The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga)

  “NO!” I screamed out as I saw both Draven and Lucius turn to source the outburst in the crowd. I was very aware of the people around me moving back so as not to be associated with me. Draven looked furious as he stormed over to me shouting a command I didn’t understand. It didn’t take long to guess what it had been when I was seized by both arms. I looked to my sides and found two huge guards dressed in thick armour holding me secure.

  “How dare anyone display such insolence in my presence!” He shouted in my direction and at that moment I wondered if the theory was true, if you die in your dream do you really die in real life? Was this the end, was I going to die at the hands of the man I loved before he even knew me? My heart beat wildly in my chest, I thought it might hit the floor before he reached me. I started to struggle in a feeble attempt to free myself but the pain that shot through my arms quickly put a stop to that motion.

  Draven was at me in seconds and now looking down at me as an enemy not as a lover, his size seemed twice as big. He looked ready to crush me and one of his hands was at the hilt of his sword ready to unleash it. By this I was shaking with fear. His face was more tanned than I was used to and he wore a lot more facial hair covering his flexing jaw and tight mouth with a black shadow. His deep set eyes were onyx black, edged with their powerful purple ring. His eyebrows knitted together in a frown I was very used to, making him look as hard as granite. I gulped down a hard lump when he spoke again.

  “Show yourself!” I jumped slightly when his face shot forward only inches from mine. He was trying to see underneath my hood that covered my face down to my lips but got frustrated, so without a further thought my hood was ripped back and my identity was revealed. This time it was Draven’s turn to jump slightly and he took a few steps back.

  “It can’t be! Impossible!” He said, almost panicked. I looked up slowly watching my own eyelashes lift as I met his eyes. He looked like I had struck his heart with a knife and took a step forward to plunge it in further.

  “What matter of power is this?” He demanded to the room as if waiting for someone to own up to the prank. I tried to move once more, hoping to run away and wake up with my neck still in one piece, while Draven was turning to scan the room for answers. The guards gripped my arms tighter and when I let out a yelp in protest, Draven turned back his attention to me shouting once more.

  “Let her go and don’t ever touch her again!” He ordered his guards, who didn’t need telling twice. They dropped their hold and stepped back like the others in the room.

  “Do you speak?” His question was abrupt and rude but I wasn’t about to argue on etiquette. I didn’t know what to say or if to say anything at all. Maybe playing dumb was the best course of action, although I’m not sure Draven was going to accept this.

  “Let me put it another way for you little one, if you refuse to speak then there are other means to loosen one’s tongue, so I will ask only once more...Do you speak?” He had lent his head down so his words only entered my ears and it was enough to make me respond. I nodded five times in quick succession which brought a scary amusement to his lips.

  “Good, now you will answer my questions. Who are you?”

  “I...I am...” I was just about to say my name when Lucius interrupted us.

  “My Lord, might you let me deal with this one, I believe she has been spying in on a time which is not her own.” The sight of him made me move backwards. He now stood next to Draven and the differences in the two were like Yin and Yang. Draven was the bigger out of the two but not by much. Lucius looked as I would have imagined him to look as the person he was first known as...He looked like Judas. His hair was much longer with a full beard that was the colour of straw blonde, highlighted streaks made by the sun. His eyes knew me and I shuddered as they burned into me.

  “You know of this girl?” Draven asked as he ignored my moving slowly further back.

  “I have foreseen this one and she will cause you great pain my Lord, you must have her destroyed.” His words penetrated me like electricity. I came alive with hate filling my veins and flooding my senses.

  “He Lies! You cannot trust him, he will betray you Draven! He wants me to hurt you and he will kill me in order to achieve it!” I shouted out making Lucius hiss and Draven growl.

  “And how exactly will killing you hurt me...unless Lucius, you know something I do not?” He turned to look Lucius in the face and was met by a dark grin. I decided then to risk everything and say the only words I knew he might listen too.

  “If you kill me like he wants you too, you will be killing someone, whom you yourself has named to be Electus.” I said the word meaning “Chosen” in Latin hoping it would still have meaning in this time. Draven’s gaze left Lucius to stare at me like I had said the words he longed for.

  “Then it is true, my time is now and I shall finally have her!” Draven reached out to grab me but the arm he touched started to simply fade away. The most painful sight was watching the horror on Draven’s desperate face as he realised what was happening. Lucius placed a hand on Draven’s outstretched arm and spoke too softly for a Demon from the pits of Hell.

  “No my friend, I am afraid the time is not now. The time has come to put an end to this historical play of mine and claim her for myself.”

  Draven pushed Lucius back and rushed to me to take the remaining part of my body in his arms. It was a strange sensation. Like being washed away with the tide, I was trying desperately to stay afloat. Draven’s face looked down at mine as though my eyes were the last thing to vanish. His last word was the last thing I heard before I woke....

  “Please...”

  “Draven!” I shouted as I bolted upright in bed. I looked around the room for any signs of the dream, any sight of the warrior King but my room looked as I had left it. Everything that was, but the dark figure that stood watching me from the corner behind my door. I froze like small prey at the sight of the hunter.

  “I am afraid not my dear Keira.” That voice! The voice from so many of my nightmares was here now, in my room! This couldn’t be real...I had woken up hadn’t I?

  “Lucius!” I said without asking.

  “Of course, who else would go to such lengths as I, to get to you.” He moved from the shadows and I half expected to see the same Lucius from my dream. I was wrong. He wasn’t wearing a long cloak now hiding his body. It was strange to see him looking casual. He wore dark trousers, a dark red T-shirt and a long black jacket that went to the floor. It split in three around his legs to allow for the movement that brought him closer to the bed. He looked well groomed with hair slicked back by fingers and a clean shave to reveal, smooth pale skin. He had sharp handsome features, a high nose and square jaw with staggeringly beautiful eyes. It pained me to accept these facts as I hated him more than I could muster up the words.

  “If you were hoping for someone else then that hope is wasted, he is not going to come and save you as you may think. Tell me Keira, did you like my little trip down memory lane? I think that day would have been far more interesting with you in it.” He sat down on my bed like we were old friends having a chat instead of playing cat and mouse.

  “How did you..?” I asked in a whisper. He smiled as he seemed to be enjoying the level of control he had gained over me.

  “It wasn’t without its difficulties I can assure you, but I had to gain access into your mind somehow. You have a mind like I have never known, even Dominic’s mind I can control but so far that has been the hardest...well up until you that is. You have certainly been a challenge but I knew I would eventually break you.” He trailed one cold, white finger down the length of my cheek and I shuddered.

  “Break me?” I asked not knowing if I wanted the answer.

  “I have had a lot of years to master patience. And you were so worth the wait. I knew your dreams were the key and with the added touch of alcohol in your system it made it barely a challenge. Of course Dominic was right to keep you firmly in his grasp. I thought I would never catch you alon
e, he keeps impenetrable guard over your mind while you sleep but tonight I knew my chance had come. So now you are going to do everything that I say and in return I will not hurt you.” At this point my panic fluttered up into a whole new level and I could feel my pulse beating in my neck. Lucius also noticed. He caught the column of my neck in one large palm and my breath caught.

  “I want to hear you say it,” he lent in to me to look directly into my frightened eyes.

  “Say it!” His voice lost that smooth edge and he commanded this of me.

  “Say what...I don’t know what you want me to say?” I stated bravely.

  “I want you to say you are mine and under my control..NOW!” He shouted and squeezed his grasp tighter just so I understood the full extreme of my position. I closed my eyes and a stream of liquid came running down my cheeks. He still allowed me to breath but I didn’t know for how long. Then he shifted his body weight so that he was straggling me. He had each one of his knees at either side of me and with his free hand he whipped out his jacket to allow for space. It flew out like a black cloud and for a second I was in the dark. I felt the desperation of my situation and knew that if I didn’t agree, he would most likely kill me but if I did, would that be a fate worse than death. I would be under his control and there would be no going back. I couldn’t take the chance!

  “Never,” I said barely moving my lips. His eyes narrowed as his anger grew but after seeing the certainty in my face he actually smiled.

  “Very well, your choice has been made, one you will soon regret. It is time for you to learn the full extent of my powers.” His face went very severe before placing each palm of his hands on either side of my head. At first it looked as though he was going crush my skull in his hands and I actually braced myself for the end.

  “Remember Keira, keep breathing or this will kill you!” That was the only warning I received before a great and tremendous pain shot through my brain like I had been electrocuted. I tried to scream, to holler, to yell and cry out but nothing came. It felt like my mind was a front door to a house that held an endless stream of vital information. I wanted to guard it with my life but Lucius was kicking in that door. Every new wave he sent crashing through me I felt myself getting weaker and weaker. The door was splitting and soon he would be in. I had never felt pain like it before and on top of it all I was running out of air. My chest felt constricted and ached for oxygen. I remembered his warning and took in a gulp full of air that tasted bitter around him.

  “Let go... just let yourself go and be mine, then it will all be over.” Lucius whispered in a smooth voice. This had the opposite effect. I clung on but after another wave of excruciating pain I was screaming inside to just do as he asked of me. I felt as though my head would explode and then there would be nothing left for him to take. I was so close...just so close to ending it all but then one image flashed through my mind like a lifeline in this storm of agony.

  Draven.

  All of a sudden I wanted to fight, to fight like I have never fought before! If I had control of my body then I would have kicked and scratched, punched and screamed at anyone doing this to me, no matter if they were stronger or not, I wouldn’t have let this happen without a fight! So now I had to think, even with this drilling pain inflicting my mind. I had to be smart and use what I knew I had. Lucius had said that my mind had been the hardest to control, so what if right now he was using all of his strength to get to me and more importantly what if I wasn’t using all of mine. My mind was clearly different so I needed to try...to push back...to fight with my mind!

  I heard him growl as he heard my resistance grow. This gave me hope and this time it wasn’t wasted. I decided to use what I knew about Lucius. He was Judas, and he was now reborn as the Vampire King. He sucked the lives from his victims and drew strength from their fears, but what of his fears. Then it hit me, I knew what he feared the most...what anyone would fear the most...

  The day they died.

  As soon as I thought it he let go of my head and sat back to really look at me.

  “How?...Is it impossible...what are you?” He stared at me in disbelief as my mind started to form his greatest fear bringing it back from just a memory, making it a reality.

  “NO...You Can’t...you....!” He didn’t finish, as the blazing sun erupted in the room scorching everything around us. I went back to his memories. I don’t know how, maybe because we were still connected to each other. He hadn’t expected me to use his power against him and his face screamed out this fact. It was terror and the need to gain control again all of which was useless now, I had come too far to let go. I went back to that day he hung from a tree, the day his brothers in belief had murdered him. His flesh burnt away in flakes of charred skin and floated in the heated days he was left to hang. The sun got brighter and brighter until it became the fire in the sky. It scorched the earth and bit at his feet like snakes in the grass, the stings just as deadly, each flame like the fangs he had acquired from the Hell in which he was cast. This was his damnation. His punishment and his betrayal from both sides. This memory was his hell and now I had cast it again for him to relive.

  This time he would not survive my dreams.

  “NO!” He screamed one more time and he grabbed at my arms in a useless attempt at stopping me but the world around us just grew brighter still, like we had transported inside the sun itself. His grip became so painful it forced me to open my eyes. I was met by Lucius’ body alight in an explosion of fire, nothing else was burning but his form and of course the hands that still held me. The smell of burning flesh was that of my own as Lucius was still here in my mind, not in body or soul. With one last scream he burst into a figure of black ash and only when I moved did it disperse and float away out into the night like a swarm of flies. I got up and slammed my window shut making the frame and glass shudder. I was shaking and slumped down to the floor in a fit of tears brought on from both pain and relief.

  I had done it, I had beaten my nightmare but at what price? My arms started to really feel sore now and soon my tears were just down to the stinging on my skin. I got up and turned on the light to find the cause, hoping it was still all in my mind. It wasn’t. There on both my elbows as red raw handprints burned into my skin. I touched one of the finger marks and winced at the pain it caused. Oh great more war wounds for Draven to fix!

  Draven...I had to go to him, I had to tell him what happened tonight or if he still didn’t want to see me then I could find Vincent. Yes, that is what I would do, he would help me and hopefully heal me. Because the burning was growing, getting deeper and clinging on like his flaming hands were still there latched on to my skin.

  So that is what I did. I quickly put on a pair of jogging bottoms and after carefully putting on a bra and a zip up hooded top I grabbed my car keys. By this time my arms ached like tonne weights had been strapped to them. Driving was not going to be easy but I knew I could make it, as long as I broke one of my golden rules...

  Speeding.

  Chapter 58

  Touched By Judas.

  I pulled my truck into the parking lot at Afterlife and at three in the morning I was the only soul around. I was glad of this because by this point I was a hopeless mess of tears and sweat. The burning on my arms was considerably worse than before and now instead of a slight burn it felt as though my skin was melting off my bones. I ran to the side door by the bins as I knew the front door would be securely locked like last time. I punched in the number on the security pad a few times after getting it wrong more than once. I put this down to watery vision and a pain induced mental breakdown.

  Once inside, I ran the length of the club and mounted the main staircase taking two at a time. The VIP was empty all but one. Karmun was still behind the bar cleaning and re-stocking ready for the next night. I guess he didn’t sleep much. He heard me coming and put down a crate of Absinthe.

  “Hey Honey, what are you doing here?” He sounded panicked at seeing me and I didn’t care why. Immense pain kin
d of reprioritises all logic in your mind and I think if a giraffe had been playing checkers with a gazelle in the corner, I wouldn’t have batted an eye!

  “Sorry but I need to speak to Vincent, where is he?” Karmun looked dazzled for a moment while he thought about what to do.

  “Can’t it wait till morning, I mean he’s most likely asleep Keira.” This is when I lost my cool.

  “NO it can’t bloody wait! Look I’m sorry but this is an emergency and I don’t want to involve you but if you could help me and point me in the right direction then that would be more than great.” This came out in an out of breath jumble but he got the picture at least.

  “Come on, I’ll show you” He motioned for me to follow him and I was glad I didn’t have to do anymore convincing than that, ‘cause I think the next stage would have been screaming. We walked the way I usually came in and through the opposite door to the VIP, making it the second time in two days that I walked along the open hallway. The night air cut into my clothes but was oddly soothing on my imprinted burns. Karmun didn’t say another word and every now and again I saw a great sadness sweep across his features. Maybe he was tired and now he had to escort me without reason to his master’s brother’s room. He must be wondering why? We didn’t need to walk very far but it was in a part of Afterlife I had never been before. The open hallway veered off to the left and the Temple’s dome roof could be seen below from a different angle. We were now directly opposite where I had been standing with Vincent the night before. I was staring at the point when Karmun cleared his throat to get my attention. He held open a door for me.

  “I can’t go any farther but turn right down the hall and his room is the door at the end. Be warned he might not be alone. I’m sorry.” He added before walking away, leaving me to wonder what he was sorry for, or was it for something to come? Maybe Vincent would not be happy for me to disturb him but what choice did I have. Draven didn’t want to see me, Sophia would tell her brother instantly and it’s not like I could go to hospital over this.