Revenant's Kiss (Chronicles of the Afterlife) (22 page)

She was finally pushed off her feet when an adult that was trying to pull her father off her mother
got thrown back and stumbled into her. Through glassy eyes she watched through the gaps in standing
legs as her father was thrust back to the floor, as others tried to staunch flowing blood coming in red
waves from her mothers shredded throat. She saw her sisters huddled together on the opposite side of
the room and wished that she was there with them. She heard someone cry, "Jesus he bit me!" As if it
were the key to chaos her father ripped free of his confines, but instead of escaping he simply locked his
jaws on any and all flesh within reach. And still she couldn’t move from her seat, she wanted to scream,
to run, but she simply sat and watched.

"Jenny," it took her name a moment to register, it took a hard shake before her eyes tore away
from the monster that used to be her father, her hero. "Jennifer, get up," the face she met looking down
at her was her Uncle, in his arms he held his son. Nothing he said registered past the screaming, it grew
louder by the second, she glanced down at the carpet quickly turning red and couldn’t make the words
her Uncle said make sense. When her eyes wandered back to her mother she finally did scream,
screamed and couldn’t stop at the sight of her mother, bloody throated, tearing open Josephine’s
stomach, pulling out pieces of red with her fingers and stuffing them in her mouth.

She didn’t stop screaming until her Uncle forced her to her feet and dragged her to the stairs
where he dropped his son on his feet beside her. "RUN!" he yelled at them, Jennifer did nothing, for a
moment her Cousin stood still too. "Douglas, you take your cousin’s hand and RUN!" Her Uncle
turned away from them, had something in his hand which he promptly used to hit someone with.
"RUN!" He yelled again and if by some miracle it seemed to break through to her Cousin, he took hold
of her hand and dragged them both up the stairs. She heard her Uncle’s footsteps following, the sounds
of his pursuit only interrupted when he paused long enough to beat something back. She never looked
back to see who he was hitting, didn’t think she’d stop screaming if it was her Father or Mother. Her
cousin dragged her into the master bedroom, her parents bedroom, they made it halfway into the room
before her Uncle came charging in behind them. He tried to slam the door and failed, limbs flung out to
stop him, heedless to injury as he slammed them ruthlessly in attempts to get the door closed. Doug ran
up and tried to help, she stood still, watching familiar faces snap bloodied jaws and try to force their way
in. Tears wouldn’t stop spilling, she hiccupped as sobs racked her shoulders, she didn’t move from the
spot her Cousin had left her until her Uncle slammed the door. "The chair Doug, get me the chair," he
bumped into her as he rushed across the room and dragged the chair back to his father. She watched
him jam the chair beneath the handle and wedge it tight. "It won’t last long," he looked down to his son
and back to her. "Doug, take Jennifer and get in the closet, hide in there and don’t make a sound, do
you hear me, not a sound."

"I’m not leaving you," she watched them with unblinking eyes, noticed the way her Uncle spared
a glance down at his bleeding arm.

"I love you and I need you to do this for me now, take your Cousin into the closet." He yelled
as the door wrenched with enough force to almost dislodge the chair. She watched her Cousin look to
his father one last time before turning and running to her, taking her hand and steering her back towards
the closet. Her Cousin pushed her through the door first, shoving her back to make room for himself, he
paused to turn the lock on the knob, a precaution her father had insisted be put on all doors, that was the
last she saw of her Uncle, not holding the door closed but running to the table beside her parents bed
where there was a phone. Then Doug slammed the closet door, took hold of her hand and dragged her
to the floor beside him. For a fleeting moment she heard her Uncle’s voice again over the sound of
bodies slamming into the bedroom door, heard the moment the wood collapsed beneath one impact too
many. Then there was the frenzied sound of feet scrapping, a struggle, screaming, so much screaming,
she sat in the dark, her cousin holding her hand so tight she could barely feel it anymore. When the
screaming stopped there was only the sounds of wet chewing, the phone beeping a disconnect sound
joined after a minute. After a while she felt her Cousin rocking back and forth, her arm swaying
uselessly as he did. After a little while longer there was no sound but the phone beeping, her Cousin
whispering silent prayers, her arm swaying limply back and forth.

The only light in her dark tear streaked world came from beneath the door, hope flared through
her as a shadow crept across it. Someone would save them, her father was a hero, he would always
come to save them, "Daddy?" the minute she uttered the word the shadow slammed into the door, the
sound of jaws snapping and nails clawing wood bombarded the darkness. She closed her eyes, but all
she heard were those horrific noises, her Cousin’s silent prayers, and she felt madness grip her.

"That was far more traumatic then I thought it would be," for a moment she couldn’t believe her
ears, was still that paralyzed five year old child hidden in a dark closet. "I thought I felt your mind getting
ready to snap and thought I might try to keep you sane." Jennifer didn’t open her eyes, just tried to pull
herself out of her memory, tried to do that by focusing on the cadence of his voice. "It’s alright, it was
just a memory remember, a fear to conquer not break you." It took her a moment to process but she
realized who it was that had found their way into her head. Ethan, vampire, it should not have been
possible, she cracked her eyes open and found herself crouched outside in the grass under a clear starry
night.

"Where am I?" She was surprised she had a voice, had felt for a moment as though she’d been
screaming for hours as sanity slipped out of her reach.

"My head, not a pleasant place really but currently in better shape than your own." She looked
up at Ethan, too stunned to try and accuse him of anything, almost to grateful that he’d taken her away
from her nightmare to care.

"In your head," she mumbled too confused to try and puzzle her way through it on her own.

"It was that or try to wake you at home, as that seemed unlikely given my current condition this
was my best option." He smiled and instead of its regular effect to irritate her it helped her focus. "Your
state of mind was quite distressing," he informed her, "but offal as it was let us hope you remember it
when you wake up."

"How am I in your head," as if to avoid having to answer her it was as if her surroundings came
into full focus. The clear night sky above her began to fill with smoke, screaming rang out behind her
and she whirled to face it. A large brick house with fire blazing through the windows stood behind her
where she hadn’t known there was anything before. A woman screaming and a baby wailing hit her ears
and she saw their figures trapped at the top story window. "Oh my god," she tried to take a step
forward but the vampire’s hand shot out and took hold of her wrist.

"It’s only a memory, there’s nothing that can be done here," she ignored him trying to pull free as
the screaming intensified, the scent of burning flesh joined the assault on her senses.

"Get off of me!" She tried to shake him off but he wouldn’t let her go, and then another figure
charged out of the dark, a man shouting, never hesitating as he charged toward the burning structure.
She tried again to struggle out of his hold but it was like a steel band even in his head. She wanted to
help, almost desperate to help as she couldn’t have in her own dream. "Please I have to do
something!"

"There’s nothing to be done, the woman and child are already dead, for a long while now, the
father to." Jennifer stilled at this, watching horrified as the man tried to enter the house but was forced
back by the flames. "All dead and gone," the vampire whispered in her ear as the baby gave one last
agonized wail and both mother and child fell silent.

"No," Jennifer tried to kick and claw her way free but he wouldn’t release his hold on her and
by the time she gave up to look back the flames had consumed the house, the man was on his knees in
the grass screaming vengeance to the stars. "Why," she looked back at the vampire who watched
motionless, expression bored with the scene that confronted it.

"Because it is a dream, a memory, the outcome can not be altered," he shook his head and gave
his focus back to her. "It seems my mind inconveniently decided to remember something that could only
traumatize you further, my apologies."

Jennifer looked back at the figure on his knees, "let me go to him," she begged.

"No, leave the memories to their misery, he can’t hear you," he forced her to turn away from the
scene. "How did your own memories go, by your amount of distress I can assume horrific but
informing?"

"Get your hands off me," Jennifer finally struggled free, turned and was greeted by her own
bedroom wall. She spun and faced the bed, just as it was when she’d gone to sleep only missing Khan.
"Where’s my dog, what’s going on here?"

"Dreaming remember," she spun again and found the vampire behind her, "we’re simply back in
your head." He gave a quick once over of their surroundings and shrugged, "interesting choice of
location to bring us." When he met her eyes again one corner of his mouth turned up, "one must wonder
why you chose your own bedroom."

"I didn’t choose anything," Jennifer scolded, he was the one in control of all these head games.

"Wrong again," he shrugged noncommital, "I can make the connection but can’t control the
locale. If I could I hardly would have chosen one of the more colorful excursions of my youth."

"You killed that woman, that baby," without thinking she rushed forward and shoved him in the
chest as hard as she could. In the end it only pushed him back a step and he smiled at her for her
apparent effort.

"In a matter of speaking," he confessed without any hesitation, ‘monster,’ she wanted to scream
at him. "Let’s forget about that yes, maybe focus on the fact that I came to your rescue before your
mind turned to pudding." He made as if he was going to take hold of some part of her but she jumped
back out of his reach.

"How did you get into my head, how did you know I was in trouble?" She asked the questions
but was terrified to know the answers, was she completely compromised by this vampire?

"Can’t we just stick with the notion that you are grateful that I did," he asked.

"I’m not grateful, how are you in my head!" She was pretty sure she’d screamed at the top of
her lungs, completely feeling as though the world was slipping out from beneath her feet. Like he knew
her grip on sanity was slipping as quickly away from her as the floor beneath her feet he plucked her off
the floor and slammed her into her bedroom wall, trapping her between it and him.

"Please breathe Miss Ryan and I might explain," he whispered by her ear, she didn’t like that his
words and the feel of him against her, had her heart racing but her mind clearing. But he didn’t explain
anything even after she managed to slow her breathing, as a matter of fact he seemed to take her calm as
a cue to nuzzle her neck and then chew on her ear lobe with a fang. She wanted to react the way she
should, wanted to thrash and scream to get away from him, instead she fought herself not the wrap
herself around him and pull him closer. She wanted to believe it was him controlling her in her own mind
but didn’t think it was anymore likely here then it was out in the real world.

"How are you here?" She managed to whisper when she could pull her head together enough to
ask again.

"It’s simple enough, or not depending on your understanding of the mechanics of vampires and
our particular brand of magic one might call it." He was silent for a moment, intent to bury his mouth by
her throat.

"If you bite me...." she warned but it abandoned her head when he did graze his incisors over
her neck.

"No point in that here Miss Ryan I wouldn’t get anything out of it," he kissed the spot he’d made
to bite and it took more will for her then it should have to try and hold him in close. Instead she forced
herself to grip his shoulders so he could lift his head and look her in the eye. "You remember Nickolei,"
he asked casually though she felt that he hesitated to ask.

"Of course, I don’t usually forget vampires that nearly succeed in trying to kill me." She felt her
bedroom begin to waver around them and did her best to fight back the memories of that night.

"Vampires can force a link on mortals that they’ve taken blood from."

"I already knew that," she interrupted annoyed because she was almost certain he was stalling.
She had felt that bond Nickolei had forced on her the minute it had happened, and felt it an even larger
violation then when he’d punctured her shoulder with his fangs.