The Prophecy
An Ending

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I stood up quickly, almost fallingout of bed. I stood there with anxiety running through me, who could be here?How dare whoever it was ruin the short time I had with Ismenia! Alex wasalready at the door. He looked over his shoulder at me, motioning for me to besilent. I wasn’t prepared for somebody to be here. He put one of his hands onthe doorknob and the other rested on the door. He took a defensive position. Hemust have been thinking the same thing I was. Could it be someone from Daniel’sarmy? Did Ismenia’s presence alert them to where I was?

I stayed back and kept my mouthclosed just as Alex had ordered. The old me would have wanted to hide, but notanymore. Whoever it was, I would be ready for whatever pain they wanted toinflict. I wanted to be all the great things that my family wanted me to be,and now, because of Ismenia, I was ready.

“Who is it?” Alex’s voice wasurgent but threatening.

“Alex, open up. It’s Marcus.”

Alex swung the doors open andbacked away, letting four men into the room. They all walked fast and with apurpose. This was not a just a house call. Something was wrong. “Where have youguys been? You were supposed to be here hours ago!” Alex walked over to the bedand sat down.

“We’ve got a problem,” Marcus said.

“Were you guys followed?” Alexquestioned. I sat down next to Alex, close enough to feel the touch of his leg.

“Alex give me a little credit, huh?I know how to lose a tracker.” Marcus and the others moved to the foot of thebed. Jimmie looked at me – in Alex’s shirt – and gave me a smirk, like he knewwhat Alex and I had done. I almost wanted to blush.

“We’ve got bigger problems than whomight be following us.” Marcus threw a crumbled newspaper article at us. Alexlooked down for a second then back up at Marcus. He looked like he had beenblindsided.

“What?!” I grabbed the paper andunfolded it; there was a family picture in the middle of the page. I lookedcloser at the portrait and saw it was MYfamily. I glanced further up on the page, the head line read…

Husband Murdered

Wife and Daughter Missing

Wife Suspected of His Murder

My heart dropped to the pit of mystomach. How could eleven simple words make everything else in this world seeminsignificant? I didn’t have to read any further; it said everything I neededto know in the head line. Wife and ….. Daughter? Wife suspected? But I didn’tdo anything! I was the victim! How could this be happening? Daughter? I leftSierra in her bed, dead – motionless. I even checked for a heartbeat before Ileft her. She was by all accounts DEAD! I looked up at Marcus, scratching myhead.

“What does this mean? She waskilled. I saw it. I saw her neck. How could she survive that?” I demanded ananswer.

Marcus looked over at Alex, but notat me. “That’s what took us so long getting here. We went back to the house tolook for clues, some sort of life, just anything to prove that it was a fake.We thought maybe Daniel had done this to get Trinity out of hiding.”

“And what did you replace?” I tried toget him to look at me but he wouldn’t.

I tried not to sound so helpless,but so many thoughts were racing in my head, I couldn’t control them all. Ifthis wasn’t a fake, my daughter was out there, and I was the number one suspectin Michael’s death.

“We found nothing to point to thefact that she was alive.” Marcus looked disturbed.

I started to get angry. He neededto talk to me! Also he, like always, was tiptoeing around my questions,shielding me from the truth. I needed to know the answers. I wanted to tell himthat I wasn’t a little girl and that I could handle whatever he threw at me.That anything he had to tell me would not shatter me, but just maybe make mestronger.

“Then what does that mean exactly?They’re walking around with my daughter’s dead body?”

He grabbed the bed post andhesitated. “Not exactly…” He looked down at Alex. They looked like they werereading each other’s minds, and as always keeping whatever answers they hadaway from me.

I finally snapped. “I swear to you,Marcus, if you don’t answer me, I will run over there and rip your goddamn headoff!” I proceeded to get up, but Alex grabbed my arm, forcing me to stayseated.

“Trinity.” He finally looked at me.His eyes were beaten. He knew he had to come clean with what was going on and Icould tell it killed him inside. This was a side of Marcus I never thought Iwould see. This was his human side, the side of him that had a heart. And atthis moment, whatever this truth was, it was breaking it. “She’s not alive, but she’s not dead either.”

I could only think of one otherpossibility. “Oh no,” I whispered.

“That’s right. Gerviase must havegone back for her after he lost the two of you. He had to have taken her andchanged her that night. There’s no other explanation.”

“But…” I couldn’t say anythingmore.

“We went back to your house andsearched for clues, trying to replace anything that would lead us to her, but hecovered his tracks pretty well. He made her bed and cleaned her room; he madeit look like she wasn’t even there that night. We couldn’t even replace a spot ofher blood. He wanted to make sure you were blamed for what happened. He wantedto make sure that the only evidence there was you and Michael. That way if thepolice found you, it wouldn’t be hard for him to get to you. Now we don’t evenknow who he’s given her to. She could be anywhere. We don’t know if it’s Danielor…” He paused.

“Or who?” Alex questionedcuriously.

“Or Lilith.” His voice was muffledunder his breath.

My body quivered at the sound ofher name. My poor baby in the arms of that woman, that demon, in the arms of akiller. What could either of them want with a nine year old child? What use didshe have, especially as a vampire? What did they want… a mascot?

I remembered a dream I had ofSierra not too long ago. Images of her and her voice streamed back to my mind.The way she looked, the horror in her eyes, and it was then that I knew who hadher.

“How could I be so stupid?” I put my hands over my face. I must have beenthinking out loud, because it made Jessup speak.

“What?” He demanded an answer.

I hesitated. What would they thinkabout why I knew? “A while back I had a dream of her, of Sierra, I mean.”Jessup cut me off.

“And?”

“If you’d shut up I could finish!”

He rolled his eyes at me but gaveme the chance to press on. “Continue,” he said, sarcastically. They all leanedin to listen to everything I had to say.

I paused and let out a breath. “Shewas porcelain white, with malicious black eyes. There was blood everywhere. Shewas so different that I remember thinking to myself that this wasn’t mydaughter. I mean, how could she be? The way she looked at me and the way shespoke… it was haunting.” I stopped.

“What else, Trinity?” Alexsaid.

“Gerviase was there. He was holdingon to her but she wasn’t scared of him. It was like they were best friends orsomething. She told me I needed to finish what was started. I just wrote it offas just a bad dream. And with everything else that had been happening I musthave forgotten about it.”

“And you didn’t realize!” Jessupshouted.

I stood up my eye narrowed at him.I felt my body fill with fury while I tried to stay calm. “How could I realizeanything, Jessup?! I didn’t even know what was happening to me! I didn’t replaceout until later that these dreams actually meant something, and by that time Icompletely blocked that dream out of my mind. So before you point fingers…”

“ENOUGH YOU TWO!” Alex demanded,suddenly emotionless. Jessup looked away like a dog with his tail between hislegs.

“Sorry,” Jessup mumbled under hisbreath.

“This is not the time for blame! Weneed to defuse the situation as quickly as possible before any of us getkilled!”

I now realized who the leader wasin this small group of vampires. Marcus would like us to believe that he was,but watching the way the others studied Alex, listening to the way he spoke,revealed that Alex was the true leader. And just as he had control over me, hehad just as much domination over them. They followed him and if it wasappropriate, they would have bowed at his feet.

The room fell silent; nobody knewquite what to say. Everybody looked at one another, waiting for somebody tobreak the silence. I knew what they all thought. That maybe this was all myfault. I did have that dream and maybe I should have told somebody about it.But it’s not like they didn’t make mistakes. I mean who was it that broughtMary into this little group and who was it that had to kill her? They waited forAlex to tell them their next move.

I could only think about mydaughter and what she might be going through right now: the pain she felt orthe distress she was in. What was Lilith making her do? Was she locked up orwas she free? Were they beating her, hoping that I would replace out and it wouldenrage me? Were they lying to her about who I really was so she would hate me?I couldn’t believe that all this time she was still here in need of me, in needof her mother.

I decided to speak. “I have to replaceher.” I walked around the bed, looking for where Alex threw my clothes.

“You can’t, Trinity,” Alex said,sarcastically. “Don’t you know that’s what they want?”

“I don’t care.” I shrugged myshoulders. “Regardless if they do or don’t, I can’t just do nothing, Alex!” Ithrew his shirt at him. I was tired of him barking orders at me.

We were talking about my daughter.This wasn’t some person off the street. She needed to be with me – not whomever she was with. She needed tolearn the right way of doing things. She had to be very confused and scared. Ineeded to be the one to teach her how to be a vampire. And if not me than Alex.Not Gerviase or Lilith.

“They’re waiting for that,Trinity.” Cyrus looked at me. “You need to stay on track. We need to stay onestep ahead of them.”

“Well, in case you haven’t seen it,so far they have always been one step ahead of us. Wherever we go there’s onemore thing that they have done to knock us down. They know everything about us,from the places that we go to the emotions we feel.” I couldn’t understand whythey were arguing with me about this. “And I don’t know about you, but I amgetting tired of playing a victim and waiting for my death. This needs to stop.But first, I need to get my daughter.”

“Listen. She’s been with them fordays, weeks, who knows how long. She was born to them and with that, she wasmade like them, into a killer.” Cyrus sounded convincing but I couldn’t seepast the fact that she was still my daughter, no matter what they’ve done toher.

I slowly sat down on the couch,feeling defeat running through my mind. I felt helpless. I ran my hands throughmy hair. They looked at me, waiting for my next argument. They wanted me toleave the only blood I had left? What could I say? Did they really expect me tostay, after knowing that she’s out there? Did they really think that anythingthey had to say would change my feelings?

“I’m sorry, but I have to replace her.This battle will have to wait.” I looked at Alex.

“If you leave our safety, Trinity,we cannot and will not follow.” Alex’s voice was firm.

“Are you kidding me right now?” Iasked in confusion.

“No,” he whispered.

I let out a breath and had asurprised looked on my face. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. He wouldreally let me leave…by myself, after all we just shared together? What if thiswas his child, or any one of them? Would he just dismiss it? I guess I knewwhere his heart was.

But I couldn’t think of that. I hadto do what I felt was right in my heart. It was what I felt needed to be done.They have told me again and again that things happen for a reason and I neededto believe that there was a reason why she is still alive. I needed to believethat it’s because she needed to be with me. If Alex couldn’t understand that thenmaybe I was truly on my own.

I quickly put on my shoes andgrabbed my jacket. As I walked towards the door, I stopped in front of Alex. Ilooked up into his eyes, waiting for him to say something –anything – thatwould prove his love for me. I wanted him to grab my hand and say he would gowith me to the ends of the earth, that he loved me enough to help me save mychild. That this battle could wait and all of us in this room would lend a handfor Sierra’s safe return home. But I would be waiting for nothing.

I looked around at the other fourvampires. They all crossed their arms and stared down at me in anger. Theystared at me like I had betrayed them because I thought my daughter, my ownflesh and blood, was more important than any battle. I didn’t care what theythought or how they felt. This was my daughter and I could only hope that theywould do the same for a child of theirs.

I stood at the door for a briefsecond – maybe they would say something more – but there was nothing butsilence. I walked through the two doors and slammed them behind me. The wallsshook. I fell against the wall. If they felt betrayed, I felt even morebetrayed. I felt like the only reason they wanted me around was just to fight.But if I didn’t take this time to fight for my daughter, who would fight forher? If I can’t fight for her, than why should I fight at all? And if theycared so much about honor, where did theirs go?

As I walked down the hallway, afeeling of dread and anxiety ran over me. I was really alone. No matter howslowly I walked, nobody would come after me. I felt like nobody cared enough. Iwas just a weapon that they would use at their command and that’s not how Iwanted to be treated or thought of. Maybe I was still holding on to the humanside of me. And who knows, maybe Sierra was marked by evil. But if I didn’t seeit for myself than I would go on the rest of whatever existence I had leftwondering.

I could hear the monks praying as Iwalked down the hall. Did they know what just happened? Did they hear the harshwords that were spoken in their monastery? Were they praying for me? Were theypraying that I would replace my daughter or I would replace the peace that waspromised to me from Ismenia? The praying got louder and louder as I got closerto the doors. It almost sounded like a song and it echoed off the walls.

What was I going to do once I leftthe safety of the monastery? How would I replace her? The world is so big andthere are so many places for them to hide. Where would I start? Maybe I couldleave myself in the open and wait for them to replace me?

I got to the front doors that ledout to the garden; I reached out and put my hands onto both doorknobs, butstopped before I could pull them. The feeling I once had of hopelessness thatfollowed me down the hallway, suddenly changed to rage and fury. The praying ofthe monks got louder and faster with every breath I took.

My blood started to boil in myveins and my body started to tense. I unexpectedly cracked my neck and closedmy eyes. I opened every door in my mind and narrowed in on what was going onaround me. I saw the monks; they were sitting in a circle in the prayer chamberpraying just like I had heard, rocking back and forth. My five protectors werestill in the room talking in a panic, just as I left them. Outside, the flowersswayed with the low breeze that was blowing. But that’s not what I was feeling.All of those things were things I already knew. Something else was out there inthe distance.

I extended my senses further. SuddenlyI heard footsteps, many footsteps, miles away. They were running and gainingspeed as they got closer. I smelled the blood of many mortal victims drippingfrom the mouths of their predators. I almost collapsed to my knees. And withoutwarning I knew who was coming for us…for me. It was Daniel’s army. They hadfound us. But how could they have known where we were? Alex took drasticmeasures to keep this place secret, even from me. Was it Ismenia’s presencethat alerted them? But even if it was, it would have taken them longer to gethere. They knew way before that.

I wanted to leave. They wouldn’tknow if I was still here or not. I would have a head start and make it to wherenobody could replace me, giving me time to at least try and replace my daughter. Butif I left Alex and the others, they wouldn’t stand a chance. They would be leftdefenseless and the ones hunting us would have the upperhand. If I left, Icould be sure that I would never see Alex again.

Was this the choice Ismeniamentioned to me? Would this determine what the rest of the future held? Itcouldn’t be. This choice would be too simple. She told me it would be tooemotional for me to control. That it was a choice that I wouldn’t see cominguntil the last minute.

It was hard to believe that the onechance I had to see my daughter again could slip away, but I couldn’t leave theothers – not like this. It was one thing leaving them, but leaving themvulnerable was something I couldn’t do. They wouldn’t know until the lastminute that somebody was coming and they wouldn’t know what to do.

I knew what I had to do now. Iwould have to replace Sierra some other time. If she was still with Lilith, shewould stay there until I could replace her. If Lilith had kept her alive thislong, she wouldn’t kill her in the near future.

I ran back toward the bedroom whereI left the others as fast as I could, throwing my jacket behind me, leaving iton the hallway floor. I ignored the praying monks, even though one peeked hishead out of the prayer room to see what was going on.

When I approached the double doorsleading into the bedroom I couldn’t hear anything coming from inside. Maybe Iwas blocking out all conversations except what was happening outside in thedistance. Maybe they just didn’t have anything to talk about now that I wasgone. Maybe they knew they were helpless without me? I wanted to smile at thatthought, but now wasn’t the time.

I kicked open the doors. When Iwalked in, I saw them all sitting around talking. I startled them as I enteredthe room. When Alex saw me he immediately stood up with a smile on his face.

“I knew you would change yourmind!” He almost seemed happy. But the smile that was so warm and happy fadedwhen he saw the look on my face. The happiness vanished and his whole bodytensed. I wish he could have read my mind so I wouldn’t have to explain what Iheard.

“We’ve got a problem,” I insisted.I walked up to Alex and pointed my finger at him. “But this between us isn’tover.” I raised my eyebrow.

Marcus interrupted. “What’shappened?”

“They found us. They’re on theirway…and fast,” I said in a panic.

They all stood simultaneously; theywere trained to expect the unexpected. They knew that the war was brought tothem.

“How many of ‘em are there?” Alexquestioned, his voice anxious.

“I couldn’t tell. But there aremany of them and they’re fast. I mean radioactive fast.”

“How much time do we have?” Marcusasked, already preparing himself.

I closed my eyes and tried to sensewhere they were or where they were coming from. But my inner seeing was comingin clips, not giving me enough time to put together the missing pieces. “Idon’t know. It’s too blurry.”

“Focus, Trinity. Please. Forgeteverything you hear and focus.” Marcus’s voice was low. It was weird having himtrain me in something that seemed out of his comfort zone.

I tried to see something familiar,something I saw on my journey to this place; trees, maybe an open field, or theroad where the cows were blocking Alex’ and my path, maybe the village. “Wait.I see taxis; they’re jumping over them. They’re in the village.” I opened myeyes and looked at Alex. “We have minutes.”

“I’ll go tell the others.” Cyrusran off to tell the monks.

“Please hurry.” But he was gonebefore I finished getting the words out. Damn. The monks. They were in dangernow because of me. They’ve helped my family for generations, opening theirdoors to shield us, and this is how I repay them by putting them in harms way.Leave it to me: out of all the generations in my family, I’m the one whojeopardizes their happy existence. Was that why they were praying so loudly?Was that why they were praying so fast: because they knew what was about tohappen?

The tower bell rang, bringing mythoughts back to reality. The clinging of the bell shattered the silence. Thistime though, it wasn’t announcing the time, it was sending out a warning thatdanger was upon us. The sound could be heard for miles. Did they also want toalert the villagers down below?

By the last cling of the bell,Cyrus was already back in the room, not even out of breath. Marcus and Alexwere deep in conversation discussing a plan. I must have been in my own worldbecause even though I was trying the best I could, I couldn’t hear what theywere saying. I kept tuning out too, and focusing my abilities on where Daniel’sarmy was.

They were getting closer with everysecond that passed by. They had already passed the village and now were at theopen field of beautiful flowers, crushing them with every running footstep. I couldtaste their thirst for me as they ran and I could even see it drip from thecorners of their mouths. That thirst was so powerful it fueled their energy. Icould feel their anger and wrath pulsing with every step they took, making themshake with strength. I could see their footsteps getting faster as they gotcloser to my scent.

I knew Daniel wanted them to hungerfor me as bad as they did. He put lies in their heads and falsely accused me ofthings I didn’t do, all because he thirsted for the power he thought I had.

Suddenly a motionless pictureformed in my mind. It took me by surprise and almost made me lose my balance,which wasn’t helping any. I looked around the room in horror. I looked at allmy protectors who were still too deep in conversation to notice my even palerface. It wasn’t just Daniel’s army coming for us. They were being led bysomebody I’d seen before, somebody who had already tried and failed to kill me,somebody that up until a few minutes ago I never wanted to see again.

“Alex,” I tightened my hold on hishand. “Gerviase is their leader,” I said quietly, almost in a whisper.

“They’re going to surround us,leaving us with no other way out,” Marcus whispered to Alex.

“There’s nothing left for us to dobut fight.” Alex looked around at every vampire in the room.

I knew Alex wanted Gerviase’s deathmore than I did. Not because of their past, not because he made Alex intosomething that, until I was born, he didn’t want to be. He wanted Gerviase deadbecause of what he made me go through. He was angry that he couldn’t changeGerviase’s way of thinking when we were in that field that day. He was angrybecause Gerviase didn’t back down from the orders that Daniel gave him. Hewanted to see blood shed from Gerviase’s body and he wanted to see the lifedrain from his eyes.

The very mention of fighting mademe shudder but I knew I was ready to take on Gerviase – or anybody who stood inthe way of me killing Daniel, and now Lilith – for stealing my daughter. Iwanted to forget about Daniel and his quest to hunt and kill me and move on togetting answers about Sierra. But unfortunately I would have to wait. Alexwould never allow it, not now.

“We need to take our positionsbefore they arrive,” Alex said. The words were rushed.

“What should we do?” Marcusquestioned.

“We can’t let ’em think they havethe advantage. Jimmie…” Alex stopped speaking. The two looked at each other asif they knew exactly what the other was thinking. Jimmie nodded at Alex whilewalking over behind me.

Alex turned to me, his eyes softand almost hypnotic, but he was sad. “Trinity, I love you, but I’m so sorry.”He slowly walked towards me.

I looked at him, confused. He wassorry for what? He stood in front of me, our shoes almost touching. He loweredhis head and raised his hand to my hair, gently brushing it away from myforehead. I looked up at him. “For what?” He didn’t answer but instead hekissed me.

His lips were firm and powerful.His fingers tightened in my hair as he pulled me closer to him. I wrapped myhands around his neck, trying to hold myself up. Every time he kissed me Iwould lose control. I didn’t care who was in the room watching, I didn’t wanthim to stop.

He pulled away suddenly and withoutwarning. I looked up at him, confused. “Please don’t hate me.” He walkedbackwards slowly.

I held my hands out feelingperplexed. I tilted my head to the side. “For what Alex?”

Jimmie walked up close to me,grabbing both of my arms, locking me in a tight grip, preventing me from goinganywhere. His arms felt like solid poles, frozen and unbreakable. For beingsmaller than the others, he was powerful. He made it impossible for me to move.But why was he holding me back?

I tried to untangle my arms fromhis but every time I moved his hold got tighter. “Jimmie, lemme go!” I almostwanted to laugh. “What’s wrong with you?!” I yelled as I kicked my feet.

“Trinity, please don’t fight this,”Alex said, lowering his head. His hair covered his face.

“Why are you doing this Alex?” Iquestioned

“This is for your own good. Icannot let you fight them. I know how badly you want this, but you are meant tofight Daniel, not Gerviase. If you go out there, they will throw you down. Ican’t allow that.”

“So what…I’m supposed to stand backand let you all get butchered?! I want to fight and I really don’t think itmatters who it is. You guys need my help!”

“You’re too important,” Cyrus said,looking at Marcus.

“What if something happens to you,Alex? To any of you? I couldn’t live with that! We are supposed to be in thistogether! You’ll be a lot stronger if I’m there.”

Alex smiled at my reflection in themirror. He turned around and walked up to me. I could tell his heart wasbreaking at his decision to leave me behind, but I would be all the more devastatedif I lost him.

He brushed his hair away from hisface. “I’ll come back to you no matter what happens. I promise,” he whisperedin my ear. He kissed the top of my head and they were gone, leaving Jimmie toprotect me.

I paced the floor for a while untilI looked down and saw a wear pattern on the floor; I had already bitten off allmy nails leaving nothing but stubs. I couldn’t handle not knowing what washappening. Four very smart and very strong vampires were out there preparingfor a battle. They would fight for our survival against an army much strongerthan what I thought they could handle. There was nothing I could do but sit andwait to see who would walk back into the room. The thought of losing any ofthem was more than I wanted to think about. They were hard-headed and at timescame off stubborn, but they were here for me and now they were out there forme. There had to be something I could do. But even if I tried, I knew Jimmiewould prevent me from leaving the room.

Jimmie seemed peculiarly okay forbeing left out of the fight. Ever since I met him, he has always wanted to bein the middle of things. It seemed like he wanted to be inside with me, not outthere. He wasn’t pacing or fidgety, but composed and quiet. I was a wreck. I couldn’tjust stand there. Why was he so calm?

I finally sat down on the couch andcrossed my legs, trying to calm my nerves. Jimmie had taken his position at thedoor, standing with his arms crossed; guarding it in case I wanted to run.

“You know you don’t have to worry,Jimmie. I’m not going to run. You can relax,” I said sarcastically, trying tolighten the mood.

“It’s not you breaking out that I’mconcerned about; it’s who might break in.” He didn’t even look at me. He triedto act tough, but I knew him to be the funny one. Even so, he gave me theimpression that he wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

I was too anxious for conversationanyway. Every position I took was uncomfortable. I shifted my weight more timesthan I could count. I had no more nails to bite to occupy myself and, asdisgusting as it sounds, I would have bitten Jimmie’s nails if he would let me.Everything I tried to do to make the time go by more quickly just wasn’tworking. It felt like time was moving in slow motion and I couldn’t do anythingto change it.

Finally I decided to close my eyesand concentrate on Alex. It was the only hope I had in watching him. I crossedmy legs and closed my eyes and tried to pace myself. I breathed slowly andsteadily, I could feel the blood rushing through my veins. I saw fire burningand the wind blowing, increasing the inferno around us. He was dancing with hisvictim, biting this one then breaking the neck of the next, screaming as hethrew them down like rag dolls. I could hear the sounds of death – hissing andsnarling – coming from their throats. I could feel Alex’s anger inside of me.

He stopped! Why did he stop? Hedropped his sword. Why would he do that? He looked surprised. He moved his hairaway from his face. I tried to see further than what I had seen but I couldn’ttell what was in front of him. What could have made him stop? Suddenly it came clear to me. The image of aman’s shoes appeared and got clearer as my vision peered upward…Gerviase!

Alex and Gerviase stood there inthe field of dead bodies, almost toe to toe. Gerviase was smiling at Alex, likehe knew something Alex didn’t know. Alex’s face was filled with pure hatred andrevulsion. I wanted to jump out of the window. I wanted to try and help but Icouldn’t focus. Something was happening to Alex, but I couldn’t tell if he washit, or stabbed, or bit. I saw him slowly fall to the ground but I couldn’t seewhy. He just dropped to his knees then his chest slammed to the ground.Gerviase was still smiling but now waving goodbye to him. Was he dead? What washappening? The images went black.

I shook my head to bring mythoughts back to reality. “He has Alex!” I jumped up running towards the door.I needed to help him; I needed to be the one to save him for once. I couldn’tlet Gerviase win against Alex.

“I can’t let you leave, Trinity,”Jimmie said, patronizing me. He wasn’t acting like the Jimmie I knew, somethingwas wrong.

“Jimmie, move aside,” I demanded.Why was he in my way? Why would he allow Gerviase to take Alex? I told him thata man of evil has somebody who was supposed to be the leader in this group and he didn’t want to lift a finger to helpgain control over this? Why?

Jimmie stood there at the door withboth of his hands crossed and his legs separated; if I wanted to get through Iwouldn’t be doing it through him, he made that very clear just by the look inhis eyes.

“Sorry. You see a lot of us are…”He paused. “Good at acting, present company included.”

”What?” I said in shock.

He grabbed my shoulders, turning mybody so my back was against his chest. He moved his arm around my throat. Ittook me by surprise. But I couldn’t move. “Take me, for example.” He put hisface into my hair, his breath made me want to cringe. “I’ve been putting on anice little show for you and the others. Tiptoeing around Jessup, trying to befriends with Cyrus, and worshiping Marcus, just to draw you closer to me.” Hisvoice got evil.

“What are you talking about,Jimmie?”

“Do you even understand how hardit’s been having you around me? Smelling you makes my mouth water. Do you knowhow many times I’ve had the chance to take you out but I had to hold back? Comeon. That in itself is hard enough. I’ve wanted to kill you from the moment Imet you.” He let out a laugh. “But you’re just so damn good at staying aroundsomebody.”

“You know,” I paused. “Why is itthat everybody wants to kill lil’ ol’ me?” I joked.

“Awe, Trinity…” He smelled my hair.I could only roll my eyes at the thought of him being so close to me. “There’sno need to change you’re demeanor now. I’ve studied you. I know your weaknessesand your strengths, and facetious is just not who you are. You are a scaredvampire who is afraid of her own shadow.”

“I might surprise you.”

“Nah, you couldn’t. I’ll tell ya alittle secret though. Did you really think I was fighting against Mary thatday? I was in the junction of that forest watching you from a distance. I waswatching you just like Alex was. I watched the way your hips moved and yourbody swayed like it was meant to kill her. Do you really think I would have hada helping hand in killing my own men?”

I stopped resisting and rested myshoulders. I wish he could have seen me roll my eyes. I think he thought hiswords actually meant something to me, or hurt me, but really they just made mesick. I wanted to say something smart or sarcastic but I now knew what he wastalking about. I let out a sigh and let him continue.

“Awe… Now it’s all coming to you,huh?” he smirked.

“It was you the whole time, wasn’tit? Daniel never knew where I was. He never had a lock on me. It was you who betrayedus all. Mary’s orders to kill me came from you!” I tried not to sound sosurprised but the words came out that way, anyway.

Jimmie was the one who was feedingmy location to the others. Mary wasn’t in charge of anybody. She worked forJimmie. He knew that if Mary didn’t kill me, which I can only suspect he hadhoped, that he would be alone with me and it would give him the chance to earnhis spot with Daniel. I wondered how hard it was to hide the tattoo on hischest. He had to have sat beside Daniel in order to have the authority to ruleover a captain like Mary.

I tried to think. I tried toenvision what his next move would be so I would be one step ahead of him. Iclosed my eyes and tried to block out Jimmie’s breathing, which was so loudbeside my ear. But I couldn’t get past where Alex could be. Was that myweakness…Alex?

I attempted to unlock thestronghold he had on me, but he was so much more powerful than anybody gave himcredit for. He must have been a follower of Daniel’s for many years to havethis kind of strength. When did Marcus leave Daniel? How could he have notknown about Jimmie’s place in Daniel’s world?

“Who are you?” I questioned.

“I don’t think you need to worryyour pretty little head over such things. Besides, in a couple of minutes itwon’t really matter, now will it? If the others survive, they will return toyour lifeless body and know that all their efforts have failed once again. Theywill finally understand that Daniel is the true King of this world and theyneed to either kneel before him or die underneath him.” His words wereemotionless and sadistic.

He let out a brief chuckle thatsent chills down my spine. He ran his finger down my arm ever so slightly; histouch was cold even for me. I knew he was enjoying every minute of this hold hehad over me. But even though I was surrounded by his evil presence, I couldn’thelp but think that I couldn’t allow this to happen. This was not how it wassupposed to end. I couldn’t die by a liar like Jimmie. My destiny was to fightDaniel and if I died by his hands that would be okay because at least I tried.But I wasn’t going to let Jimmie take my life, not when I’ve come this far.

I started to feel the same ragethat I felt when Mary spoke to me that day in the field. That boiling sensationcame back into my veins, pulsing out my fingertips. That familiar wind thatseemed to follow my fury started to blow strong through the window, knockingover a flower vase. I could hear the thunder in the clouds and the lighteninglit up the room we were in.

“And you think you’re going to bethe one to kill me?” My voice was low but strong enough to grab his attention.

“I’ve thought about it,” he joked.“What? You think you’re powerful enough to stop me?”

“Well, I was powerful enough tokill Mary. Or don’t you remember her headless body that you so graciouslywalked over? Or am I being facetious?” I started to laugh.

“Mary was careless. Her feelingsabout who you are pushed her to her death.”

I stopped him before he could speakfurther. “What do you think is fueling mine, you asshole!” I reached my arms upquickly, easily unlocking his grip and wrapped my hands around his head,twisting with enough force that I ripped it off his body. His body fell to theground. It was a quick death: better than anything he was entitled to. Hedeserved to have a slow and agonizing death, one that lasted as long as thetime that he fooled Marcus and the others. I threw his head onto the bed andwalked over his body to get to the door.

I opened the door to a burninghallway; the fire had reached the monastery. The beautiful portraits filledwith God’s masterpieces were falling to the floor in ashes. I remembered whatJessup said about our bodies. I knew I couldn’t be around the blaze any longer.I tried to look for an opening through the fire but it was too strong, I couldfeel the heat on my skin.

I hurried and closed the door,hoping I would have more time before the fire spread to the room. I needed toreplace another way out. I looked around the room and saw the open window; it wasmy only hope of getting out of the room safely. I ran through the room,grabbing the book that rested on the couch and jumped out the window into thegarden below.

From the moment my feet touched theground I saw dead vampires everywhere. This was a place of worship but now itwas nothing more than a burning gravesite. I looked around trying to replacesomebody I knew, but thank God there was nobody I recognized. Did Marcus andthe others get away unharmed, or were they a part of Jimmie’s plan? Did theyact together to fool Alex, and lead him to wherever he was now?

I ran as fast as I could, jumpingover bodies, trying not to look around, trying not to let the scene affect me.I hoped the monks got away safely. I didn’t see any of them so that led me tobelieve that they were okay.

I reached the entrance, stoppingfor only a moment. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the monastery thathad stood there untouched for hundreds of years was now burning to the ground.How sad that this is how it had to end. The only place that was given to me forpeace and for hope was now going to be nothing but ash. There was nothing Icould do to change this outcome or replace all that was lost; I had to walkaway knowing it was my fault.

I proceeded to run – where I didn’tknow. I found myself running away again – alone. If I had learned anything inthis short time, with everything that had happened, I learned that whomever waswith me was marked for disaster or death.