The Darkness Beyond Ch. 09

Cian woke up when he felt Hannah shift in his arms, snuggling more deeply into her pillow. He carefully detangled his arms from hers and climbed over her, out of bed. She reached out for him just when he thought he'd managed not to disturb her.

"Don't go," she said.

Cian stared at her reaching hand for a moment, trying very hard to swallow all of the emotion that was overcoming him. These feelings of caring and longing were unfamiliar to him, and he wished they would cease. He couldn't think like this. He couldn't get Hannah out of his head, and it was driving him crazy.

"Stop," he finally whispered, if to himself or to her he wasn't sure. He pulled away, and her hand slipped back down onto the blanket. There had to be a way to clear his mind, and to prepare mentally for what lay ahead when he returned to what was left of the coven.

Cian paced through the apartment until he reached the bathroom. A cold shower might actually do him some good, he decided, and was busy turning on the water and shedding his clothes just a moment later. When he first stepped under the ice cold-cone of water, he had to grit his teeth, but after several seconds his body adjusted to the low temperature. He shuddered, then started to wash himself and to think.

Aurai was the only one left that he knew he could trust. Coran was so close to Lizanne that he might well be aware of her plan, maybe even helping her attain her power. All the others were dead. He wondered if Lizanne was aware he had come back to this dimension, but if she did, she was patiently waiting for him to find her instead of making a move while he had slept. The best thing for him to do right now was to feed, and then to find Aurai and make sure she told him everything that could be of use to him.

He left the apartment soon after. Hannah had not woken up again, which was probably for the best. He couldn't concern himself with her now. He needed his mind to be clear. As of right now, he didn't have a clue how he could even stop Lizanne and Coran. The essences they had collected so far had probably made them much more powerful than he was.

It was broad daylight outside now, so he kept to the shadows, the small side streets and narrow passageways that only one person at a time could fit through. In his many years of nightly excursions, feeding and seducing, he had gotten to know the city's hiding places better than any human. Now, he was looking around for something quick to feed on.

Cian soon found a victim, a middle-aged man on a bike who was using one of the alleys as a shortcut to work. It wasn't difficult for Cian to rip him from his bike, and break his neck before he could make a sound. There was no art in this, but it would have to do for the time being. There was no time to hide the body either, so Cian slit the man's wrists after he had drunk. With luck, it would be assumed that the man had bled out elsewhere and been dragged to the alley afterwards.

After his meal, he headed for the only place that made sense -- the coven's hideout. He felt more powerful now, finally rejuvenated, and he was almost looking forward to confrontation. He was two streets away from the hideout when he began to get a feeling of being watched, being followed even. His muscles tensed. He doubled back down the passage he had just crossed, his eyes darting around, looking for anything unusual. When he stepped sideways into yet another small alleyway, someone grabbed his hand.

He threw her against the wall reflexively, closing in on her, his hand squeezing her throat before he recognized her.

"Aurai!"

He stepped back, and the girl gasped for air. Cian tried to contain his surprise, he'd expected to find her, not for her to find him.

"I was hoping..." she whispered as soon as her throat had recovered. "I was hoping you'd still be alive. The others are all gone. I'm scared, Cian."

Her large dark eyes were staring up at him, a helpless look on her face. She had been the youngest of the group, and she certainly didn't have enough experience to know what to do in a situation like this. Cian knew she was glad to see him, and he was relieved as well to find her unharmed.

"Do you know where Lizanne and Coran are?" he asked, and she shrugged helplessly.

"I think... maybe," she said carefully. "I found something, and I don't know what it means."

Cian frowned. "What do you mean?"

She grasped his hand.

"Let me show you," she said, and pulled him along.

She'd been right, Cian realized when he looked at the blue distortion that was hovering above the altar, not moving. This was a portal, a stationary one, it wasn't moving and it wasn't disappearing. The blue coloring it showed was different, and he wondered what it meant. He had no clue how Lizanne had managed to call it, but he had a feeling she had gone through the portal.

He drank another sip of the coffee Aurai had brewed for the both of them. She had stayed far away from the portal; it seemed to scare the daylights out of her. Cian, however, had been looking at it very closely for the last ten minutes.

It was indeed different from the portals he had passed through, going to the Lost City and back. In addition to not having the dark tint the other portals had had, this distortion was different, somehow. He couldn't quite put it into words, but there was something distinctly odd about this particular portal.

His vision blurred, and he looked away from the portal quickly. The damn thing had been screwing with his vision repeatedly, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to look at it much longer. His vision took much longer to return to normal this time.

He downed the rest of his coffee and went to rejoin Aurai, who looked towards him anxiously. Her dark blond curls were hanging in her face, and she looked as nervous as he felt. He sat down next to her, sighing, and almost jumped when she timidly took his hand.

"We'll be alright," he assured her, and his vision promptly blurred again. He blinked, but things remained blurry.

"I know," he could hear Aurai say as if through a fog. "I'm just so scared, Cian."

Her hand wandered up his arm, while her other touched his chest. Cian shook his head, trying to tell her this wasn't the time, but his tongue wouldn't lift. A weight sank into his lap, and a pair of soft lips kissed his. He felt Aurai's curly hair brush his cheek and breathed in her scent. He felt strangely calm, yet elated.

"Cian," Aurai breathed, and he could feel her hands glide lower. The soft cloud of her curls brushed over his chest. He closed his eyes, not thinking of anything but the pleasant sensations her small hands were responsible for, stroking him to full hardness. His pants were ripped away, and he groaned as he felt Aurai's lips opening around his cock, sliding deeper. Her mouth was moist and warm, and she sucked with enthusiasm. Cian's mind wandered back to when Hannah had done this to him, and as he remembered the sensations he had felt, Hannah's pale face appeared before his inner eye. Her cheeks were flushed, the way he liked to see her, and her black hair was shiny in the torchlight. He smiled as he pictured her lovely mouth on his cock, giving him the same sensations that Aurai's mouth was giving him now. It felt so pleasant, so right.

He let Aurai push him back and lay him on the stone floor, and a groan escaped his throat as she positioned herself on top of him. Now she was riding him, and once again, he pictured Hannah, flushed, in ecstasy, her curvy body pressed against him, her lips kissing his. Then he pictured them together, Aurai and Hannah, one riding him while the other kissed him, both caressing each other. His mind went crazy coming up with all sorts of hot scenes for him to think about, making his cock throb urgently.

Another groan escaped him, and he felt himself getting close. There were lips pressed to his once more, the sensation of nails scraping across his chest.

Then, suddenly, a shot echoed through the hall, and Aurai's body was ripped off him. There was a clattering sound. Cian tried to open his eyes, but they wouldn't obey him. He couldn't move any of his limbs either, and he wondered faintly why this didn't seem to bother him. He heard someone walking into the hall, scraping sounds and a woman's voice swearing.

As the arousal wore off, he managed to distinguish what he'd before thought was a side effect of the sex -- something strange and unfamiliar pulsating in his veins. He felt as if he'd just fed, yet strangely hungry. It took a lot of mental strength for him to push through the fog for just a moment, thinking clear. He finally realized he'd been drugged, and tried his best to bring a curse across his lips before he slipped into sleep.

He was very wet when he woke.

His eyes opened slowly, and for a few seconds he had to struggle to remain awake -- probably an after-effect of the drug. Then he sat up, wiping the water from his face and looking around.

Aurai's body was lying in front of the altar, bound and limp. There was blood splattered on the wall, he noticed uncomfortably. Below it were the shards of his coffee cup. He had to have dropped it without realizing it.

He heard steps behind him, and turned just in time to see Hannah enter the room. Her eyes weren't as misty as those of the girl he'd seen in his fantasies though, and the look on her face certainly wasn't one of arousal.

"You," he said stupidly.

"Yes." Her voice was rather frosty as she handed him a glass of water. He downed it.

"Good job getting yourself almost killed," remarked Hannah. "That seems like a surefire way to get back at Lizanne. Congratulations Cian, you're an idiot."

He grinned up at her. "Jealous?"

"Shut up, damn it!" She slapped him. "Aurai's not talking. We need to stop Lizanne, and I'm assuming we need to go through this portal to find her. I'm scared as hell, and you go and try to get yourself killed. Stop cracking jokes about it!"

She did look scared. Cian encircled her wrists with his fingers, wisely deciding that it was best not to argue right now. He looked towards the floor in thought.

"I assume Lizanne got Aurai to do her dirty work for her, somehow. I'm not sure..." He shook his head. He was surprised how bothered he was by her betrayal. When Briar had started sleeping with Meraja, he had been angry. He had never shown his feelings before either of them, though several innocent humans had had to suffer for their affair. This time he felt differently, more disappointed and hurt than enraged. It made him rather uncomfortable. He wasn't used to feeling like this.

"Lizanne may have expected Aurai to take care of me, but she's no fool. She wouldn't rely on Aurai like this. If I walk through that portal, she'll be prepared for me."

"So what do you suppose we should do?" Hannah's eyes were wide with barely suppressed fear. Before, there had been jealousy and anger in them, but it was all gone now. Cian realized with no small amount of surprise that she was afraid for him.

"She doesn't know you're here," he remarked. "If we both go through..."

He bit his lip. His mind liked the idea, but his heart revolted at the thought of putting Hannah in danger. But the girl simply nodded, understanding his train of thought.

"We'd have a chance, surprising her."

He had left her behind for a reason, damn it. He'd wanted her out of the way, out of danger, so he wouldn't have to worry about...

He stared for a moment.

"How did you find me anyway?" It hadn't occurred to him until now, but Hannah had never been told the location of the hideout. How the hell had she gotten here in time to interrupt Aurai's plans?

Hannah blushed, looking towards the floor.

"I don't know," she confessed. "I woke up, and you weren't there. It was like... like an invisible string was pulling me along. I just got dressed and walked outside, and I knew my way just like that."

It was strange, yet he believed her right away. The Lost City had already been good for some surprises, and this seemed almost normal in comparison to the feelings he was having for her.

Cian directed his mind back to the task at hand. If they both went through the portal, they might have a chance to kill Lizanne. He wasn't sure what might happen if they stayed on earth. Certainly either Coran or Lizanne would look for Aurai eventually, but he wasn't prepared to wait by the portal for days or even weeks to see whether they would come back. He could run and hide, but he knew that Hannah would be more reluctant to give up the life she had here. He wouldn't be able to protect her that way.

"We'll just go through," he said quietly, and she nodded.

Her soft, trembling lips were too tempting, and he kissed her. His tongue forced itself into her mouth, desperate to capture hers for what felt like the last time. Hannah pressed her own body against his, and his hands reached out for her, drawing her close.

Hannah's cheeks were flushed when they separated, and Cian could feel the heat in his own face. Wordlessly, he stepped back and towards the portal, casting a last glance at Aurai. The girl was still laying there, bound and gagged, even blindfolded. She wasn't moving except for a barely visible raising and lowering of her chest. Cian was impressed with Hannah's handiwork. The girl did know how to tie someone up.

"What's the plan?" Hannah asked timidly next to him. Cian only took a deep breath.

"Make sure your gun is loaded."

When she nodded grimly, he took her hand and stepped into the distortion. There were flashes of color, getting brighter, and a blur at the very edge of his vision. Finally, all he could see was a steady light of pure white.

"Where are we?"

Hannah's voice was just a whisper, but he heard it more clearly than he had ever heard anything. Beyond her voice, there was complete silence.

Cian opened his eyes. They were in a house, it seemed, complete with large columns and wide, sweeping windows, beyond which there was nothing but a foggy light so bright it hurt to look directly into it. When he turned to look at Hannah, he noticed that they were actually in the middle of an archway instead of in a room. Behind her, a broad set of rose-colored stairs ascended to the next storey of the house. His mouth went dry when he realized that there was only one place this could be.

"We're in Alanes," he whispered, awed for a moment.

"Where?"

"Alanes. We're between the two dimensions. In a non-space."

Hannah crawled next to him. "I don't understand."

Cian sighed as he tried to recall what he knew about Alanes, all of it lore that the vampires had passed down to each new generation. He hadn't thought the place actually existed.

"The dimensions are pressed next to each other, separated by the thinnest of films. When you walk through a portal, you pass through this infinitely thin layer. It's what causes the disorientation. Your senses cannot process the space."

"The distortion... the way the portals look..."

"You're actually looking at Alanes." Cian nodded grimly.

"Were we in the film itself, we wouldn't have survived this long. According to legend, there exists a small pocket within the Alanes layer, a safe location between the dimensions. This is it. Lizanne must have found a way to call a portal here. I didn't think that was even possible." He felt sick at the very thought.

"Stay here," he ordered her. He had a feeling that Lizanne was waiting just beyond those steps, and he didn't want her to know that Hannah was here just yet. He had no idea just how the hell he was going to stop the vampire matriarch, and if he died, the girl might be able to get back through the portal and run. She didn't have much of a chance at survival if Lizanne did come after her, but it was better than having her die right here, in front of his eyes.

He slowed when he reached the top of the stairs. In front of him was a large entrance hall, lined with windows that displayed nothing but the eerie brightness of the fog outside. Yet, strangely, his eyes did not hurt nearly as much when he looked at them as they had downstairs.

In the middle of the room stood Lizanne. She seemed younger now, like a woman of maybe forty years, and she greeted Cian with a slow smile as he stepped closer. Behind her, a glass pyramid spun, hovering in mid-air, a replica of the containers used to capture essences, only much larger.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to find your way here." Lizanne's voice was loud, though the words she spoke were whispered. Cian assumed that the power she had amassed was responsible for this phenomenon. He realized to his horror that his legs would not obey him any more; he was frozen in place.

"You sent Aurai after me," he accused her point-blank, and her smile grew bigger.

"I thought it might be amusing to have her try to seduce you. Wasn't she to your liking, the poor girl?"

He balled one hand into a fist behind his back. He could not let the way he felt show on his face.

"Why didn't you just kill her, like the rest?"

"As I said, I thought it might be amusing," Lizanne shrugged. She showed no reaction to being accused of the murder of their brothers and sisters, which showed Cian beyond a doubt that Noor had spoken the truth, back in the Lost City. "She was naïve and scared enough to think I might actually let her live, let her join me in my quest. None of the others would ever have believed it."

"Your quest?" Cian sounded bitter now. "And what quest is this? You murder every single one that is left of us? Why do you need all this power? We are stronger than the humans even with a single essence." He had a hard time holding back. She spoke about the others so carelessly, as though they had been nothing but pawns. Despite his contempt and occasional hatred of the other vampires, they had been his family.

Lizanne laughed; a cold, high laugh that made Cian's blood run cold.

"You silly boy," she whispered. "That's what you are, Cian, just a stupid little boy that thinks he's all grown up. You think we are all that is left? You've never looked beyond what is right in front of you."

"There are others?" His own voice was a whisper now too, and he stared at her, not believing. He had grown up with the knowledge, the certainty that the nine of them were all that was left of the demons that had crossed the dimensions.

"Of course there are others. Lots of others, all over the world. I've kept this group secret from the rest of them, I didn't want to get involved in the power struggle, the madness. I needed to concentrate on the task of gaining power."

"And you have finally accomplished it." Cian couldn't help but let his bitterness show.

"You deserve all the thanks, telling me how the girl did it." Lizanne stepped towards him. "The scrolls I obtained talked about fire, that much I knew. I even knew that a dagger was needed to kill the victim, but I didn't realize that the flames the old ones wrote about were simply the flames of passion. Your discovery finally made it possible for me to become more than any other vampire on the planet."

She had reached Cian, and he flinched when she stretched out her hand for him.

"Don't worry. We have time. I was growing bored waiting. It might be a while before Coran will be back, and you're decent entertainment. You can't kill me, it's too late for that, dear," she added when Cian's eyes flicked towards her chest.

He looked back into her eyes. There was a madness in them that he had never seen before. He supposed the large amount of power might have done this to her. He did wonder, however, how it had escaped him for so long that Lizanne had sought to be so much more than the rest of them.