Twisted Fate Chapter 3

My mind is still hazy, eyes foggy, as I feel my body soaring through the air. I hit the ground hard, but I feel nothing…nothing except the urge to feed. I lunge forward, honing in on the scent of blood. A kick to the chest sends me back to the floor. A feral snarl rips through my burning throat.

“Enough!” Caleb bellows.

His voice helps to bring me back to lucidity. My eyes come into focus. Caleb is sitting in the chair, cradling Linda in his arms. I watch in amazement as Linda’s head rises on its own. She’s alive! What the f**k! I can taste her blood on my tongue. Caleb must have stopped me for some reason, but why?

Caleb’s eyes bore through me. He has my complete attention. “Now, watch.” He holds her hair back, exposing the wound that I inflicted. Caleb leans in; his lips softly brush against her neck. He lifts his head and I am still fixated on Linda, on the nearly nonexistent mark. “This is how you feed.”

I look at Caleb in awe, watching him intently as he allows Linda to stand up. Caleb rises and holds her lightly by the shoulders. She is alert, but she is calm, speechless, and somehow unfazed by what has transpired.

In a cool, collective tone, Caleb says, “Linda, darling, your meeting is over. You don’t remember anything that has happened since I entered the room.” Caleb leads her to the center of the room and exits quickly, leaving her alone in the office with me.

I jump to my feet, eyeing her with skepticism. I am waiting for the shoe to drop, for all hell to break loose, when suddenly…

“Thanks, again.” She smiles at me, seemingly unforced, and turns to leave.

Caleb opens the door just as she grabs the door handle. “Pardon me,” he says quietly, holding it open as she slides by him like nothing happened. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“What the f**k was that!” I say through gritted teeth.

Caleb sits on the sofa, arms spread out across the cushions. “That…was something you obviously aren’t ready for yet.”

I stand behind the chair, slouching over the back and gripping the arm rests. It takes every ounce of restraint that I possess not to hurl the f*****g thing at him. I release my grasp and say, “Are you playing games with me? Must be fun having a little toy to play around with!” I begin to pace back and forth in front of my desk. “Let’s wind him up and watch him go crazy!”

“I don’t think I like your tone.”

“Well, I don’t think I like your fucked up method of training!”

Caleb stands up, coming nose to nose with me. It’s my cue to shut the f**k up. “This is far from a game, Damien. This is about survival. Sink or swim and frankly, right now, you are drowning!”

I can’t argue with him. I do feel like I am drowning.

“Would you rather I turn you over to Lavinia? I’m sure you would fair so much better under her tutelage.”

“No. I apologize. This is all so damn frustrating!”

Caleb backs away slightly. “I remember what it was like, but there’s no room for sympathy. Your well-being is my responsibility and I do not accept failure.”

“I understand.”

“Hell, it’s my fault. I should have forewarned you. Trying to teach you in the throes of bloodlust doesn’t work with you, does it?”

“Apparently not,” I say with a chuckle.

Caleb rests his hand on my shoulder and says, “Since you have your wits about you now, is there anything on your mind?”

“How did you do erase her memory like that?”

Caleb returns to the sofa, resuming the comfortable pose he had before my tirade. “Compulsion. It’s the best survival tool in our arsenal, allowing us to feed while remaining unexposed. I could have compelled her before the feeding, but that would have taken the fun out of it.”

“How does it work?”

“In due time. Let’s concentrate on one disaster at a time, shall we?”

I sit down, turning my chair toward the windows. “Explain to me again how the whole sunlight thing works. I don’t understand why we can’t go outside, but sitting by the window is safe.”

Caleb walks over to the windows and stares out across the city. “The light itself has no adverse effects. It’s a direct ray of sunlight that you must avoid.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Light is emitted from the sun. It seems like they should be one and the same.”

“Think of it like sunburn. The likelihood of getting sunburn indoors is next to nil. It is a little higher when the weather is overcast and inevitable while standing in direct sunlight.”

“But it’s worse than sunburn,” I say, remembering Caleb’s horrid description of its effect on the immortal. It only takes seconds for sunlight to wreak havoc on our kind. The venom in our veins heats up, producing an excruciating burning sensation that no vampire can tolerate, at least not long enough to make venturing out in it worthwhile. Although no one in our coven has witnessed it, the belief is that prolonged exposure causes the venom to boil and the heart to explode. The experience is regarded as the gateway to hell, to the place that we are all destined to call home at some point.

“It’s no worse than jumping into the deepest fire pit in hell.” Caleb takes a deep breath and says, “I’m suddenly in the mood for Mexican.”

Sheila’s voice comes through the intercom.

“Mr. Rhodes?”

“Yes, Sheila.”

“There’s a Miss Vasquez here to see you.”

“Behave!” I say, chuckling. I shake my head as I press the button on the intercom. “Send her in.”

Reviews

[A. H. Pinley]

A very nice piece of work Easybreezy. I like how you go into detail as to why vampires can't go outside during daylight hours. Way to make it your own. Good work!

[easybreezy]

Thank you! I thought long and hard about what might keep a vampire from tolerating sunlight. I don't really like the idea of it burning their skin, the volatility of the venom seemed interesting and plausible. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

[zach h.]

To tell you the very truth I was suprised that I made it this far. I really don't like vampire stories at all. Which that can mean one thing: this story is so well crafted that even with my dislike I managed to get this far. Very well done! I loved how this starts with the prologue and then chapter one. The mystery and the realization of what has happened is magnificent. The narration is done really well. I love the voice of the character. This is a very good start to a novel. I like the internal conflict of the character as well as external. Very fun. The dialoge between the characters is flawless. It feels natural, which I know is sometimes hard to pull of. I'm almost sad that I won't be reading more do to the fact of not having interest in this type of story, :( but do be encouraged that what I read is VERY good. Good luck in more writing, and if you happen to write something that isn't a vampire novel, let me know! Thanks!

[easybreezy]

Wow! Thank you so much for this review. I have been hoping for a structural critique. It's great to hear that I'm putting the story together well.

[zach h.]

I'm glad my two-cents could be useful. I really do apologize that I won't reading more. :( Keep writing though!