Chapter 26

Recap;

JongHo, the second in command of the powerful league of vampires called the Elitists; revealed to Bruno's creater Jason that the Elitists had plans to infiltrate the government and military in order to accomplish world domination by force and turn humans into their subordinates.  He said it would take years to accomplish, but they had already begun. 

Meanwhile, it was revealed in the press that celebrities with connections within the vampire society were beginning to trade their lives for the ability to become immortal.  Chris Brown was named as one of many; and he coincidentally had just left to spend the weekend reconciling with Robyn; who is posessed by her vampire-hating demon grandmother.

Unfortunately, Robyn is unaware of her condition due to Jason's urging to the young couple (Bruno/Roxanne) to keep their distance until he figures out a plan to exorcise her.  Robyn is only aware that she has a serious supernatural condition, and because her best friend Roxanne will not reveal it to her, she becomes upset and distances herself from them.

On a lighter note, Roxanne brought Bruno back to her hometown in Jersey in order to re-introduce him to her family as a vampire.  They were accepting, though her mother was hesitant.  Bruno had an important conversation with her mother that she was unaware of; and the content of that conversation has not yet been revealed.

Roxanne, in an effort to use her Medium powers to somehow see her grandmother, takes Bruno to the cemetary to introduce him to her...as she had promised as a child to introduce her true love, whilst her grandmother was on her deathbed.  Unfortunately no visions were seen; but the experience brought the two closer together.

Once they arrived back in California, Roxanne was hard at work to finish up her album with the assistance of The Smeezingtons.  Phil slipped up and mentioned that they would be joining her on the last leg of her tour and then continuing on their own last half.  Bruno, upset that the surprise was revealed, made sure to cover it up before giving a call to his musical director to come in once Roxanne had left.  Clearly, he was hiding something from her.

As I approached Robyn's mansion the evening before I was scheduled to fly back out to Europe; I prepared myself, both mentally and physically.  Once she saw me standing here after all of those hurtful things I said to her, she would probably cut me deep with her words and then slap me.

Probably the latter first.

I looked around at the wind blowing.  It was a warm, windy California evening.  The sun hadn't quite set entirely yet.  I would have gotten this done earlier if it weren't for the fact that my sleeping schedule was all kinds of wonky because of my running around with Bruno.  He might as well turn me, I was nearly nocturnal.

Well no.

I retract that statement, I don't want to be turned.  At least, I don't think I do.

I shook my head to clear my mind again to focus and I raised my fist to knock at her door, but to my surprise it opened a crack.  Apparently it hadn't been locked.  "Robyn?" I called, slowly pushing it open.  She could be an airhead sometimes, but normally she never left her front door open.  I'm sure she knew the way this industry was when it came to stalkers.

"I know you hate me but...it's Rox, I'm just here to--"

I stopped.

And screamed.

There was blood all over the floor, the walls, paintings were tilted and some were broken on the floor.  The vase was broken and the flowers ripped and scattered across the floor.  I looked around and clutched my chest, my heart beating quickly.

Bruno Mars felt a jarring pull within his chest and heard a piercing scream in his head that awoke him instantly from his daytime death.  Without a second thought, he raced to his door, but when he opened it he was met with excruciating pain.  The sun was low, nearly set but still casting a faint glow across the skies.  However, it felt full blaze to him as his skin seared as though someone were splashing him with bubbling acid.

He tried to leave his home, feeling weak and dragging himself slowly; but it was impossible, he would be dead by the time he arrived.

"Fuck." He murmured in pain and frustration as he returned back into his light-safe home and collapsed.  He had been holding out on feeding in an effort to learn to tame himself better; but with the added attempt at going out in the daytime, he felt frail.

But he had to find Roxanne; she was afraid and in danger somewhere.

I followed the pools of blood upstairs to Robyn's bedroom, and I heard talking.

"Look, cease & sekkle! complainin'.  It is no goin' fe make dis end any sooner."

A muffled voice responded that I couldn't understand.  I could barely understand what I believed to be Robyn's voice, her accent was never that thick.

"You deserve fe die, after what the you did fe 'i granddaughter and after what your ancestors did fe 'i.  I am goin' fe kill every one of the bloodsuckers I kyan get 'i hands on!"

There was a pound and a muffled cry of what sounded like pain.

"Scream louder so your ancestors kyan ya your fenneh! You chose dis, you didn't haffi be dis way foolish boy!"

Realizing I was in way over my head, I backed up against the wall and began to edge my way back down the hall.  I needed to go find Bruno and call Jason and figure out what to do.  Clearly that wasn't Robyn...not entirely at least.

I listened to their conversation as I edged down, and I suddenly kicked a stray Buddha statue that went flying noisily down the stairs.  I froze instantly as the talking ceased and I heard quick footsteps.

Robyn came out the bedroom and looked down right at me and I don't think I had ever felt so afraid in my life than I did in that moment.  Her normally hazel eyes had a white film over them.  Her face was smudged in blood and her shirt was ripped.  Clearly she had wounds of her own on her chest and arms.  "You're dat vampire fuckin' bredren, aren't ya?" She pointed to me with a strangely carved dagger that she held in her hand.

My eyes were wide.  "N-no."

"You're lyin' fe 'i! I kyan smell him all over you!" She shouted viciously and I jumped, almost to tears now.  I held them back and stood my ground as she approached me slowly, her eyes narrowed.  "You're dirty, the i gaan fe bed fuckin' a corpse. A flithy demon corpse with no lion!" Robyn spoke venemously soft, her dagger held at my face until it was mere inches from my nose.

"Why are you doing this?  You're hurting, and I know you aren't Robyn." I reverted to the tactic that officers use to talk a suicide jumper back off the ledge.  It was all I could do now; I feared becoming violent with something so much more powerful than I.

Robyn cocked her head at me curiously.  "You a smart gyal.  But dumb at de same time."

"Look...I know you're Rih's grandmother.  I understand why you're upset with vampires--"

She jumped towards me with the dagger now aimed right at my heart.  Now I saw dark black liquid pooling in her eyes.  I would have called them tears; but I was unsure of what it was.  "You don't know anythin'!  You cyaan begin fe seen what dese demons did fe me!"

I held my breath.  This tactic clearly wasn't working, so I had to just try to make a run for it.  I quickly reached down to shove the dagger out of harm's way; when I realized I had cut myself on the blade and I fell to my knees...on a dirt ground.

I held my palm in pain as I looked up and saw myself surrounded by lush tropical trees filled with colored fruit.  The skies were dark but lit up with plenty stars.  I looked back down at my hand again and realized that the strange shaped dagger must have been a trigger object.

As I began to stand up, I heard what sounded to be a little girl screaming.  Now used to these "visions", I followed the voice into a small village, filled with man-made huts scattered about and a large fire in the center.

Jason Hendrickson threw aside another book that was to no help for his research.  He took his glasses off and set them upon his desk, rubbing his face in frustration as he delved into his mutl-millenia year old memory for some speck of hope.  Time was running short and who knew what havoc Robyn could have upon the vampire community.  The last thing Jason needed was for a high profile celebrity to be brutally murdered due to his kind.

He sat back in his office chair; but the lit fireplace caused a glint that caught his sharp attention.  A book upon his large shelf had a large red hard ruby within the spine.  His eyes narrowed as he stood up and approached the book in question, for some reason he hadn't picked that one up and he drew a blank on what it could be.

Jason pulled the book from the shelf and took it to his desk, opening it to see the pages were made from animal skin.  Something about the contents of the page, in an ancient Yoruba script, sent surges of energy through the tips of his fingers.  He had learned the language hundreds of years ago when he was a resident in the continent of Africa.  He performed life-saving surgeries on the people of a small Nigerian village and picked it up; along with this ancient book a tribal healer gave him.

A specific picture caught his eye.  It looked familiar to him...he had to have seen that piece of jewelry somewhere before.  The image was of a necklace pendant that had a thin cross on it and within each section of the cross were symbols of antelope, sunlight, moonlight, and a person holding a shield.

He read the text underneath it aloud, translating it on sight.  "The guardian communes with spirits.  The spirits commune with the antelope.  The antelope brings in the day with sharpened antlers that pierce the moon's broken emptiness.  The cycle repeats."

Jason frowned and re-read it again, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

He pushed the book away and closed his eyes, massaging his temples in deep thought.

Suddenly, an image flashed in his mind's eye of Robyn the time she had visited him in the hospital with Roxanne.  He recalled a pendant around a suede rope that she wore on her neck.  "Of course!" He said aloud, pulling the book back and reading over the text.

"The guardian communes with spirits.  The guardian is a Medium!"

I tracked the screams back to the tropical forestry behind the village; and the scene I stumbled upon was a most disturbing one.  A large, imposing man with dark black skin and fiery orange hair in long braids down his back stood over a little girl who looked to be no more than six or seven.

"Leav' me alone!" She shouted as he reached down to touch her.

He chuckled, "If you stop fighting, it will all be over soon."

I watched in horror as he grasped her by her ponytail and lifted her into the air, causing the little child to scream in excruciating pain, tears streaming down her bloodied face.  He licked the trail of blood that came down her temple and she kicked and fought.

I couldn't take it anymore, I charged for the large man and lunged for him; but I fell through him and onto the ground.  As I spit out dirt, I saw feet run by my head quickly.  I sat up to see what I thought was the same girl but who now looked like a beautiful young teenager.  She glanced over her shoulder and ran faster.  The same strange fiery-headed man just walked at a normal pace towards her.

"Not anymore! Please! What have I done fe deserve dis?!" She shouted.  He zipped ahead of her and cut her off and it was then that I knew, for sure, that this was an ancient vampire.  A sick, demented one.  He wordlessly ripped her head to the side and sunk his lethal fangs into her neck.  I had no idea fangs could come in sizes but his looked far larger than Bruno's.  They were frightening.

--

I felt a burn in my gut that made me double over.  I grew dizzy.  "No!" I called out.  "I have to know what happened!" I held on, crawling towards the abuse happening a few feet away from me.  I reached out for the vampire and the ground vanished beneath me and respawned.

I was now laying by the fire I had seen previously in the center of the village.  I witnessed the large, imposing man striding confidently into one of the huts.  I quickly followed, my stomach still burning...but now at a tolerable temperature.  The same woman was inside, this time an adult with a younger woman of her likeness who had a very pregnant stomach.

"Stop and don't de i-man come near her! Take i-man, but she has a baby!" The woman stood in front of her daughter in defense.

"Tokela, you've been using Obeah spells against me, haven't you?" He asked, his voice deep and gravelly.  Now I knew the grandmother's name...now I just wanted to know who this man was.  The younger woman was sheltered over in the corner, frightened.

Tokela nodded, "I had fe keep you away so dat I could raise my dawta."

A devious grin swept across his features.  "You cannot keep me away forever.  You're lucky I'm fond of you, Tokela.  I will not kill your daughter.  I will, however--" He reached for her throat; but pulled his hand back and hissed, his fangs extending.  Immediately Tokela took advantage of his weakness and began to chant in a language unfamiliar to me.  The more she chanted, the weaker the vampire seemed to become; until he fell into a crumpled heap on the floor.

"Quick! Give de stake Monica!" Tokela shouted to the pregnant woman, who scrambled to her feet and grasped a nearby sharpened wooden stake and tossed it to her grandmother.  The stake wasn't any normal device, however.  I recognized it as the opposite end of the metal dagger that Robyn had been holding from my chest prior to my vision.  The elder woman approached the heaving vampire and shoved it right through his chest.

I watched as he took a gasp, his eyes wide before his body exploded in a mass of blood and guts amongst his robes.  Monica looked traumatized, but Tokela remained emotionless as she unhooked the necklace from her neck.  It had a stone with some strange symbol I couldn't recognize from the doorway.  She kneeled down to the vampire and began collecting some of his blood into a small wooden bowl.  She placed the necklace within it and shook it in a circular motion, chanting over it softly.

"Make sure you always wear dis, it will protect you and gi it fe your daughter too, it will gi her protection as well." Tokela instructed.

--

The burn within my stomach increased five fold and now I had to scream out in pain.  I felt on the verge of vomiting and I wondered why it hurt so bad when I was about to be pulled from a vision.  Was there no way to train myself to become better at this, since I was so cursed with it?

I closed my eyes and sat down upon the ground to take deep breaths in an attempt to calm the wave of fire that licked my insides.  I looked up to see I was in another location, yet again.  This time I was in an actual home, a nice one at that.  The walls were painted in bright pastels and it gave off the impression of daytime, although it was clearly night outside.

I saw a tiny Robyn run past me as she giggled and it brought a smile to my face amidst this maddness.  She looked adorable as a child and she plopped down behind a toy kitchen set and tried to crawl into the play stove.  Soon, someone who I assumed to be her mother, came rushing into the room happily.  "I wonder where me Robyn at?" Monica called playfully.

I had a feeling this wasn't where I was supposed to be, so I maintained a hold over my pain and managed to head out the back door...but not before looking over my shoulder at the mother and daughter blissfully unaware of anything horrible to come.  Sure enough, Monica had that pendant around her neck.

Up close, I could see that it was the same necklace that Robyn wore whenever she didn't have certain shows or press to do.  With those unrecognizable symbols.  I had never paid attention to it until now.

Sure enough, once I wandered far enough out back, I noticed where the old village used to be.  It was torn down and nothing was left of it but wood and straw scattered about.  I saw a now elderly Tokela bending down to pick up something.  I ran over to her and peeped over her should, although I was aware that she couldn't quite see me, hear me, or feel me.  She cleaned dirt off of a gold pendant attached to a chain.  In the center of it was a dark ruby.

"Hello there, you must be Tokela." I heard a smooth woman's voice that startled me.  I hadn't even heard her approach and the leaves and twigs upon the ground were good at announcing something like that.  She was tall and brown skinned, with deep burgundy colored hair that was in a single braid down to her calves.  Her eyes were bright yellow and unnatural looking.

"I am." Tokela said without turning around as she gripped the pendant in her hand.

Quicker than the blink of an eye, the woman shoved her hand clean through the back of Tokela's spine and ripped out her still-beating heart.  I wanted to faint; I wish I had.  Tokela collapsed upon the ground, dead.  The woman dropped the organ upon the dirt ground and laughed heartily.  "I love you, Aedan." She said as her bloodied hand picked up the golden pendant that had just been in Tokela's grasp moments prior.  "I always will..." the vampire whispered, blood tears in her eyes.

I heard Robyn calling out for her grandmother and she came bounding outside; but her blood curdling scream made my ears burn and instantly flames stirred within me again, but this time there was no chance in staying or forcing it away.  It was taking me over, so I let it.  I let the flames engulf me inside and out and I fell upon the ground, feeling the cool metal end of the dagger in my bloody palm.

--

There was no time to pity myself, however, because I heard a commotion; and once I regained my vision and composure, I heard Bruno yelling at me.  "I can't bite her! Hurry up and kill her!" He shouted as he had his arm around her neck, choking her, holding her hands behind her back.

"Bruno, oh my God!" I wanted to run to him, to help him!  His skin was charred, as if he had been thrown into the pits of hell!  He wheezed and yanked her neck harder while she struggled and hissed while laughing at the same time.

"DO IT!" He bellowed.  Without proper thought, I went for the dagger and lunged for Robyn, but not before I was snatched back by someone.  I looked up to see Jason Hendrickson, and he looked extremely alarmed.

"Shove this into her heart!" He commanded, handing me a long, sharp object that looked to be an antler.  I had no time to ponder this, however, as Robyn really started flipping a shit now that I had this new weaponry.

"Go ahead and kill your best bredren, KILL ME. De world will hate the yuh for it!" Robyn cursed.

Tears welled up in my eyes; I had no choice, evil was evil and had to be extinguished.

I shoved the antler through her heart and her back arched while a dark smoke spurted violently from her mouth.  Bruno's body was cast backwards against the wall and he went sliding down into a heap.  I rushed over to him and glanced over my shoulder at Jason.  "I think Chris is still alive, he's in the bedroom, please...help him." I pleaded.  Jason nodded and hurried into the bedroom.

"Hey, hey baby...come on, please." I begged, trying to lift his body up to sit against the wall.  "Bruno." I sniffled, holding out my wrist.  He groaned and stayed dormant.  His face was charred, his body.  "Bruno come on!" I pressed my wrist against his mouth, I even pulled his chin down so he could bite; but for some reason his fangs wouldn't extend.

"Damn it." I muttered in anxiety before I scrambled across the floor to the dagger and reopened the closing wound in the palm of my hand.  It hurt, but I held it against his mouth and I felt him slowly start to lap up the blood flow.  "Oh thank you God." I breathed, moving closer to him.

Suddenly, I heard a female moan in pain; and I looked over to see Robyn's hands slowly coming up to the antler that was lodged through her heart.