A Feast For The Vampires

XLV

Duan stared at Aurum with wide eyes. His dead heart beat like it was being forced to, feeling like someone was squeezing it to force out a single beat. The manner in which he breathed in through his mouth was a scared one, and then he let out the breath that made him shudder. Aurum's face remained blank for a while before his nose twitched and he deepened his fingers, causing Duan to jump in pain.

Aurum causally raised a brow. "Well?"

Duan shook, tears pricking his eyes. He said nothing and Aurum swiftly gripped his neck with his other hand, still pressing his fingers into Duan's flesh. As Aurum began to crush his neck with his fingers, Duan's eyes bulged and tears rolled down his face. "I'll... I'll talk," he said hoarsely. Aurum didn't stop and added more pressure. Duan's eyes rolled to the back of his head. His bone began to crunch in Aurum's hand before he coughed, "my... father."

In less than a heartbeat, Aurum took his hands away from Duan. "What?" he asked with a confused frown.

Aurum straightened his back. He stared at Duan, watching as the boy gripped his throat, wheezing and wincing as he placed his palm against his bleeding jaw. Aurum's fingers curled into fists as he processed what Duan had said.

Ace Jaeger is the one behind this?

Suddenly, anger engulfed Aurum with the flare of an angry demon. He speedily held Duan's wrists. Duan shrieked as Aurum dragged him to his feet. Fire burned in Aurum's eyes as he furiously shoved him into the wall.

Looking into his scared green eyes, Aurum hissed, "your father... where the fucking hell is he?"

Duan shook his head. "I don't... know."

"Liar! You know where he is and you're going to look for him!"

"No need," said someone from the entrance.

Aurum and Duan stiffened. They both looked towards the gate to see as Ace majestically walked down the stairs.

Aurum unhanded Duan, allowing the boy to slide down to the floor. "You."

"Yes, me." He nonchalantly pointed the torchlight in his hand at Aurum's face. "I'm here and I want Kidagakash's body."

Aurum's gaze landed on the goblet in his second hand. He narrowed his gaze on it. "So it was you who was with it." He playfully cocked his head and smirked like someome had told a joke and he was took weak to laugh. "How did you get it?"

"Let's just said that my family has always hated the ways of Kidagakash. Immortality is a curse and I'll give it a new definition."

"Oh really? If so..." He spread his arms wide. "Go look for her yourself."

"Is that how you want to play?" He cocked his head back. "Boys?" A snarl sounded and a group of senile Level Os crawled out of the hallway and down the stairs. He pointed at Aurum. "Kill the both of them and bring me their head. I'll be in the cemetery."

Aurum snorted. "Who do you think you're trying to kill?"

Ace rolled his eyes. "Oh I know what you truly are. You're just a corpse with no life in yourself. I'm pretty sure that my son's blood was lovely to take." He tilted his head to the side. "And I'm absolutely sure that it's doing its job, seeing as you look sick."

Aurum gnashed his teeth. "You monster. His arrival had been planned."

Ace scoffed. "Of course it wasn't. My son just tends to be stupid at certain times." He shifted the torchlight to Duan's face. "At least this time it served a purpose." Duan flinched in response to his words.

Aurum watched as he turned around to leave. His fists trembled and he tried to run to him, but the Level Os blocked his path. His face squeezed up in pain as one of them clawed his stomach. He jumped backwards, lifting his fists. The Level Os began to form an arc in front of him. He counted them. One, two, three, four... They were up to ten. Had he been fully recovered, he would have stopped them in mere seconds. But now he was weak and had a newly turned cadaver as help.

"Where the heck is Caim?"

He was going to call out to him but a Level O leapt at him, claws raised. He slid to the side but another Level O slammed into him. It bit into his flesh and he hissed loudly. He struggled with the cadaver. While he struggled, his eyes trailed to Duan. Duan was trembling, looking like someone who had wet himself.

Aurum growled angrily. "Fucking stand up and fight!"

Duan started in shock. He stared into the eyes of the Level Os that were edging towards him. They had cocked heads, making slurping sounds of hunger. He tried to stand but his body weighed like a sack of stale potatoes, gluing him to the ground. He shut his eyes and swallowed spit. His heart was in his throat and he was engulfed in fear. He simply shook in pain when the cadavers latched unto him.

Useless son of a bastard! Aurum thought as he looked at Duan again. The fucking idiot.

Aurum tried to fling one of the cadavers off himself. He pressed his fingers into its jaw and pulled. Chunks of flesh tore off and the cadaver was still relentless. It snapped its jaw and slashed its claws. It buried it's fangs in Aurum's flesh and the blond hissed loudly. He kicked at it, tugging his hand out of another's hold.

Aurum had up to five cadvers on him when he heard a sound that was like roaring thunder. Through the tiny window in the cell, the grey skies lighted up before a strip of lightning shot in through it. The lighting crackled and spread like a spiderweb. It wrapped around the rabid Level Os like thread. It sparked and tore through their flesh. They shouted in pain as they were reduced into nothing except mounds of burnt rotten flesh and bones.

Aurum sighed in relief and looked to the door. He saw Lydia. Her cloth was in shambles and soaked in blood. She was carrying Caim, his body weak, an arm thrown over her shoulder. She sat him by the mouth of the stairs and he grunted in agony.

"Lord Caedis." She rushed to him and helped him to his feet. "Lord Caedis are you alright?"

Aurum pushed her hands away and limped to the door.

"Lord Caedis please wait. You need help."

"Not now." He slumped against the gate. "I don't know how Ace got here but we need to stop Ace from waking Lady Kidagakash."

Lydia's eyes widened and ran to him. "Lord Caedis I need to tell you something before you leave." She blocked his way and he glared at her. She jumped and frantically said, "I got a call from the school. They said that—"

"Not now!" He pushed past her and moved up the stairs.

"Kimi is dying!"

Now this made Aurum stop. He stiffened and peered over his shoulder with wide eyes. "What?"

"Zee called and said that his heart had been taken. I..." She gripped her hair. "She said some other thing and I'm confused. She said... She said he's changing."

"Changing... how?"

She gulped loudly. "He's... changing into a... cadaver."

"How... is this possible?" Aurum gripped his chest and looked up. What dilemma had he found himself in? There was Ace to stop and then Kimi to save. He needed to choose between life and death, and he needed to choose fast.