Tempted - Chapter Ten

At the assent, Mark's face lit up in surprise. “Really? I didn't think you'd be able to.”

“Why wouldn't I be able to?”

He cocked an eyebrow and the crooked smile grew wider. “Oh you mean besides being Jason's 'guest of honor' and under his thumb? No reason.”

Alessandra's eyes narrowed at the observation. Was it so clear to the other men that Jason and her were in a constant battle of wills? “Make no mistake, no one controls me.” Her voice was acidic in its vehemence.

At the reply, Mark's half-smile grew into a boyish grin. “I didn't think so. So I'll see you tomorrow around nine?”

She nodded and watched him as he strode away from her and out of the basement, his boots echoing off the wooden steps as he ascended into the sitting room. She turned back to the lab, turning the knob and walking into the brightly lit room.

It was a near replica of the morgue in its colorless décor. White tile met white walls as a piercing light illuminated the lab. A stainless steel table sat in the middle of the room while varying degrees of razor-edged tools were set upon a steel counter to the left. Silver cabinets lined the walls above the counter and to the right of the table. She had little doubt that every piece of equipment she would need was already in place, but she opened and closed every cabinet to assure herself. Jason knew how to keep things in order.

She frowned at the last thought as Mark's earlier statement rang in her ears. She would have to make it loud and clear that Jason held no authority over her. She was a free agent.

After circling the room one last time to check that everything was in order, she placed her palms atop the cold steel table and hung her head. She hadn't taken the time to think over Mark's story, but her mind had not stopped spinning. There were now more anomalies and abnormalities to account for and for some reason Jason wasn't willing to look into any of the old stories. Though the story itself was a bit far fetched, there had to be some truth to it. It would at least explain the lightning-like burn marks upon the corpse. She let out a deep sigh and stood upright as she heard heavy footsteps above her. Jason must be back.

Her assumption was soon validated when she heard the basement door click shut followed by the heavy footfalls of two pairs of boots. She opened the door to the lab, swinging it wide for the newcomers. As Jason and Brian passed into the lab, the wan face of the corpse swung into view and a sickly fury overcame her at the sight of the creature. She had been so absorbed in the hunt earlier that she had not allowed her emotions to surface at the sight. Now, however, memories of her past and the vision of the brutalized child came to the forefront of her mind. She struggled to repress the urge to grimace in distaste at the poisonous being.

The two large men placed the corpse on the steel table as she closed the door to give them privacy. She removed her sweater and placed it on the counter before removing latex gloves, a scalpel, and pair of scissors from the cabinet. Handing the scissors and gloves to Jason, she put on her own gloves and gripped the scalpel in her right hand. She looked to Jason. “Ready?”

He nodded and cut the black, tattered shirt from the vampire, pulling it away from the chest as he did so. Alessandra, needing no further direction, began an incision from the base of the shoulders, meeting the incisions at the point of the breast bone. From the breast bone, she continued to cut down the center of the torso, stopping once she had reached the lower abdominal region. As the tissue tore open under the scalpel, the pungent smell of death and the vampire's own strain of rot wafted about the room. Alessandra scrunched her nose at the smell, but didn't falter in her scrutiny of the body.

Jason pulled back the flaps of skin, revealing the inner workings of the vampire. It was identical to a human's though the heart had blackened and organs had decomposed. The outter body had remained intact, but the lifelessness of the organs in their vampiric state caused them to decompose once the human had been fully turned. Only the heart remained viable after the conversion, rendering the vampire vulnerable. The act of converting a human to a vampire had to be a deliberate act as the human had to consume the venomous blood of a vampire in order to enact the transformation.

Alessandra focused her attention on the heart. It, too, had been seared as the flesh on the chest had been. A hole was pierced directly in the center and small fern-like arcs of char spread outward from the cavity. Her brows came together as she focused on the wound. The keraunopathy marks upon the skin and heart spoke of a lightning wound. She was still trying to come to terms with the possibility that lightning had not only struck the vampire, but pierced the heart. Shaking her head, she continued with the examination.

She made an incision by the temple and wound the scalpel around the skull. After cutting through the pale flesh, she pulled the skin back. Her brows furrowed as she grabbed the tweezers and extracted a small metal chip from the inside of the scalp. She held it up to the light before looking at Jason. A similar look of confusion crossed his features. “A tracking chip you think?”

Jason took the tweezers from her, bringing the chip closer to him as he turned it over. “Possibly.”

“But why would anyone want to track a vampire? Better yet, why would a vampire let somebody track them?”

“That's what we need to figure out.” He walked over to stand beside Alessandra and reached into a cabinet to extract a small bag. “I know an Engineer in town who will be able to tell me more about this.” He looked up from the bag, now containing the metal chip, and focused on Alessandra. “Would you like to join me tomorrow?”

She had already told Mark she would join him and she was looking forward to a much-needed break. Jason would be able to meet with the Engineer without her. “I don't think so.” She braced herself. There was no reason to lie. “I've already made plans to go to town with Mark.”

His face remained stoic for a moment and she heard Brian shift from across the table. Silence reigned in the white-walled room as she locked eyes with the man before her. His face revealed no trace of emotion save the tense lines that had appeared at the corners of his mouth. Static energy filled the empty space between them as Jason spoke. “I told you it was not safe for you to spend time with Mark. Why must you challenge my authority at every turn?”

Her eyebrows rose in shock as she took in the statement. “Your authority? What makes you think you have any authority over me?” As she spoke, she mused over their current battle of wills. Mark had been right. Jason was trying to keep her under his thumb. His constant overbearing attitude in regards to her modesty, safety, and well-being was becoming suffocating. Though she knew he meant well, that was no excuse to treat her like a child or as an inferior.

“You belong to this pack, Alessandra. Whether you like it or not. And I won't have you put yourself in danger while you are under my watch.” His voice remained calm, but his body had grown taut.

She laughed, but was far from amused. “And I suppose you extend the same level of protection to the men in the pack? Or even to the other women?” Her voice had risen on the last phrase as she became more indignant. Jason's mouth opened to respond, but she continued on, “And if you care so much, where were you the last seven years when I was in the city? Where were you when I actually needed someone?” She was breathing heavy now as the emotions of the past seven years came barreling forward, but she stopped. She wasn't about to delve further into her past and leave herself vulnerable in front of somebody who already felt the need to protect her.

“I was giving you your freedom,” he said in a barely audible voice.

“And you feel that now is the time to revoke that freedom?” He stood before her, motionless as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. Seeing that he had no more to say, she pulled off her gloves and grabbed her sweater before turning to leave. She threw open the laboratory door and trudged up the steps to the first floor.

As she threw open the basement door, Chris walked into the sitting room. She marched passed him, a crease between her brows as she mulled over the argument with Jason.

“Hey, what's wrong?” Chris said as she headed for the front door. He followed after her. When they had gotten to the front porch and she began walking into the woods, Chris grabbed her hand. “Alessandra, stop.”

She looked back at the blond-haired man, his brows creased in concern. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She had probably over-reacted in the basement, but Jason's incessant overbearing attitude was infuriating. Especially when she had already lived on her own for seven years. “Sorry,” she said even as she pulled her hand free from his grasp.

“What happened?”

She looked around her, at the blackened forest. The moon shone down on the house through the break in the trees and she could see the stars clearly through the untainted air. As she took in the cold, starry night, she debated telling Chris, but figured there was nothing to be lost. Shrugging, she said, “Jason and I got into an argument downstairs. Big surprise, huh?”

“Over what?”

“His overbearing attitude.”

Chris looked at her for a moment and she could see the wheels turning in his head before he spoke again. “Alessandra, he's just trying to take care of you.” She had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. She was done with people trying to take care of her and clearly Chris was not going to be an ally in this debate so she simply stood in silence. Chris sighed. “Do you know what it took for him to let you go?”

She frowned, something she had been doing a lot of lately, and said, “What do you mean?”

“Your father left you in his protection. Though you were old enough to live on your own by the time your father...” He paused and looked around briefly before starting again. “Your father wanted you kept safe and Jason was the only male he trusted to do the job.”

She blinked a few times, trying to wrap her head around the news that had just been delivered. If her father had left Jason to protect her, why did he let her leave? “So you're telling me that Jason's overbearing, arrogant attitude is because my father put him in charge of me?”

He smiled then, something she was more used to seeing on him than the face of concern he had been wearing for the past ten minutes. “Not exactly in charge of you. He just wanted someone to make sure that you were kept safe in his absence. And as for Jason's attitude, I don't know what to tell you about that one.” He laughed, then, and she smiled in return at the sound.

She chewed over the newfound information as she stood in the frigid, February air. As her anger receded, the chill crept in and she folded her arms around her. “Let's go back inside,” she said as she began walking up the porch steps. She could hear Chris following steadily behind her and she opened the front door to walk into the warmth of the house. She turned to walk upstairs, but stopped at the landing and looked at Chris. “Hey.” He stopped on the threshold of the kitchen and looked at her. “Thanks.” He smiled and she turned away to make her way to the bedroom.

As she walked down the hallway, she could hear music drifting from the door next to her own. Mark was still awake. She yawned as she pushed open her bedroom door and nearly groaned aloud when she saw that the clock read 1:15AM. She undressed quickly, heedlessly dropping her clothes around the room before climbing into bed.

She staired at the ceiling as the events of the day replayed in her mind. Regardless of what Chris had said, she was still going to town with Mark.

There were just some things he couldn't control.