Book Three Chapter Three: Vladimir

Chapter Three Vladimir: I snapped awake with a yell of fear soon after he spoke those words. I was trembling because I had a cold sweat, and it felt like it had frozen. Vladimir's words rung in my head. Kaleen came into my room. "Are you alright Nick?" She asked. I thought about how to answer. I decided to answer truthfully. "No, I have been having lots of nightmares about Vladimir lately." I said. "You are probably just nervous." She said hopefully. "No," I said. "The nightmares feel like more than just nightmares, they feel like the epitome of fear." Kaleen's eyes grew large. "I'm sorry that you have been dragged into this, Nick." She said. "If only I could have stopped Saja when she first kidnapped you." She shook her head, and I thought I saw the glint of a tear in the faint light cast upon her face by the moon. "You shouldn't worry about it." I said. "I'm the chosen one, I think it is my destiny to defeat Saja, or rather now, Vladimir, these same events probably would have happened regardless of whether or not Saja kidnapped me." Kaleen nodded. "I'm sorry." She whispered as she got up and left my room.

            I went back to sleep, I was very tired, from lack of sleep and tired of the nightmares. I wondered what time it actually was. Thinking of time made me think of my old life, and school deadlines. It was funny to think that a year or two ago, passing my classes was my biggest concern. I soon fell asleep once again, thinking of how much I wanted my old life back. I woke up yet again, all those thought of my old life had me half expecting to wake up to the sun in the window, but the sun is dead, as it had been for a long time.

            I went out into the living room, where I found all of my friends talking to each other. "Good morning Nick." Said Kaleen with a bright smile that showed her fangs. Strange, I can't remember the last time a vampire actually smiled, except when it was hunched over its kill. "Good morning." I said. Hale came up to me. "So, the nightmares, have they gotten worse for you too?" He asked. I nodded. "Yes, they have been terrifying." I said. I heard a voice calling me from somewhere. "Hey, Nick, I want to show you something." Said Chibata. He was beckoning me towards the staircase that I assumed led to the basement. Puzzled, I followed him.

            "Nick, I was poking around, and I found some things that would greatly improve our chances of survival against Vladimir, and the Kerulen." I was curious as to what he was talking about. "So what did you find?" I asked. He led me through a door in the chilled basement. Shelves stocked with pickled vegetables in jars lined the walls. At the back of the room was a gruesome sight. A husband and a wife were propped against the back wall, the man had a silver pistol in his hand, and he had put a bullet into his wife's, and his own skull. I grimaced. "Guess they couldn't take the stress of the new world." I said. Chibata looked forlorn, then again, who wouldn't be? I felt a wave of sorrow hit me as I pictured who this man could have been. "Yeah, well, at least they got to do it their way." He said. "Together." His words left tears welling up in my eyes. I suppressed them before they could show. "So what did you find?" I asked insistently. "Yes, right, well, inside that safe contains enough firearms and ammunition sufficient to arm a small militia, but it's locked." He said. "Then how do you know what's in it?" I asked him. "This here is an old war buddy of mine that I kept in touch with, Jordan was his name. He always collected firearms, winning them off of his friends, hunting conventions, or going to out of state gun shows, whatever the case, he collected guns over the years, and kept them in this here safe."

            "Then we need to find a way to open it." I said. "You go up and, you know, keep the kid away from... Jordan and his wife. In a world like this, she's already seen enough." Chibata said. His voice went up a few notes, like he was going to cry. He turned to the safe and said "Go, I have this under control." I silently agreed and left Chibata to the safe. He probably wanted to mourn for his old war buddy as well. Those two survived the war of 1939, but landed into a whole new one. I decided not to say anything to the group, I didn't want them asking questions that I couldn't answer.

            "What did Chibata want to show you?" Asked Anara. She startled me. "Just some pickled vegetables in jars, he thought they were edible, but they spoiled." Anara didn't seem convinced. "Shame, I love pickled vegetables." I don't think she actually believed my lie. "Oh yeah, and Kaleen wanted to talk to you, I don't know what about, but you should go see her." Anara added. "Alright, I'll get right on it." I said. I wondered what Kaleen wanted. I went to her room and found that the lights were off, big surprise, I think the power was out. I looked around but didn't find Kaleen. "Kaleen? Are you in here?" I asked. I heard a banging noise coming from the closet. "Nice try Kaleen, you aren't going to scare me." I said. I then heard a muffled scream.

            "Kaleen!" I yelled. I ran to the closet and opened it. Kaleen collapsed in a heap on the ground in front of me, she was tied up and gagged. Fear and worry cut through me as I used my knife to cut the bonds, and I slipped the gag off of her mouth. She looked ready to cry. "Anara! She's-" Someone entered the room. It was Anara. "My, my, chosen one, you were very easy to catch, more so than I thought..." I squinted at her. "Anara...?" I asked. I heard her chuckle. The very same chuckle from my nightmares. It took me two seconds to piece that chuckle together with what Kaleen had started to say. "Vladimir." I said, struggling to control the cold feeling in my gut that threatened to overtake my body.

            "What do you want?" I asked. "I want a lot of things... Perhaps you could be more specific?" Asked Vladimir's smooth voice, that voice didn't fit with the teenage girl's mouth it was coming from. "What do you want with me?" I asked him. A small smile cracked his thin lips. "I want nothing less than your demise. Saja was too arrogant, and it was her own arrogance that was her downfall." He said. He (or she, depending on how you look at it) lunged at me, arms outstretched. I spun to the side. Vladimir said he would not make the same mistakes as Saja did, he was trying to kill me, like Saja had tried to kill me in our more recent conflicts.

            Vladimir recovered from his miss, but I was ready for him, and so was Kaleen. I stood at the ready for an attack, but none came. I knew what he was doing, he was sizing me up, staring into my mind, trying to read my thoughts. I clutched my knife in my hands, I had my guard up like a professional boxer, I was slightly hunched over, with my body slightly rotated on an angle, so I would be more maneuverable. I heard a single breath escape from Vladimir's lips, and then he was covered in a veil of translucent smoke, much like the new Saja's had been.  I could see his body changing. Before I knew what was happening, Kaleen bolted out of the smoke veil, and grabbed Kaleen from my side. Vladimir had transformed himself into Kaleen! He and Kaleen switched places over and over, they got into a miniature fist fight, but it was settled quickly, because neither of them moved. "Nick! Help! I can't move!" yelled one. "Don't listen to her, I'm Kaleen!" yelled the other, their voices were exactly identical.

            Although I felt my panic rising, I had to stay calm, if I had to kill one of the Kaleens, I had to have a level head, I had to pick the right one. "Why are you playing games, Vladimir?" I asked. Both the Kaleens chuckled. "Choose." They both said. I had an idea to weed out Vladimir. "Alright Vladimir," I said confidently. "Kaleen, when were you born?" Both the Kaleens answered without hesitation. "Nineteen nighty six." I threw another question at them. "What is your favorite snack food Kaleen?" French fries." Said one. "Bacon." Said the other. They spoke at the exact same time. My eyes narrowed. Both kaleens returned my icy glare. Vladimir was smart, he knew I didn't know which one had given the wrong answer. Kaleen's favorite snack food is French fries, not bacon.

            Just then, something changed within my own body. It was a minor shift at first, but it soon turned into a gut wrenching feeling that wasn't quite pain, but it was close, like my very soul was imbalanced. The feeling floored me. "So you feel it, too." Both Kaleens said, each voice merged with the other in an eerie harmony. For some reason, I knew Vladimir wouldn't kill me like this, if he really was Saja's brother, he would want to live in the moment, and absorb it. "What is it?" I asked, the feeling was on the borderline of unrelenting pain. "It draws nearer and nearer with each passing second." Answered the harmonized voices. "What does?" I asked, the pain intensifying, and solidifying. I looked up to both of the girls standing over me. They were both wearing smooth expressions, as if their faces were nothing but masks. I wished I hadn't heard their answer; "Judgment day."

            One of the Kaleens started running at me. The expression it wore reassured me that it was Kaleen. The other Kaleen started laughing. "You are too late, Chosen one." It said in Kaleen's voice. The voice gradually changed along with her appearance, soon it was Vladimir that stood over me. I could tell he was reveling in the moment, enjoying every last bit of it, as Saja would have. Just then, the intensifying pain stopped with an internal explosion that seemed to have knocked all my organs loose, but it didn't. Vladimir started laughing again. I then had a vision, it was the same one where I saw the figures in the cloaks with the massive army of Kerulen bowing to them. "Too late for what?" I asked Vladimir. More laughing followed. "Don't you see? Judgment day... is now upon us." Came his answer.

Author's Note

This s a short chapter, but more are coming, please tell me what you think :)

Reviews

[John Mcnab]

Vladimir sounds like a scary fellow indeed! I cannot wait to see what becomes of his character! I love this chapter, so much detail and depth! I also love Vladimir's last line in this chapter: "Judgement day... Is now upon us." Pure epicness right there. Awesome job and keep it up!