Secret Worlds (430 page)

“But before I go, could you answer one question?” I asked. He said nothing so I continued. “Why do you care about them?” I nodded my head toward the people in the city.

“They’re innocent.”

“But you’re a vampire.”

“What’s your point?”

“You have incredible power. You’re greater than they are.”

“Power is a dangerous thing,” he said. He turned and walked away.

Something stirred in my memory, as if I’d once thought the same thing.

“How is it dangerous?” I called after him.

“Be gone within the hour.” He picked up speed.

“Wait!” I tried to catch up, but he had already disappeared.

I stared after him, at the empty space that felt so big. Tears stung my eyes, and I gulped in air.
What was wrong with me?
The faint imprint of the girl I used to be lurked near the edges of my mind, a ghost risen from the grave.

The thought repulsed me. I hated to think how weak I used to be before I met Boaz.

Boaz.

I returned home right away, hoping I would find Boaz there, but he was still gone. I curled up in bed, but I couldn’t get my mind off the vampire I’d met. Over and over, his sorrow-filled gaze tortured me, and an unexplainable gnawing pinged in my gut. I felt pity for him, but it was more than that. It was as if the light from his touch still lingered inside me, and it made me question everything.

That night, when I finally fell asleep, I dreamed I was sitting with the vampire in a field of tall grass, the sun shining brightly. I thought it strange to see a vampire in full light, but he didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. He was curled up on his side, head resting in my lap.

Looking down on him, compassion followed by peace overwhelmed me. The moment seemed to last forever, but the dream didn’t. I woke to the howl of wind blowing outside. A winter storm was approaching. I rolled onto my back and stared at the high ceiling.

What had happened to me?

A flash of light filled my window, and I sat up. Boaz was home. I didn’t have to look. I felt it.

Replacing my recent regrets, excitement and longing took over, and I rushed to greet him. Before I reached the bedroom door, he was already there, grinning mischievously. His arms came around me, hugging me tightly.

“What took you so long?” I asked.

“I finished your present.” He pushed me away to look into my eyes, still the silly grin. Behind him, standing in the doorway, Hunwald, too, seemed to be grinning.

I laughed. “What have you done, Boaz?”

“I did it. I finally did it. I can’t wait to try it on you.”

“Try what?”

“Do you still want to be with me forever?”

I hesitated, but quickly shook it off. This was my life now. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“Then that is what you shall have. I think I’ll like you better now.”

Before I could react, he kissed me hard. I barely had the chance to catch my breath, before I saw a flash of the snake on his upper arm followed by a syringe in his hand. Boaz plunged it into my back. The pain was immediate and dropped me to my knees.

“Boaz?” I reached behind me to try and get at the needle. A fire-hot sensation was spreading quickly throughout my body. “What did you do?”

“It will only hurt for a minute, love.” He sat down in his usual red chair, petted Hunwald, and watched me expectantly.

I tried to speak again, but the pain became too great. It washed over me in great waves, rocking my entire frame. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists as my body unwilling twisted into a tight ball. I tried to stop it with magic, but the pain was too excruciating, preventing me from thinking about anything else.

A horrific sound exploded in my ears as if I were suddenly stuck beneath the belly of a great roaring beast. The screaming filled my head, creating an unbearable pressure inside my skull. Pressure built in my eyeballs, and I was afraid at any moment my eyes might burst from their sockets, but instead, the blood found other outlets. It poured from my nose, ears, and out my mouth.

Finally the pressure proved too great, and I lost consciousness.

When I came to, I was lying in bed with a fresh nightgown and the covers tucked to my chin. The lights were off and the curtains drawn. I moved my limbs, expecting them to feel stiff, but they felt remarkably good, considering what I’d just been through. I only wished the inside of me felt as good as the outside. Something had gone horribly wrong.

I threw the covers back and jumped out of bed to turn on the lights. I had to find Boaz. I had to know what he’d done to me. I left the room and hurried down the stairs.

“Boaz?”

I called several times and searched every room. When I found no one, not even Lisa, my anxiety grew. The mansion had never been empty before.

I opened the front door to search outside, but stopped when I remembered Boaz’s private study, a room I was still forbidden to enter.
Not anymore
. I turned around and walked toward the entrance. The door was locked but that didn’t stop me. Using magic, I jerked it open.

The inside was not what I’d expected. Instead of a room, there was a long hallway. Its décor was completely different from the rest of the house. There were no pictures hanging on the walls, no elaborate decorations, and the temperature had to have been at least ten degrees cooler. There was very little light by the time I reached the end of the hall. Just enough to see a circular, stone staircase leading down into what looked like a black hole. I glanced back the way I came, trying to decide if I should go back to grab a flashlight or even an object with glass I could light up with magic.

Forget it. I refuse to waste any time.

“Boaz?” My voice echoed down the long flight of stairs.

When I didn’t receive an answer, I began the long climb down, feeling my way as I went. The rock walls were wet with moisture, and the air smelled stale and a little like rusty pipes. When there were no more stairs, I slid my hands along the wall searching for a light switch. Eventually, I found one and flipped it on. Dull fluorescent, low-hanging lights flickered overhead, barely illuminating a long and narrow hall. Six doors were on each side, all with a single glass window. There was one last door at the end of the hall, black and as wide as the walkway.

I took a few hesitant steps forward to peer into the first room. It was empty except for one object: a girl with short uneven brown hair and pale skin that looked more grey next to the stark white walls. Her lips were the same dark purple color as her fingertips. She sat on the floor, leaning into the corner of the room. Her head was tilted up, staring at the ceiling with mouth open. Each of her hand’s rested on the floor next to her legs, palms turned up.

I watched for a moment, wondering how I felt about her. Most of me felt nothing, but a small part of me knew I should try to help her. I hadn’t experienced this sort of caring, if that was even the right word, for a very long time.

The vampire in New York City.

He must have done something to me. Had this been yesterday, I might’ve walked right on by the girl to find Boaz, but this new feeling couldn’t be ignored.

I opened the door and rushed in, hoping she wasn’t dead. When I grabbed her by both shoulders, she slumped forward, her head dropping to her chest. I pushed her back up and checked for a pulse. It took me awhile to find one, but it was there.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

The girl didn’t move, not even blink.

I squeezed her shoulders tight and yelled, “Wake up!”

Still nothing, other than the slow and steady rise of her chest as she breathed in and out. Very gently, I carefully laid her on the floor and smoothed back her hair. That’s when I saw them: two red puncture wounds. I scurried away backwards, finally understanding.

No. Please, no.

All this time, Boaz had this girl trapped, slowly feeding off of her, slowly killing her, while I was upstairs having the time of my life. I glanced to the open door, remembering the other rooms. My throat filled with acid, and I turned to throw up but nothing came out.

I staggered out of the room and down the hallway. The remaining rooms contained more of the same: white enclosed areas filled only by empty human shells. The last room, however, imprisoned two girls sitting opposite of each other. I didn’t recognize the one, but the other was Muriel, the maid I’d met when I’d first come to Boaz’s home. She’d slit her wrists.

I stumbled into the black door at the end of the hallway and fell through to the other side, tears stinging my eyes.

“Eve?”

Boaz was standing in front of a fireplace, flipping through a book. He set it down and walked to me. Hunwald followed behind.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

I looked back to the open door and into the dimly lit hallway. “The girls…”

“What about them, love?”

“There’s something wrong with them,” was all I could say.

“Of course there is. They’ve been feeding a vampire. Come. Sit down. You look exhausted.”

He took my hand and guided me to a wooden stool. He sat across from me in a plush recliner.

“Boaz, we have to help those girls,” I said.

He frowned. “Help them? Why?”

“Because,” I stammered, searching for something in me that would tell me why it was wrong, but it was as if my conscience was lost. “It’s not right.”

“When did you start caring about what was right?” he asked. When I didn’t answer, he countered my logic. “Are you saying it’s right for me to starve?”

“No.”

“I’m a vampire. That’s what I do. Don’t be naïve.”

“I just didn’t realize—”

“Were you in your fairytale world again?”

My head jerked up. “What?”

“Never mind. How are you feeling?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Would you
please
just answer the question?”

“Why are you talking to me like this?”

“I’ve invested a lot of time and money into you,” he said, “and I want to make sure it worked. Now answer the question. How are you feeling?”

I fought back more tears, but said, “I feel different, I guess. But what are you talking about, time and money?”

Boaz picked up a notebook from off of his desk. “What feels different?”

“Everything around me is sharper, more clear,” I said, my voice full of frustration. But then it dawned on me, all his questions. “You made me a vampire, didn’t you?”

Boaz scribbled on the lined paper, and then tapped a pencil on his head as if thinking.

“I’m a vampire now, right?” I asked again.

Boaz finally looked up. It took him all of three seconds before he burst out laughing. I’d never heard laughter like this from him before. It made me feel all kinds of wrong.

“Then what did you do to me?” I cried, tears spilling over.

Boaz’s laughter subsided. “Well, if all my research proves to be right, then I have just made you an immortal.”

“How is that different from you?”

“You won’t have my strength or speed. Not even my blood lust. You will simply live forever, unless, of course, someone cuts off your head or you burn to death.”

“How is that possible?”

“You wouldn’t understand, but to put it in simple terms, I gave you the immortal part of vampirism and left out all the good stuff.”

“But why? Why spend your
precious
time and money when you could’ve just made me a vampire?”

“And risk the chance of you becoming more powerful than me? I couldn’t do that.”

I reared back as if I’d been slapped. “I thought you loved me.”

“I do. I love you like I love those girls out there.”

“And how is that exactly?”

“They give me something I need.”

“And what do I give you?”

He inhaled deeply. “Beautiful, untainted power. I’ve been playing this puppy love charade long enough. I’m so tired of it that if I have to do it for one more second, I’ll slit my throat.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, my voice small.

Boaz mimicked me in a shrill voice, “
I don’t understand.
” He stood up and crossed the room, tugging on his hair. “I can’t stand hearing you whine. You would think being with me all this time that you would’ve learned something. You are the stupidest, most naïve—”

“Boaz?”

“Shut up when I’m talking to you!” His arm swept books from off a shelf. I jumped when they crashed to the floor. “It’s about power! It’s always been about power. And unfortunately, I need someone to make mine unstoppable. Not just someone, mind you. I need you, Eve. You were bred for me. I was part of that treaty made over a hundred years ago. In fact, it was my idea. Whenever I came near either side of your family, I could feel my powers grow as it reached out to theirs. It was as if the dark energy between us needed each other. But it wasn’t enough, and eventually the power would fade. That’s when I came up with my brilliant plan. I knew if I could get the two families to breed me a life partner, then I would have enough power to make me invincible. There were some mistakes along the way, of course. Take the mental twins, for example, but ultimately I was right. I knew the moment I held your infant body in my arms that you would be the one. Pity you were such a disappointment. Your parents tried their best, but you were just too good for it all, weren’t you?”

I stared at him, dumbfounded. A single tear traced down my cheek.

“Erik and Sable had their chance, but they failed. They begged me to take you. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t waste any more time. And I knew I was the only one who could change you. Disgusting as it was, it was all so easy to play the knight in shining armor. You ate it up like a gluttonous pig. But it was unbearable for me. I’ve never felt so
dirty
.”

The last of my tears fell. There was nothing left. I was numb. “It was all a set up. The diablos in the forest. They weren’t real. My parents weren’t trying to kill me.”

Boaz clapped. “Ladies and Gentleman, she does have a brain!”

The hands in my lap looked small. Everything had been a lie.

“Don’t be sad. You were created for me, yes, but I made you better, too. I mean, you didn’t really think all of those magical stunts you pulled were all you, do you?” He waved his hand and chuckled. “Oh, who am I kidding? Of course you did! You’re self-centered that way. That’s one of the few things I liked about you.”