The Nameless: Chapters 25-31

Chapter 25

He suddenly jerked back. “I’m sorry, Corazon.” He looked almost panicked. “I’m not.” I said softly, and pulled him to me, kissing him softly. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me up and out of the tub with him. He stood me up and carefully stepped out of the tub, and began stripping his sopping clothes off. I stood and simply watched, thinking as he did so, that he was perfection itself. He took a towel from the towelbar and wrapped it around his waist, kicking his wet clothes out of the way, and tossed another towel on the floor. He helped me out of the tub, my feet barely touching the floor. He quickly dried me off and carried me to the bed, laying me down. “Don’t go, please. Lorian? Please stay with me.” “You don’t know what you’re asking, Corazon. I cannot stop myself.” He said, his voice harsh and strangled. I grabbed his arm and pulled him down beside me. “I know what I’m asking, Lorian. I want it to be you.” He looked so sad. “Please.” I whispered and kissed him. He deepened the kiss, pulling me to him, pulling off the towel and covering my body with his. He was already aroused, his erection stiff against me. “Gods above, woman.” He sighed, running his hands along my body. Waves of desire pulsed through me, making me shudder when his hand found my mound. I bucked against him. He slid one finger inside of me and it felt like the world spasmed around me. “God!” I cried, grasping his shoulders, digging my nails into his flesh. “Shhh.” He said, bending his head to one breast, taking the nipple into his mouth, nipping at it lightly, rolling it with his tongue. I nearly came up off of the bed. He switched breasts, massaging the one he’d just left, while laving the other with the same attention as the first. “I can’t wait any longer, Little one!” he cried, and I felt him streaking my leg with pre-lubrication. He slid his finger inside of me. “So wet. Please, baby! I need you!” he whispered. I nodded, and felt him at my entrance. He pressed forward, filling me. I bit lightly at his shoulder, my nails digging into the skin of his back, wrapping my legs around him. He pulled back and entered again, pushing harder, pumping forward, sensations from everywhere else on my body taking over. He continued pumping, in and out, in and out. I finally felt him quivering, and the pulsing sensation inside intensified, sending us both over the brink. I cried his name, he cried out for God. As I came back to earth, I felt him empty himself into me, the warmth of his seed filling me and dripping out of me as he pulled out of my body. He laid half on me, curled me into his arms and we both slept.

Chapter 26

I woke slowly, Lorian's warm body still curled around mine. I tried to stretch, but Lorian wrapped himself tighter around me. He grunted something unintelligible and I chuckled, brushing his hair away from his face. I looked into his face and noted the pinkish tinge it held. That wasn't right. Then his words came back to me. He'd stood watch over me for three days while I'd been unconscious. He should have been very pale. My hand flew to my neck and I could still feel soreness around the area that Lorrington had injected me with the sedative. "That rat bastard!" I screeched. Lorian awoke instantly, covers flying, eyes wild. "What?" he shouted. "Lorrington!" "What about him?" "He's here, he's in the villa. He and Cauchemar, they're trying to impregnate me." He looked at me as thought I'd lost my mind. "But a vampire can't impregnate a human woman. Not when they're dead by more than a few months, and as you know, even that rarely happens." I sat down on the edge of the bed and told him everything I remembered: Cauchemar, Lorrington, the hidden lab, the test, everything. "And he said something...something about Cauchemar having been taking pills, something about bringing his sperm back alive so that he could impregnate me." I buried my head in my arms, letting my hair fall forward, shielding me. Lorian had been pacing the entire time. His voice penetrated the thick buffer of my hair. "Do you know how long Cauchemar's been taking these pills?" "No. Lorrington said for a few more weeks. So I'll guess maybe hes already been on them for a while." "Oh gods." He sat on the bed and pulled me into his lap. "Corazon. Corazon, look at me." I shifted my hair so I could look into his eyes. He put his hand on my stomach, low on my stomach. "Remember when we were at the hospital? And I said how we'd both lost a lot of blood?" "Yes." "You were given human blood, to bring back your strength. But I- Cauchemar gave me some of his blood. A vampire to vampire transfusion, which cannot be done with needles and plastic tubing." "You mean you drank from him, he gave you his blood." "Yes. And little one, if he's been taking those pills for that long, what was in that blood would have transferred to me." "But why would Cauchemar allow you to drink from him, but not any other vampire has ever been allowed to drink from him in the past?" "I am his protege. I suppose that would be the reason. Only within the last few years had Nuri risen to power. I think he'd hoped to take my place eventually." "But Corazon, I have been feeding from him the entire time you have been unconscious. He would not have it any other way. I questioned him once and all he said was that it was the way he wanted it, so I did not question him again." "You think that perhaps he wanted this to happen between us?" I asked, surprised. "I have learned there is much I wouldn't put past him. I think that he believed that eventually he would wear you down or that I would. And we just made his job that much easier for him. Damn!" He pulled me tighter against him. I traced the line of his abdominals and he growled lightly in his throat. "That's already gotten us into trouble once, Corazon." I giggled and blushed and buried my head into his chest. "God, can't we just rewind time and go back to last night?" As if in answer, I felt his erection against my thigh. "Please, Lorian." I pulled him down beside me. Without saying anything, he kissed me lightly and pressed his swollen flesh into me. Hearing my gasps, he went faster, but the pace still remained steady and gentle. We both cried out our release and simply lay there. He laid his hand on my lower belly once again. "We could have created life, Corazon. Do you realize what kind of a breakthrough that would be? If we were able to bring a male vampire's seed back to life, how far away would it be to bring a female's eggs to life? A race of pureblood vampires." His face turned grim. "I think that is what Cauchemar's trying to make."

Chapter 27

We both dressed quickly, finally noticing how late in the day it had become. A knock at the door startled us both, and Lorian answered the door as I pulled on a lovely pale-green tunic over my jeans. I pulled a comfortable pair of low hiking boots on and tied them tightly. For a finishing touch, I braided my hair and swept my bangs back, using a clip to hold them in place. Lorian stood at the door, a young Asian woman stood there next to him, looking confident, but a look at her eyes showed that she was rather frightened. “Cauchemar asks that you come to his office, please.” “Who are you?” I asked. So many new people roaming the villa, I was getting confused, and more and more of them vampires and familiars I didn’t know. She smiled, and it was genuine and it was beautiful. “I’m Roxanne. I’m one of Lorian’s familiars. I’m here to help.” She said brightly. “Roxanne’s one of my very few familiars. She saved my life. If I trust her enough with my life, I certainly trust her with yours.” Lorian said, hugging the tiny woman to his side. “Roxanne, I need you to tell Cauchemar that the Chronicler had already gone when you’d come, that she had decided to go horseback riding to the nearest village. As her protector, I of course went with her.” “Yes sir! Any idea when you’ll be back?” She asked, laughter in her eyes. “Sometime before dark.” He replied. She nodded and turned to leave, then ran up to Lorian and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “For good luck!” she called back to us as she ran down the stairwell. Lorian’s face twitched and I think if he’d recently fed he would have blushed. I merely looked at him and laughed. We walked across the hall to his room where he changed into a pair of black jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He too tied his hair back in a tight braid. His only concession to the painful shine of the sun was a pair of wrap-around sunglasses to protect his eyes, which were already watering from the light from the windows. It was the most normal set of clothes I’d ever seen him in. “Let’s go.” He said, and we walked down the servant’s stairwell to the back door and to the stables. Roxanne was as good as Lorian had said, and two fine horses were already saddled and ready for us. Lorian helped me into the saddle and then swung up onto his gray gelding with the ease of someone who’s ridden for years. Not for the first time I simply looked at him and wondered “Who are you really?” Nowt that he could tell me when he couldn’t remember himself. A stable worker held the door open for us and we galloped out of the courtyard, raising a cloud of dust behind us. About a mile away from the villa we turned to face it and laughed when we heard Cauchemar’s roar of anger. We turned and continued riding into the next town.

Chapter 28

We wandered around the nearby tourist town for a short while, but soon became tired of the crowds and sat down outside of a small café. We sat and watched the crowds, Lorian scanning for signs of possible danger, me simply enjoying the people. I sat there and suddenly remembered a past hidden memory. Me and my father, walking through the crowds…Walking, no, he was dragging me, hurrying me along. I couldn’t have been much more than eight. I was carrying a doll, it’s body was cloth but the face was glass. I had dropped the doll and as I looked behind me a man, no a vampire, I realized, took his foot and crushed the doll’s head. I screamed and father had looked up, grabbed me up into his arms and had run with me. The vampire had removed his glasses and I saw pale blue eyes ringed with gold. “Corazon. Corazon! Are you alright?” Lorian asked, snapping his fingers in front of my face. I slowly came back to reality, the images fading slowly, but I retained them this time. “I remember being here before. When I was little, around eight years old.” I told him what had happened. “You mean to tell me Cauchemar’s been after you all this time?” he asked, his mouth agape. “No.” I whispered. “He wasn’t after me. He was after my mother.” “I beg your pardon?” He asked, stunned. “My mother. She and Papa met while in Egypt. He’d been researching old temples, I guess he was trying to find Cauchemar’s temple. She was one of his guides. Somehow they fell in love. Three years later they had me, and eight years later mama was pregnant again, this time with a little boy. Papa received news that she was in labor and we hurried from the town here, I remember him praying as he went, “Please let her be ok.” When he saw Cauchemar, he began running. When we came back to the villa, I wasn’t allowed inside. I remember screams. They lasted for a long time. And Papa came out and said that Mama and Brother were gone. He wouldn’t let me in the villa. I never knew what happened to them. Yet another mystery when it comes to Cauchemar.” “Yes.” He said sadly. I stood and walked over to him, sat in his lap and kissed him, right there in front of anyone who cared to look. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me. I looked up and saw the sky darkening. “Come, love. Time to go back to the villa of horrors.” He grunted and we stood, stretching our legs and gathering our purchases. We walked over to a small stabling-house where people from local villas sometimes stabled their horses on trips to town. Instead of our two horses, a limousine sat there idling. Lorian and I looked at each other. “This can’t be good.” He said. I summed it up with one word. “Shit!” as the door slowly opened.

Chapter 29

Lorian stepped up next to me, wrapping his arm around me and placing my body slightly behind his. A tall blonde man stepped forward from the limousine. “Hello Lorian.” He said, his voice soft and soothing. “Hello Gabriel.” I peered around Lorian. He let me, but again wrapped his arm around me, claiming me as his. Gabriel saw me and bowed. “Lady Chronicler.” “What is it now, Gabriel. Why are you here?” “We have found it, my friend. We have found it!” “Are you certain?” “Found what?” I asked. Neither Gabriel or Lorian answered me. “It matches every description.” “Good. Then we go tonight.” Said Lorian. Gabriel nodded and stepped back inside the limousine. As the limousine pulled away, Lorian pulled me tight to him. “We’ve done it Corazon! We’ve found it. Soon we will have answers!” If that was so, why did I only have more questions? Before I could ask him anything, a man came out of the stable leading our horses. Lorian helped me into the saddle then climbed into his own with a fluidity and ease that I envied. We rode back to the villa in silence, each of us thinking our own thoughts, though I did occasionally glance his way, but his eyes were always straight ahead, his brow knit in thought. Back in the villa, Roxanne greeted us. She had a huge grin plastered on her face. “He was sooooo pissed.” She laughed then escorted us back to my room, chattering non-stop the entire way. I watched the girl. She was around my own age, 23, maybe 24. She was lovely, her brown eyes sparkling; her hands, waving as she talked, their tips painted blood red. She wore a pair of dark blue flare-leg jeans and a dark blue ROXY hooded sweatshirt, her two low pigtails hanging over the hoodie. I knew instantly that I liked this girl immensely. She followed me into my room still chattering away, but hushed instantly when Lorian closed the door. “Roxanne.” Lorian said softly. He walked towards her and put his hands on her shoulders, then kissed her softly on the forehead. “You have been a very good familiar, and I thank you. It is time.” He kissed each of her tiny hands and then swiftly swooped down and fastened his fangs into her neck. Her beautiful brown eyes went wide for a moment, the pupils flaring, then retracting to pinpoints. I could hear Lorian making gulping noises. If I had known he was going to change the girl, I probably wouldn’t have stayed, but he had done it so quickly that I couldn’t move. Finally he stopped drinking and ripped his head back from her tiny form, as though cut loose from a hanging rope, death trying to drag him under as well. He laid her gently on the bed, her entire body, what could be seen, was now deathly pale. Her eyes searched the room and found mine. Her last breath was almost a sigh. Lorian and I both sat on the fainting couch and waited. The night wore on but no one came to us, no one tried to find us. At a little after nine p.m. a tray of food was delivered to the door. Lorian took the tray from the servant and sent him away. I ate very little of the meal, drank a glass of the wine and sat with Lorian as we continued to wait. An hour before dawn Lorian walked over to Roxanne’s body. He pulled her into his embrace, a tear tracing along his cheek. He opened her purplish-blue lips and blew a breath into them. Her lungs began to fill once more. Slight color began to return to her body, though not the healthy color of a living human. Her hair lightened a bit, and grew slightly longer. Her eyes became more of a honey-color and her face, and well I knew, the rest of her body cleared of any scars or acne, any hints of disease or disability were erased. She blinked once, then her lips curved into a smile, made only slightly odd-looking by the twin fangs that now accompanied the smile. “Hello Lorian.” She said softly, sitting up.

Chapter 30

Lorian sat down on the bed next to her and half-hugged her. "Welcome back, my dearest Roxanne. Can you help the Chronicler pack? We're going on a trip." Roxanne nodded and helped me stuff shirts, jeans, and even a couple of light sundresses into a duffel bag. We finished by adding Cauchemar's journal and a notebook half-filled with notes from the things that Cauchemar had told me and what I had dreamed. Lorian left while we did this, but returned soon with a duffel of his own. "I called Gabriel, he'll be here soon. Come with me, Corazon." He whispered something in Roxanne's ear and kissed her on the cheek. She nodded and grinned. He took my hand and we went down the hall towards Cauchemars study. The heavy drapes blocked any sign of light, making me crave the light even more. We found him there, pouring over a book, though I knew from the look on his face when we entered that he hadn't truly been reading it. "Did you enjoy your ride, Cara mia?" Cauchemar asked, rising from his desk and walking to my side. I made myself stand still and not look to the space where Nuri had been killed. I looked into his eyes. "Yes, thank you. It was very enjoyable, very peaceful. No worries of attack in a place so small as this." "Master, the Chronicler has found an ancient map describing a temple much like yours. A plane is ready and waiting. We will go now and look into it for you." Lorian turned to leave, grabbing my hand as he went. "STOP!" Roared Cauchemar. Lorian came to a complete stop and turned at looked at the man who he no longer had faith in. His faith had been broken long ago. "You will never leave this villa alive, Lorian. Do you think that I do not know of your betrayal? That you slept with her!" he said pointing at me. "That you slept with one who I created as perfect for me! You are nothing! And you will not leave here alive." He smashed a button on the desk and the door exploded open, revealing a mass of both humans and vampires holding guns and rifles. A panel in the wall behind the desk opened, revealing Lorrington; and behind him, another mass of both humans and vampires holding weapons. Also standing there was Madia, a look of bloodlust in her eyes, blue venom dripping from her talons. "Shit." Said Lorian. I looked at him and giggled. He looked at me like I was mad. "You said it this time, not me." He grinned at me. "We are so dead." I said. Cauchemar's grin became wider. I was instantly pissed. I let all emotion empty from my face, a perfect copy of his emotionless state when I'd first found him leaning over me, checking me for broken bones. Even he seemed shocked by this transformation. "Perfect." He whispered. I looked behind me at how close the nearest weapon was. I closed my eyes for a moment, seeing in my head our possibilities. "Lorian?" "Yeah?" "Hold this!" I said, thrusting a book in his hand. Using the skills I'd been taught by my father, who at one time had been a Marine, I quickly disarmed the nearest man, knocking him unconscious with the butt of his own rifle, then flipped it and shot the man standing behind him. Chaos ensued. I cracked the gun over Cauchemar's skull, then Lorian and I began hacking and bashing at everyone and everything we could find. Suddenly the lights went out and the entire villa was dark, only bits of light from windows in the hall letting any light into the room. I felt arms wrap around me and Lorian's voice warned me. "Window." We ran towards the high wall of windows and I braced myself. I heard the shatter before I felt it and we suddenly fell through blinding light. Both of us landed hard and I thought I heard a crack. When I could open my eyes again, gunfire was exploding around us and I could see two motorcycles were flying towards us in the heat-haze. Someone picked me up and placed me behind the driver of the first cycle, then Lorian was placed on the back of the other. We were gone before we could even orient ourselves, the sound of Cauchemar's roaring voice and gunfire following us.

Chapter 31

We had made it safely to a helicopter waiting for us on the outskirts of the local tourist town, chased at first by no one, but by the time we reached the heli-pad, several trucks filled with gun-toting familiars of Cauchemar's were following close behind. Their shots were random at first, then more purposeful as they saw the helicopter coming down. Lorian and his driver quickly climbed onto the helicopter, but the moment I tried to rise I knew something was wrong. I had fought the nausea and the pain, but the sight of my broken bone stabbing through the skin is what made me pass out. I remember screaming once and falling to the ground and then waking up in the helicopter, the slight sway of the machine making my nausea worse. When I awoke, really awoke, not just the constant in and out of consciousness, I found that my arm had been set, then splinted and bound tight to my chest. The pain wasn't so bad, I assumed I'd been given some type of medicine. I realized that I hadn't dreamed while I was unconscious...probably a good thing with as angry as Cauchemar was with me. Im sure he'd have shoved his bloodiest and worst memories upon me. Lorian sat upright on the bench across from the gurney I laid on. "I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time crashing through windows." I joked. Then I sat up too, hard to do with a broken arm. He lightly traced my cheek with his hand. "I thought I'd lost you Corazon. When you screamed like that my heart stopped for the second time and I wasn't sure if it would begin to beat again." I leaned into him, letting my head rest on his shoulder. Suddenly someone else was at my side. I looked up. "Roxanne." I smiled. The tiny woman was encased in a leather body suit, so unlike anything I'd seen her in before. She unzipped the suit and there was the hooded sweatshirt and jeans I was used to seeing her in. As she unzipped the suit, she handed a book to me. "I snatched that before the lights went off; from Cauchemar's room. It was in the lining of his coffin. Sheesh, thousands of years old, you'd think he'd realize by now that we don't have to sleep in a coffin." She rolled her eyes and I laughed. She grinned and walked to the front of the helicopter, sitting beside the pilot. I looked down at the book. Lorian and I looked at each other and held our breath expectantly. I flipped through a few pages then began to read aloud. "Many things were lost the night that EVIL destroyed my life. My father's life among them. The law-protectors here could find only that the building had been set afire from the inside, but there were no clues as to who set the fire and how no one escaped. I knew. I had tracked the Evil for years. I know many people think I am mad. Waiting until I was past fifty to have a child for the first time. What I could not find, I now pass on to my son. I have left this journal for him. He is still so young. I sit here in his room, writing by the light of a fire, watching him sleep. His auburn hair turns to the red of the fire that killed my father, his grandfather, Declan St. Clair the first. His eyes, closed now, are the beautiful grey of his mother's. Someone else Evil took from me. My son, Declan Lorian St. Clair the Third. He shall be the one to destroy this evil and end it forever." The book dropped from my lap to the floor. "Oh my God." Both Lorian and I whispered. "Oh Lorian!" I whispered, throwing myself into his arms. "I know who I am." His voice was strong, no longer afraid. "I know who I am. And I will be the one to destroy Evil." He said, standing, bring me to a standing position with him. "Lorian? We've arrived at the airstrip. The plane's waiting and ready. We will reach Egypt in eight hours or less." Lorian looked down at me and kissed me on the lips. "Let's go." He spoke up louder. "Load up, we leave now." He grabbed the book from the floor and helped me down from the helicopter and we made our way to the plane to begin a new part of this adventure. I placed my hand over my abdomen. "Baby, I hope you’re ready for this." I thought to myself.