered into my mind until the connection was strong.

I felt a shock run through me, similar to what I'd felt when I had first met Michael, a cosmic connection.

He asked me, "How do you have the gift? You're not celestial."

Ignoring the celestial being hocus pocus stuff Michael had told me about, I focused all my energy on what I wanted to know. J's mind was chaotic, vast, and turbulent. This mind meld was going to be difficult. I repeated my questions again to J, hoping to break the connection as soon as I got what I needed.

He answered, "No, I didn't know you'd become a vampire. But once Blick told me you had consumed your father's blood, yes, I realized we could use your being here to our advantage and find out what he's up to. That was stage one of my plan."

The voice inside my head asked, "Excuse me? Stage One? We are not..."

I pushed the thought down. J's admission stunned me. "You used me as bait? You endangered lives, making me think this is my fault?" I sent the series of questions to his mind.

J reached out and took my hand in his. "Don't be overly dramatic. Few know a vampire is here. I'm sorry you got caught in the cross fire though. But we have to do what is necessary for the greater good. Your father has to be stopped before it gets out of control."

"How is leading my father straight to the House of G a good idea?" I added, "sir" to the thought out of respect, realizing I had probably overstepped my bounds.

"I don't have to explain myself to you. This is all part of the greater plan," he declared.

I winced in pain as I received his last thought. Suddenly my head throbbed. I noticed J's eyes flashed with outrage and I let the topic drop instantly. I needed to break the connection.

"Your father should never have been permitted to leave here. We all know that now. And G cares about the end result. Your father being dead. Whatever the cost! Period. How that happens is up to me and my team. End of story!" J thumped his chest with his index finger. His thoughts pounded into my head like lightning bolts.

"Stop, stop, stop it!" I screamed and tumbled off the couch, almost hitting my head on the wooden coffee table.

The voice inside my head said, "Brilliant idea interrogating this man."

I attempted to stand, but the pain was too great. I could barely see. I sat on the floor, rapidly blinking my eyes. It was like I had a migraine headache times a million. Thank G.o.d my father didn't know of a tactic like this, I thought. He would have used it in our training sessions, and I'd been dead a long time ago. Slowly I returned to the couch, rocking my body slightly as I ma.s.saged my temples.

"My dear, your ears are bleeding."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw J's lips moving and realized he was speaking to me. I had heard his thought inwardly, but that was all. I turned to face him, looking directly at his face.

He said it again.

I couldn't hear anything.

Then J reached his hand out to me.

"Please don't touch me," I shrieked unable to recognize or hear the sound of my voice. Another wave of pain roared through my head.

He waited, watching me. Then he offered me a small, shy smile and before I could jerk or flinch or scream again, he grabbed me. He cradled my face in his hands. Inwardly, I did flinch, but outwardly I stared back at him, helpless. Maybe I was being punished for locking my mind with a creature of far greater power than I'd ever hope to have. Maybe I was being punished for ravis.h.i.+ng the angel. I had to be taught a lesson, right? That's what Father would say. Or maybe this was the plan all along. Bring the vampire to the main house and melt her brain.