Walk Into The Light - Shadows of the Night 6

Chapter 39

Hey,

I've been very busy, but I managed to squeeze in some time for writing! Here's the next chapter :-) Enjoy the read and have a great week! This week's song: Night of the Sorcerer by Brand X Music!

Lara

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Chapter 39

The intersection leading to the Red Zone loomed in front of us like a toothless, gaping mouth – darkness festering around the edges like black vines. Perhaps it was a trick of my mind, my imagination taking over.

Or perhaps it wasn't something in my mind, but part of the gnawing sensation in my stomach, the nervous spells of trembling I couldn't seem to get rid of. I'd never moved less run this much ever since I rose as a vampire, and it was starting to show. I needed blood. Would have to feed at some point.

Blood. You'll have to get used to it, Anna.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the cool brick wall of the run-down pawn shop we were using as resting place. As if this was something I could just get used to.

Andy turned back to me, holding his cellphone in an iron grip. His mouth was tightened, caught up in a place that reeked of steel and determination.

I looked up at him, trying to ignore the sound of his heart beating. It had been so distracting, I hadn't even heard him talk on the phone.

Shit.

"It didn't go well?" I said.

He shook his head. "Jason said he'll do what he can, but he can't treat this as a real emergency unless they have proof Vladislav is in the city and in fact a threat. And as we both know he has no means of contacting Dark Death or the Vampire League directly."

Basically the Circle's Force could only act if Vladislav or his presence alone was a threat to the magical community. Unless...

"What about the TF3?"

"He said he'll contact them, let them know what's going on. But you know, unless it's sanctioned by Brown or someone else who has the authority, they might not be able to interfere."

It was just like I thought from the start. The TF3 was part of a vision that might never turn into something real or palpable – a good start, a well-intentioned pet project this city started at some point. The problem of the communities being separate, acting separately remained. It looked more like a cosmetic, superficial measure – its intention and purpose merely populist and symbolic. Anything to appease the diverse factions in the city – not truly unite them.

Dammit.

Giuliana turned around, her green coat fluttering like a cape, as if she was indeed some sort of new mix of witch and superhero the world hadn't seen yet. She threw her hands up, exhaling gustily.

"This place is crawling with vamps, but I can't pinpoint it. It's like a big anthill of dark auras."

Andy folded his arms in front of him. "That's why they chose the place to begin with."

I stared past Giuliana, eyes going right through the intersection, drilling into the dark Netherlands of the Red Zone. I could feel Alexander like he was part of my own cosmic world – somewhere in the heart of the Red Zone.

Vladislav's presence was more muddled, just that dark veil that encompassed all of New York City. And yet... There was this gut feeling, more like a premonition that he was right here. If only to watch and see if Alexander failed.

My eyes stilled and focused on that one spot.

Alexander.

"I know where he is," I said.

"You have the weapons?" Andy said.

Giuliana nodded, her hand going reflexively to the left side of her coat.

"If all else fails, we use the spell and get the hell out. Let the Circle and the Vampire League clean out this mess," Andy said.

I nodded. That was the plan.

For now.

* * *

The night was quiet, disturbed only by odd noises that parted the silence seemingly at random – the sound of a door closing, glass rolling over asphalt, the soft footfalls of a stray cat. It was impossible to tell for sure how far away, only with vision could I locate the source of sound. As a newborn vampire I yet had to learn how to filter and distinguish different sounds.

The random noises interfered with the feel of the dark shadowland around us. I let that new sense I had gained stretch outward, trying to get a grip on the lay of the land, occupied space and motion – nothing I could have read in auratic or second sight. That door was closed on me now.

But I could feel their presence with every step I took. I was surrounded by small, living orbs oozing silent darkness that smelled of vampirism. Strapped over all, that disturbing sense of Vladislav's overbearing, destructive power.

We moved forward in silence, Andy and Giuliana in line with me.

Alexander was in the center of the Red Zone, close to the Jolterhead, that club that Chris Hayes' group of half-witches targeted once. It felt like that happened a life time ago. Back then I had gone to club, intending to rescue vamps. Not because of them, I did it for the half-witches, fearing the head vampire would harm them physically.

I was blinded by who I thought he was. Couldn't see beyond fear and doubt to see who he really was. Now I was running head-long into what most certainly was a trap to save said head vampire.

The darkness around us stilled, then exploded into turmoil. I felt them milliseconds before they approached – like a swarm of fleshly ghosts, drifting to us in fast-forward.

Too late.

He stormed into the street, crashing into Andy, tearing him down. They skidded on asphalt, a scream tearing through the street.

Another shift in the air, motion in front of me.

I stepped aside and blocked him, an unknown face baring its fangs at me. I threw him to the ground, drifting into motion without a thought.

A wall of magic slammed up between me and the vamp two milliseconds later. Giuliana was fast as a witch, I had to give her that. Seen through the curling swirls of water, our opponents looked like warped ghosts.

My eyes went back to Andy, who was on his feet again, facing...

Shit.

He looked different from what I remembered. The black hair that had seemingly shivered down his back like a waterfall was now nothing but that: black hair. The eerie, slow power of the grave he had carried around was nothing than a scent one noticed in passing.

Fabrice.

Not just him, but a small number of vamps, supernatural beings and big unknowns in the city. Everyone and everybody had at one point been declared anathema, I was sure of that. I counted twelve. Three of them seemed familiar, part of the deck of faces I kept in my memory.

Andy raised his hands, perfectly balanced, eyes on his opponent. I knew the stance, had seen that glint in his eye before. He was going to use his magic to its fullest, most certainly something deadly, like that burning wall of fire I had seen him use once before.

Fabrice had his fangs bared, eyes slightly out of focus, as if he wasn't really seeing Andy. Just an opponent worthy of obliterating, or destroying.

Time seemed to slow down – enough for me to step out of its flow. Another dark shadow, a vampire gliding through space easily, right behind Andy.

I surged forward, eyes poised on the vamp. I crashed into him and time moved forward, gears clicking into place.

Theforce of the crash knocked me out for a second. Then the pain set in.