Risen (Book #6 of the Vampire Legends) (2 page)

Rob couldn’t wait for one more
second to see Rachel. He was so happy that he finally found her house in Pennsylvania,
or at least he thought he’d found her house. All signs pointed towards this
one, and as he stood there, staring at the modest house on the corner of the
street, his heart began to race. This could be the beginning of his great love
with Rachel, he thought to himself. He couldn’t wait to see her, and after a
second of wallowing in his daydreams, he ran quickly up the front walkway and
rang the doorbell.

Nobody answered.

He made a fist with his hand and
banged loudly on the front door. He waited for a minute, and then heard a voice
calling from inside.

“Could ya hold on for a second?”

Rob stood there, excited and
nervous all at the same time. He knew this was the moment he’d been waiting for
his whole life. He knew that he and Rachel would fall madly in love and be
together forever.

He knocked again, knowing that it
would anger the voice behind the door but he didn’t care. He had to get inside.

“Did you hear me? I said hold on
a second!”

“Let me in!” Rob screamed. “I
have to see Rachel!”

Suddenly the door swung open and
Rob stood there looking at Rachel’s father who looked back at him angrily.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I need to see your daughter!”
Rob answered.

“Well, she’s not here now. I’m
sorry,” her father answered.

“What do you mean she’s not here.
I don’t believe you. I know she’s here!” Rob said, looking inside the house.

“She’s not here. Please leave
now,” her father said coldly.

Rob couldn’t just leave. He
quickly ran inside and started yelling for Rachel.

“Rachel! Rachel!”

Nobody answered.

“What are you doing? Get out of
my house! I’m going to call the police!” Rachel’s father yelled out.

“I’m not leaving until I find
her,” Rob said.

“RACHEL!”

“What is your problem? She is not
here. What do you not understand about that?” her father yelled.

“Don’t lie to me. I can smell her
here. I know she’s here,” Rob said, realizing that what he just said was a
little bit crazy.

“Smell her?” her father said. “This
has gone too far, please leave my property now!”

“Where is she. I love her. I need
to be with her!” Rob yelled back.

“You are crazy. You don’t deserve
to be with my daughter anyway,” her father said.

Rob was so mad that he walked
over to Rachel’s father, picked him up off the ground and lifted him high up
into the air. His head hit the ceiling with a bang and Rob started shaking him
up and down, hitting his head with each motion.

“LET ME DOWN!” Rachel’s father
yelled. “You’re insane!”

“Just tell me where she is and
nobody gets hurt,” Rob said, in a creepy voice.

“I don’t know!”

“Well then, we can do this all
day!” Rob said lifting him up into the air and spinning him now above his head
with his super human strength.

“I think she’s gone again,” her
father said, finally.

“Gone where?” Rob asked, still
torturing the poor guy.

“I don’t know, but I think I know
who might know,” he said.

With that, Rob put her father
down on the ground and waited to hear what he had to say.

“So?” Rob asked. “Who shall I go
to next?”

For a moment, Rob thought he wasn’t
going to tell him, then he opened his mouth to speak. “She had visited with her
mother not long before she left us again. I think her mother knows where she is
or might have an idea to point you in the right direction.”

Rob was thrilled by this
information, and part of him was surprised that her dad gave it to him. He was
sure he wouldn’t have, but then again, his life was at stake, so he didn’t have
much of a choice in the matter.

“And where might she be?” Rob
asked.

“She’s ill, she’s in the
hospital,” her father said.

“The hospital?” Rob asked. “Which
one?”

“The one in town,” he said.

“Do the accept visitors outside
the family?” Rob asked, smartly.

“Well, now that you mention it, I
don’t think so. Sorry, looks like you can’t see her.”

“You don’t really think I’m going
to give up that quickly do you?” Rob asked.

“Um..?”

“You will call now and say I’m a
cousin in from out of state to see her and that they should expect me,” Rob
said.

“What?” her father asked. “I can’t
do that.”

“You can and you will!” Rob said,
walking over to him again as if to hurt him or torture him in some other
fashion.

“STAY BACK!” her father pleaded. “I
beg you!”

“Listen, I’m going to head over
to the hospital now, and if they don’t let me in, I’ll be back here for you. Do
you understand me?” Rob asked seething with anger.

“You better not come back here,
do you understand ME?” her father asked. “I’ll call the cops on you.”

“Oh yeah, what do you think they’re
going to do to me?” Rob said, mocking him.

“I wouldn’t try me,” her father
said. “I’m a powerful guy.”

“Listen, I don’t really care who
you are to be frank. I just want to see your daughter,” Rob said.

“Well, let me tell you one other
thing. This is no way to enter into our family, young man. If you ever think
you stand a chance with my daughter you are out of your mind. So, if I were you
I’d just quit now.”

“NEVER!” Rob said. “This has
nothing to do with you, or your family. I don’t care about your dumb family.
You guys mean nothing to me. All I care about is Rachel. Nobody else in this
world matters to me. I am different and she is different. It is something you
will never understand,” Rob said.

“Just leave, would you!” her
father said, pointing to the door. “I’ve heard just about enough out of you.”

“Ok, but remember, I’ll be back
if I can’t find her. So you better be pointing me in the right direction.”

“GOODBYE!” was the last thing he
heard as he made his way out of the house and towards the hospital for more
answers.

Mark drove through the streets
feeling energized as he knew he’d get his fix soon. It had been a few days
since his last smoke, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on more. He’d
become addicted, and it was all he could think about. He knew it was illegal,
but he didn’t care. Something inside him had shifted and he’d become a guy he hardly
knew anymore. He was suddenly doing things that were completely out of the
ordinary and hanging with types that he’d never liked before. Although, he was
happy about it because it made him feel cool and like a rebel. He’d always
wanted to revolt against society, but for some reason or another, felt
contained in his skin and he couldn’t break free. Now, things had changed for
him, and he suddenly felt free of his inner chains and able to express his real
true self.

As he pulled down the back alley
way of this sketchy town he’d never been to before, a cat ran in front of him,
and then smoke from a pipe in the street started billowing in the air in front
of him making it hard to see. He was along, and was suddenly feeling a bit
creeped out by the situation. He knew he had to stay the course though, or else
he wouldn’t get his pot.

He turned the corner, and then
outside on an old concrete porch stood two unkempt men, standing there as if
they’d been waiting all day. Mark drove by and looked at the number on the
house and saw this was where his dealer lived. He slowly approached the men,
looking around the perimeter to make sure this wasn’t a sting operation and
making sure there were no police following him. He then rolled down his window
and said, “Are you Romano?”

“What’s the code?”

“427,” Mark said, still watching
his back for trouble.

“Bro, that’s not the code!”
Romano said and reached into his pocket and pulled out a police badge.

Mark’s hear began to race as he
watching this unfold before his eyes. He knew he should have never come here
and now he was going to be arrested.

“I think I have the wrong house,”
Mark said.

“I’m just messin’ with you kid!”
Romano said, laughing and looking back at his friends on the porch, who were
also hysterical about the whole thing.

“Listen, this was a bad idea,”
Mark said. “I should have never come.”

“What do you mean, kid? You ain’t
gonna buy?” Romano asked, beginning to look angry.

“No, I don’t think it’s a good
idea,” Mark said.

“What do you mean?” Romano said. “Hey
guys, he’s not going to buy anymore. He faked us out!”

“WHAT?” the guys said on the
porch as some stood up, with their muscles showing and started swaggering over
to Mark’s car.

“Come out here,” Romano said. “I’ll
show you what I have. I don’t think you will be disappointed.”

Mark thought for a second and
then decided he still wanted to get high, so he got out of the car to look at
what they had.

“Come up here,” one of the guys
on the porch said. “It’s up here.”

Mark got out of his car and
headed up towards the broken down front porch with iron railings. He knew in
his heart this wasn’t the best idea, but at this point he’d do anything for his
weed, even if it meant entering into the lion’s den.

As he got to the top of the steps
he saw more guys in the house, staring at him. He got a weird and creepy
feeling about this as they all came out onto the porch to see what was going
on. It was as if he’d entered the wrong side of the tracks and these guys knew
it.

“Well, well, look what the cat
drug in,” one of the guys said, as he came out of the front screen door.

Mark stood there, waiting for
Romano to show him the weed. He didn’t want to engage with these guys, because
he knew it could end badly and he didn’t want to get hurt. After all, he was a
little bit out of his element. He’d never done a drug deal before.

Mark stood there waiting and
silently praying that he would leave here in one piece. These guys looked like
they were bad news and he was suddenly regretting his decision to get out of
his car.

“Where you from, bro?” one guy
asked.

“You must be from the good side
of the tracks?” another guy said.

“Well? What cat got your tongue?
Don’t be scared of us,” another guy asked, as he approached Mark and pushed him
on the shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” Mark said,
jumping backwards and almost falling down the steps.

“What’d you say to me?” the guy
retorted. “Nobody speaks to me like that.”

“I said, DON’T TOUCH ME!” Mark
said, getting angry.

“You talking back to us?” another
guy said, starting to approach Mark.

“Listen guys, I’m not here to
make friends. I’m here to see Romano and get my stuff, then I’m going to leave
and you will never see me again.”

“I think you should leave now,”
the guy said.

“Maybe I should,” Mark said.

“Mark, bro, here’s the goods.
Come check it out,” Romano said as he came through the front door.

“Nah, man, I’m gonna go,” Mark
said, as he turned to walk back to his car.

“What do you mean?” Romano said. “I
got this for you. You have to pay me.”

“This is a little too much for
me,” Mark said. “I never should have come.”

“Well you came, so you have to
pay up.”

Mark turned back to leave when he
saw that his car was swarmed by even more guys than the ones on the porch.

“Don’t even try and leave,”
Romano said.

Mark looked around and for the
first time in a long time began to panic. He didn’t know what to do and he was
definitely outnumbered. He felt like the guys could smell the fear oozing off
of his body.

“Where’s our dough?” one of the
guys said. “Don’t make us stand around and wait all day long.”

“Hand it over kid!” another guy
yelled.

“I’m not giving you anything,”
Mark yelled back with authority. “I don’t owe you a penny. I’m outta here!”

He turned to walk away, leaving
Romano and some other guys looking dumbfounded on the porch. He could tell by
the looks on their faces that they’d never been spoken to like that ever. Mark
didn’t care though all he cared about was getting back to his car and leaving
that sketch hood.

He started walking down the
steps, feeling an intense serge of energy come over him. It was as if his adrenaline
was kicking in, except its intensity was insurmountable. It was a feeling he
wasn’t quite sure he knew what do to with. He could feel his body begin to
shake and tremble inside as the thought of these guys ganging up on his grew
into a reality.

“Let’s get him!” the guys
shouted.

“Romano, who is this punk! Let’s
beat him down!” the other guys said.

“Beat him to a pulp!” Romano
said, looking directly into Mark’s eyes unsympathetically.

Mark could feel their range
entering into his blood stream. He didn’t know how that was possible, but it
was definitely entering his body. He was seething with anger and now wanted to
fight them back, but he was only one guy and they were at least twenty.

Again, he began to panic and fear
that he would for sure lose this battle, then he looked down at his hands and
saw his finger nails turn into talons and his skin began to get little raised
bumps on it. They were prickly and felt like little razor blades to the touch.
Inside his mouth he began to feel his fangs protrude from his gums and as he
looked around all he could focus on was the scent of the guys that were about
to pounce on him. He wanted to taste them and kill them right there.

“Yo Dudes, What’s happening?”
Romano said. “Look at this kid!”

“I think he’s going mad!” another
guy said.

“He’s shaking in his skin? Is he
scared or is he convulsing?” another guy chimed in.

“Are you fools talking about me?”
Mark asked.

“Who you callin’ a fool?” Romano
said as he started walking towards him with a hood like swagger.

“Yeah, who do you think you are?”
another guy said.

“Fool? You think we’re fools? You
wait to see who the fool is now!” another guy yelled from the porch.

Mark couldn’t control himself as
he ran up the steps of the porch charging at Romano with all his might. As he
got to the top of the steps all the guys in the house spilled out onto the
porch with their fists up ready to fight. Feeling a little intimidated he
slowed down and waited before he threw the first punch.

“What you got scared?” Romano
asked.

“I’m never scared,” Mark said.

“Looks like you chickened out!”
Romano added.

“You better watch it!” Mark
answered.

“I better what?” Romano asked. “White
boy is telling me to watch it!”

“You’re a pretty boy you know
that!” the guys started saying in unison.

“PRETTY BOY, PRETTY BOY, PRETTY
BOY!” they chanted, making Mark’s blood boil inside.

“That’s it!” Mark said.

With that he couldn’t stand it
anymore. He knew he was completely outnumbered but he had no choice but to
fight them. He charged towards their head man, Romano with his fists up.

“He’s lost it!” Romano said. “Do
you see his eyes, they’re blood red!”

“HELP!” Romano screamed.

Mark was surprised that his
appearance scared him so much, but was thankful that it did. He charged full
speed at Romano and swung at his face missing him by an inch.

“MISSED!” the guys started
yelling.

“Back me up guys!” Romano yelled.

Mark felt a guy pulling on his
jacket and he swung around and with all his might punched him clear off the
porch sending him landing on his back in a pile of leaves.

Another guy came up behind him
with two guys not so far behind, he did the same thing, punching them off the
porch and leaving them crying like babies on the ground.

“What’s going on here?” Romano
yelled, hiding behind a porch chair. “Stop acting like wusses and kill him!”

The screen door flew open and out
ran about ten heavy set football player type guys all screaming and charging
right for Mark. He knew he had to think quickly or else he was doomed. His wings
sprouted on his back as he rose up into the air avoiding them completely, but
hanging low enough to kick them all in their faces causing them to fall down
like dominos on top of each other.

“This is ridiculous!” Romano
said. “You’re not going to get me!”

“Not only am I going to get you,”
Mark said angrily. “I’m going to kill you.”

Romano let out a scared laugh as
he hid behind the chair. I’ve got so many guys here, you’ll be fighting us all
day long!”

“Listen, I’ve put out about
twenty already and it’s only been a few minutes. I wouldn’t under estimate me!”

Within seconds of Romano saying
that about fifty guys showed up in front of the house.

“Where is the little punk?” the
guys started shouting.

“There he is!” the guys pointed.

“That kid? You’re joking! What
kind of pussies are you?” the guys yelled.

“Wait and see!” they yelled
bloody from the ground.

Mark didn’t know what to do. He
couldn’t believe they called for backup and that he was about to take on fifty
tough guys. This was so out of character for him and he knew he was going to
get in trouble for this. And if he didn’t get in trouble, he would surely get
recognized. It’s not every day there is a brutal beating of one hundred grown
men.

He couldn’t stop and dwell on it
for another moment. He didn’t have any time to waste as they started running
towards him with their Swiss Army knives drawn and nunchucks swinging.

Mark knew that this could be the
end of him. He didn’t know how to fight off guys with weapons let alone this
many guys with weapons. He was surely going to die. As the approached him, he
heard a rumble in the sky and looked up. They all stopped and looked up in
terror.

“I’m here to help you!” Benji
yelled flying quickly to his aid.

“Benji?” Mark asked. “How did you
know I was here?”

“No time for questions, Mark! Let’s
get these guys!”

Within seconds Benji started
shooting fire balls out of the palms of his hands setting the streets into a fiery
blaze as they men were running through it. Some of them instantly burned to
death while others were left screaming and shrieking with their limbs on fire.

Another group of guys came
running out of the house shooting guns towards Benji and Mark, missing them
each time they shot.

“Be careful!” Benji yelled.

“This is nuts!” Mark yelled back.

The shots kept firing as Mark watched
Benji swoop down and karate chop each of the guns out of their hands and then
throw them all onto the ground with a bang. He then walked over to the last man
standing which was Romano and grabbed him with one swoop and started flying
into the air with him in his talons. Romano was screaming and gasping for air
as he rose higher and higher into the sky.