Breathless Ch. 06

He stood on the platform, a well-placed bank of black lights shining up to make his robe glow while a golden yellow back lit his head. He didn't need such trickeries though. He was Solomon, and he was power. Most vampires had presence, old ones had enough presence to influence those around him. Melissa actually saw some younger vampires fall to their knees in his presence, and the older ones were clasping their hands in an almost sexual joy.

Melissa was confused. She was just a week out of the ground, so she should have felt more affected by him. So why didn't she? She could feel his power, but was not enslaved to it.

"Greetings," the Blood Saint began in heavily accented English, his voice as sooth as a mountain brook, "and thank you all for you attendance this glorious night." He let his gaze drift over the crowd, seeming to look in each creature's eyes in turn. Melissa wondered about those eyes, which seemed to burn red even from this distance. But her eyes were drawn to the hand grasped by Sadie. Her friend was trembling.

'She must be terrified,' she thought at first. Then she realized that Sadie wasn't terrified. Her ties to her creator were strong enough that she could pick up feelings, leaking out of that carefully crafted shell like molten rock. Sadie was angry. 'No, anger isn't a strong enough word. This is hatred.' Melissa wanted to pull away. There was so much hatred in Sadie's mind that it hurt to be this close.

Solomon continued his address. "For over seven thousand years, I have watched our race grow strong. With our noble allies the elves and the noble magicians, we have come back from oblivion. Now, we are poised to take the next step. We are no longer content to live in the shadows of mortality when they should be standing in ours. We have been bound by mortal law, and we vowed never to break the law." Solomon's full lips crept upward, but didn't make it as far up his face as they should. That wasn't a happy smile. "But there is nothing to say that we can't change the laws." He looked at Frost.

"We have long been stymied by human law, but here, in the New World, we have a chance to change that. We now have all the pieces in place to make 'democracy' work for us." Frost smiled. It was a handsome smile, but Mel didn't think it compared to Solomon's. Nothing did. "And what makes this so delightful is that it is completely within the boundaries of the current law."

Solomon nodded. "One vote on the Darkworlder Oversight Committee is all we need to tip the balance to open up our ranks in the United States, and Senator Trefauld, who will be joining us this very night, will be able to provide that. We have the judges needed to validate the new rules, and will be gaining enough members of both houses shortly to keep the new rules from being overturned. We will soon have sufficient clout in the business and financial sectors to keep the President himself in line. And when the United States opens its arms, it will influence the rest of the world and embolden our people overseas. And it starts here . . . in Midian."

"Friends," Frost picked up, "Midian is to be the genesis of our rebirth. The largest population of vampires in the world is here. The most powerful vampires in the world are here."

It was time for Solomon's finale. "It is here in Midian where our new Paradise begins. What was thwarted so long will be given a second chance."

The applause was like thunder and it shook the ground beneath them.

"But," Frost began, "first we have some business to conduct. Before the Turning of the new candidates, we would like to introduce those who have Turned in the last month, as well as their creators."

Melissa watched as each pair was escorted to the front, and both the Turned and the creator kissed the hand of Solomon. It wasn't uncommon at all for the newly undead to stumble or even faint in the presence of the Blood Saint. Melissa had had a feeling they were saving her and Sadie for last. She was right.

"Finally," Frost said, his voice raising to a gloat, "we have our last couple of the night before the Turnings can begin. A recent tragedy involved my own personal assistant and a young woman named Melissa Neron left that very woman in a state near death. Even though it breached protocol and tradition and law, Sadie Hewitt, formerly of the Arbiter's Bureau, took it upon herself to bring Miss Neron over rather than losing her to the eternal night. While I understand the compunction to save the life of a friend and concubine --"

Mel almost growled herself at that comment. She belonged to Mary, and that was by her choice.

"--, nevertheless, we have laws of our own. But Lady Hewitt has agreed to throw herself on the mercy of her fellow vampires and the Blood Saint. She will humble herself before this court and beg its forgiveness. The, if it pleases Solomon, we as a body may decide to speak on her behalf to the authorities and return her to the role which could prove quite useful to her brethren. Would Sadie Hewitt and Melissa Neron please approach the front."

"Show time," Melissa whispered. Even though the time was almost upon them, she still couldn't believe that Sadie had caved. What was it about Solomon being here that made things so different? Why had that finally made the vampire shut down inside? She was tempted to spit in Frost's face, but she didn't want to get her friend in more trouble than she was already in.

Solomon stood up, staring at the woman in the simple peasant dress that approached. There was something not right. Melissa could see it in his eyes that he was concerned, but even he couldn't tell why. Then Melissa and Solomon met stares, and Melissa was shocked to her core. She didn't know why or how, but she knew Solomon, as if they had a connection. It was obvious from his face that he sensed it to.

"Sadie," Melissa started to say, "what's going on?"

Frost looked at Solomon. "My leige, whatever is the matter?" He looked at Sadie, growling. "Show your face to your God!" he shouted. "Take your place at his feet!"

"His feet?" came Sadie's voice from beneath the hood. Then the laugh started, low and and maniacal. "Oh no, I think not. There was a time I worshiped Solomon all right, but those days are long in the past." She raised her face and pulled the hood back. "Aren't they?"

Everyone in the clearing stopped and stood silent as they gazed upon what was unfolding. Solomon's face had frozen for a moment, then shifted into disbelief and finally . . . finally terror.

"No," he whispered, "it's not possible." He looked from Sadie to Mel and then back to Sadie. "It can't be you!"

"Don't go making a scene," Sadie hissed. "I thought you might want to meet your sister."

Murmuring broke out everywhere. The former Arbiter had apparently gone stark raving mad. Frost was glowering at Sadie, though he seemed shocked at Solomon's reaction. The Blood Saint was the most powerful vampire alive. Why would he be nervous about these younglings? "Sadie Hewitt, you will --"

"I know what I said I would do," Sadie said, staring down Solomon. His guards, both physical and magical, had no idea what to do. "I will take responsibility for my actions and accept my place within the hierarchy. And I intend to do just that. I've made mistakes in the past," she said, glaring a hole in Solomon's head, "and I intend to correct one of them tonight."

Frost and the entire congregation saw Solomon take a step back. "No," he said shaking his head, his mouth breaking into an evil sneer. "You can't be her! I killed her!"

"You tried," Sadie replied, her eyes beginning to roll back in her head.

Melissa was terrified. "Are you okay?"

"You know her?" Frost asked, looking at Solomon. The Blood Saint never left his fortress retreat except under the most rare and blessed of circumstances, and he had never previously been to the United States.

"Tell him my name!" Sadie shouted, and her voice carried over the throng with power that even made Solomon tremble.

"You can't be --"

"TELL HIM MY NAME!" Sadie's voice almost seem to glow as it emanated from her mouth.

"I will not --"

"SPEAK MY NAME!"

"Eve!" Solomon shouted, his voice cracking like a twig. "Betrayer!"

And just like that, silence returned. No one was staring at Frost or Melissa or even Solomon. Everyone was looking at Sadie . . . the woman Solomon claimed was Eve the Betrayer. By their legend, Eve was one of the three original vampires born of Lillith, and she had made war out of jealousy against her brothers Adam and Solomon. She was supposed to have died in that war along with Adam, and Solomon had barely survived.

"That's not possible," Frost said.

Sadie smiled, but the smile was cold and empty. "Do not claim to know what is possible or impossible," she said. Her eyes were rolling back and her body began to tremble. To Melissa, it almost seemed like . . . like she was going to orgasm. Then Sadie's body seized up, and a rush of power rolled over the ground and through the air. Sadie . . . Eve . . . had achieved release, but not in the way Melissa thought. But somehow, Melissa understood. Eve . . . Sadie . . . no, definitely Eve, had been hiding her presence and her power. She had kept it bottled up for . . . millennium. But why?

If Solomon's power had been river, then Sadie's was a tidal wave. Those vampires excluding Melissa and Solomon were forced to their knees before it's onslaught as it freed itself from Sadie's barriers. It was so deep and so rich, and it filled Melissa up from her toes to the ends of her hair. It was so glorious to her that she actually had an orgasm right there on the spot. It was like bathing it the purest, cleanest, warmest sunlight. While all others trembled, Melissa simply drank in her creator until her cup overflowed.

"I . . . am . . . Eve," Sadie said, her voice coming out like the roll of thunder.

Melissa gulped, but discovered the show wasn't over. The peasant dress was cut low in back, and she watched as Eve's smooth and beautiful back seemed to split open in two places. Eve was screaming as two great and leathery wings emerged from nowhere, leaving Eve's back bleeding but otherwise apparently unharmed. And Eve sighed in great pleasure as she spread her wings for the first time in thousands upon thousands of years.

For a moment, Eve looked into Melissa's eyes, and Melissa saw regret. But there was no room for softness or weakness now.

"This," the ancient vampire said, "is me."

"Begone!" Frost shouted, his voice squeaking around the edges like a mouse yelling at a lion. "You have no place here! Do not suffer the wrath of Solomon again!" Frost almost immediately realized that he had made a horrible mistake.

"The wrath of Solomon?!" Eve cackled. "Should I fear your wrath?" she said stepping forward, her wings shooting outward and making her seem even bigger and more terrifying. "I'm facing you this time Solomon! I won't offer you my back again!" She took a step forward and the entire Blood Brood moved to intercept her.

"NO!" Solomon shouted. There were tears in the Blood Saints eyes and dribbling down his cheek. There were drops of blood on his previously white robe because his human followers were too terrified to clean him up. "Eve, we don't have to do this," he said, his voice becoming low and soothing, like warm chocolate on a winter's night. "Please?"

Eve's face softened. "There was a time . . . a time when I would have given you the world if I could," she whispered, her wings pulling in as if to cocoon her . . . to protect her. "Just to listen to the sound of your voice. Just to feel you."

"We can be that way again," he whispered.

Everyone in the area could feel the power in his voice, and the promise that it carried across the winds and earth to reach Eve. Women swooned, and even the most manly of males felt a stirring in their loins. That was the kind of power that Solomon possessed. You wanted him, even if you feared him.

"We can go back to the way things were," he continued, stepping forward. He seemed emboldened by Eve's silence. "Just you and me."

Melissa's brain was going a mile a minute as he watched these two creature's who had walked the earth when the pyramids were a distant dream. 'You and me?' she thought. 'That's a little too "all in the family" for me.' Because there was no doubt in her or anyone else's mind what Solomon meant.

The Blood Saint was standing straight now and took another step. "You are still the most beautiful woman to grace the darkworld since time's beginning. It pains me to think of what happened between us. I have felt it dragging on my spirit for all these years, and now I have a chance to make it right." He glanced as his throng who was standing there in rapt attention. For a moment, the arrogance returned when he said, "I can forgive you."

Sadie's face hardened again. "And there it is again," she said, stepping forward while Solomon retreated. Her wings flared out again. "Forgive me? I gave you everything," she growled. "Everything I had, and you took it from me! You and Adam . . . what you did --" Her voice gave out for a second. "You may have convinced the rest of our race of your Lie, but you and I know the truth. Have you told them all of what you really plan to do?" she asked waving at the ceremonial area. "Do they know what 'Paradise' means to you Solomon? Because I do. Your Paradise is to make the world Hell for the mortal races, and I won't let you. I stopped you once," she continued, her tone dipping into freezing temperatures, "and now I will finish you." With that, she pulled something out of the sack she was carrying.

In her hand, Eve wielded a long dagger which seemed to be made of bone. It was a foot long and with a slight curve to it, and it reminded Melissa more of a tooth . . . the fang of some great serpent. The only thing she knew for sure that if Eve had scared Solomon before, he might very well be wetting himself now.

"The Thorn?! Blood Rampart, take us from this accursed place! Build your shields and hurry!"

Two of Solomon's Blood Brood strode forward to intercept Eve.

"No you fools!" Solomon shouted, hiding behind his witches. "You can't stop her!"

Melissa looked at the hulking and ancient vampires and wondered why Solomon was so worried about them. She soon found out.

Eve took a step forward and plunged the strange dagger into the chest of one assailant before anyone could even blink. Without so much as a thought, she had pushed a dagger of bone through the most high-tech body armor available on the market. She used her free hand to maneuver her victim between her and the other guard. Using the vampire in her hands, she batterd the other one to the ground, then ripped her captive's throat open with her teeth.

Melissa wanted to vomit so badly it almost hurt. 'I didn't just see that,' she thought. 'Sadie . . . . Eve . . . she couldn't --'

Eve threw a vampire twice her size twenty feet through the air to crash into the pavilion. Solomon's remaining guards surrounded him while his witches prepared his escape. Frost stood with them, but his eyes were transfixed on the woman he once thought he could break. He had once thought that nothing could touch Solomon, but he had realized his error. If Eve reached the Blood Saint, then she would kill him. And that terrified him.

Eve dove on top of the other guard, who had probably never been on the defensive in his life. And the entire crowd got to watch as Eve tore him to pieces, his last blood decorating her simple peasant dress. The face that then turned towards Frost and Solomon was more animal than vampire. It was more animal than anything Frost had ever seen.

Melissa saw a regular security guard pull a gun and take aim at Eve's back. Without thinking, she moved towards him, and at that point her own powers kicked in. It was like she was moving faster . . . no, that everyone else was moving slower. She was next to the guard before he could turn his head, and she ripped the gun from his hand as easily as if he were a child. Then she back-handed him, sending him flying into a row of folding chairs. She hoped she didn't kill him, despite what he'd been trying to do. If Eve had seen him first, he would be dead indeed.

The Betrayer charged forward, but Solomon's Blood Rampart had erected a set shield of enormous power. Sadie wailed on it anyway, causing little cracks to appear almost as fast as the Rampart could fix them.

"You won't escape me!" she shrieked at the trembling Blood Saint. "My Father waits for you! He will know what you did, and he will torture you for eternity! There are no words ever spoken that can describe the hell your life will become!"

A blue light appeared next to her, and Mary stepped through, slipping out of the midrealm. And she looked . . . drunk.

"Mary?" Melissa said.

The wraith shook her head, swaying gently in a non-existant breeze. "No . . . no, tonight is not for you my love," the wraith said. She sounded on the verge of orgasm. "I feel it. I feel her calling to me."

Another blue glow appeared nearby, and then another. More wraiths had arrived, and each seemed just as stricken as Mary did.

'Three wraiths?' Melissa wondered worriedly. 'No, there's another, and there's another!'

More and more wraiths were arriving by the second. It was like a sea of jellyfish in the ocean of night, each one adding to the ethereal glow. They all gathered around Sadie, who was still pounding on the magical wall. They were staring at her, waiting.

"Call for it," Mary whispered heatedly. "Why do you try and bottle it up again? We felt it! All around the world, my kind felt the call of vengeance! Never has it felt so sweet and so rich! It consumes us," she said, almost begging now. "Please, free it! Call your vengeance --"

"No! I want him!" Sadie screamed, almost unaware that she was surround by a gathering that was the stuff of nightmares. Never before had so many wraiths been drawn to one place. "I want his blood! I want to rip his heart out like he did mine!"

For a moment, Melissa saw genuine pain on Solomon's face. 'What did you do?' she wondered as she stood back from the gathering of glowing vengeance. 'What did you do that could call this?'

A flash of light appeared, and the Blood Saint and his enterouge vanished in a flash of light, transported to a secure location. Eve screamed as stumbled through where the wall had just been. She destroyed the podium and anything else within reach. Even the wraiths stood back, though they stll looked at her with sadistic eagerness. All the other vampires were still on their knees, crushed by the wait of the Betrayer's power.

Eve looked at the wraiths. She wasn't going to let him get away. "Find him!" she shouted. "Bring me him, his blood or his heart, but bring him!"

"Vengeance," Mary shouted, her voice rising he a devilish cackle. "Vengeance is called!"

All the wraiths began chanting that same word, over and over again. "Vengeance." Then they disappeared back into the midrealm, the order for the hunt having been given.

Eve turned back to the crowd, most of whom were frozen in place. They couldn't really be blamed, seeing as they had come face to face with the vampiric answer to the Lucifer. The funny thing was that despite their fear, they felt inclined to worship. Vampire culture was based to an enormous amount on age, for age equated to wisdom and power. Eve may have been each of their nightmares, but she was as old as Solomon, so she could command their respect. Her years on this earth made them stop, but it was her power that made them tremble. They should tremble, because she wanted blood. She had killed the two members of the Blood Brood out of wrath, but now she was hungry. Her eyes fell on the neck of Senator Trefauld, who had been left behind by those he would have betrayed humanity for.