The thick armbands Syn had been wearing came from his own world and were made out of the Bloodstone. Chipping off a piece of one of the armbands, he fashioned them into a ring, a necklace, and a single earring. Kane once again reached up and touched the earring he was wearing.
Where the bloodstone had given him a semi-normal life it had been Syns book of spells that had been Kanes downfall. Kane had left it for his chosen to use wisely while he slept. Within it was the damning spell, a way to put down the soulless children if they became too big of a risk to the humans.
As the damning spell was used on him, Kane could only watch with dark, unblinking eyes as his former friend shoveled the black soil on top of him. The last thing he remembered seeing was the star filled sky above a forest of trees.
The darkness had been all consuming and so silent. The spell kept him bound but he could feel things in the earth slithering over him. Tiny, mortal creatures that avoided eating his undead flesh but unknowingly gnawed at his soul.
As time passed, he thought for sure he had gone mad, and then he started hearing sounds every so often voices. Theyd been welcome to him in his prison and he yearned to hear more. Sometimes he heard whole families, and other times he heard only adults.
At times he would try fighting the spell, to call for help or even be some kind of company for himself. The magic held him fast, rendering him completely powerless. He knew this spell had used it on monsters. It was a complex bit of magic that required the blood of a loved one to release him. A spell of love so strong that only the victims soul mate could break.
It had always worked with the soulless vampires because you had to have a soul to call to a soul mate. He had used the spell more than once to rid the world of his demonic murdering siblings who knew nothing but bloodlust.
Kane laughed spitefully at the haunting memory of knowing he was doomed because he didnt have a soul mate. At least, he had never met such an enigma. And if he did have one, then it was unlikely she would just stumble over his grave while bleeding. Malachi had been so heartbroken hed loved his wife so much that he wanted Kane to know the depth of such love and yearn for it.
Yearn for it he did. Many times he would shed tears, begging for whatever god would listen, to bring his soul mate to him so he could be free. Had he truly killed his friends wife, then it would have been a just punishment. But he had been innocent of such a crime.
One night, long after hed given up all hope he heard it. The distinct sound of Malachis roar broke through his insane inner monologue, accompanied by another animalistic scream of fury. Then to his shock, he heard the voice of a little girl directly above him screaming at them not to hurt her puppy.
The sound of her small, frightened voice broke something inside him, making him crave to be free, so he could protect her from the beast in the night.
Malachi wont hurt your puppy little one, Kane whispered mentally.
It was true. Malachi wouldnt hurt anyone unless theyd severely wronged him in some way especially a child. Knowing his friend was somewhere above him, Kane felt a spark of life return to him. He grew angry when the girl screamed again and he heard something land hard on the ground. Blood he smelled freshly spilled blood seeping through the soft earth toward him.
It was the most welcome thing hed ever encountered. The scent invaded his mind and nearly drove him to even greater heights of insanity, knowing he was unable to reach for it. He was so weak from spending so much time without a single drink thirsting to death yet never dying. That was when he felt one of his fingers twitching.
Kane concentrated on this and set what was left of his mind to trying to move. He felt the days pass, basing them on the heat he felt from the ground above him. The scent of the blood surrounded him now, driving him onward. Finally, he was able to slowly work his arms and started the slow process of trying to dig himself out of his own grave.
More days passed and when his hand finally broke the surface, he literally cried tears of joy. Pulling himself out of the dirt, Kane opened his eyes and stared upward, laughing almost maniacally when he saw a black sky and stars overhead. Looking back down at the ground, he noticed a piece of cloth that had small droplets of blood dried on it. Picking it up, he held it to his nose inhaling the scent of the blood that had freed him.
Keeping the reminder of his savior clenched tight in his fist, he heaved the rest of his body from the ground. Malachi and the shifter that had really killed the jaguars wife lay dead only a few feet from his grave.
Looking past them toward the forest, he knew the girl was long gone but Kane was convinced the child was his soul mate. Who else could have broken the spell Malachi placed on him?
Too weak to go in search of the girl, Kane crawled over to Malachi, seeming to tenderly touch the mans cheek. Turning his face toward him, Kanes breath left him in confusion. Malachi was wearing the bloodstone earring. His earring!
Within an instant of rage and a movement too fast to detect, Kane stood up with the earring held in his fist. Looking over at Nathaniel, the man that had framed him, Kane gathered the darkness around him like a cloak and vanished into the darkness.
Kane exhaled and watched the smoke drift through the air, curling in front of him before blowing away on the breeze. Hed spent the last ten years roaming from country to country, continent to continent, learning everything hed missed during his thirty-year prison sentence.
Hed slowly built his strength back up, starting with a white Yorkie puppy hed found cowering inside a hallowed out tree in that forest. It had been someones pet and hed felt remorse for doing such a thing, but the need to feed was stronger than his guilt at the time.
Only after hed fed had he realized the pup belonged to the child that had freed him. Feeling a slight spark of life still within the little fur ball, he did the damnedest thing. Biting his own wrist, Kane forced a couple of drops to land on its pink tongue then laid the pup on the ground wondering what the hell he was doing. It would never work would it?
Shed saved him twice and not even known it. The memory of her frightened voice still had the power to jerk him from his deepest sleep. He wished hed seen her just a glimpse to go with the voice that haunted him.
Reaching into his pocket, he took out the small collar and stared down at the bone shaped tag on it. He knew the family name but the address on it was no longer valid hadnt been for years. When he finally learned how to work a computer, hed done a search but the girls parents were dead and the house had been sold. The daughter, whom he was sure was the one who freed him, had vanished without a trace.
Kane tossed his cigarette by his left foot and stomped it out. Upon returning to Los Angeles, hed immediately returned to the club Malachi had once lived in and ran, only to find it had been sold and his children had moved to a new address. The new place had once been nothing but an abandoned warehouse, but the jaguars had recently renovated it and turned it into a nightclub to fit the times. Malachis children now ran the establishment.
He shook his head wondering how Malachi could bring himself to remarry knowing how much hed loved his first wife. She had been his soul mate and even though shifters were known for their sexual appetites, once they met their soul mate it was nearly impossible to love another.
He shook his head wondering how Malachi could bring himself to remarry knowing how much hed loved his first wife. She had been his soul mate and even though shifters were known for their sexual appetites, once they met their soul mate it was nearly impossible to love another.
When Kane had researched it, hed noted that Malachis new wife had born him four children then died in childbirth to their youngest son Nick.
Malachi had died the night hed heard the roar from underground, but Kane still felt the need for revenge clawing at his insides. Almost all vampires are born from the darkness and maybe Syn had been wrong about him being so different from his evil siblings. Just maybe losing his mind for thirty torturous years had done enough damage to where now he was no exception. His mind was still in the dark place where Malachi had put him.
As far as Kane was concerned, it was the jaguars who had drawn first blood. Now he was back to pay his respects in kind on the whole damned race of shifters, starting with Malachis children. Oh, but he wouldnt stop there. Next would be the children of the shifter that had framed him Nathaniel Wilder.
Creating followers to provide him with blood hadnt been difficult. Kane was still amazed at the whole underground Goth scene in the inner city. Many of them only dreamed of being what he was a true vampire instead of a Goth wanna-be.
All hed had to do was turn one, and then leave his soulless underling to his own devices. Hed chosen the most dangerous of the group the one that seemed to have lost his soul already to the darkness. Raven, a rogue, who had been a borderline psychopath as a human a Goth outcast, who was hungry for blood long before ever having the true need for it.
Raven was the only person Kane had ever told about the backstabbing shifters framing him then burying him alive. He didnt know why hed told Raven boredom maybe.
Kane had set the rogue free on the city. Raven had been angry at the world before being reborn as a child of the night and now Kane had given him an outlet for that anger. Raven had taken it upon himself to exact revenge in Kanes name and the soulless vampire used his new abilities to their fullest extent.
He didnt bother trying to talk Raven out of it because it fit in perfectly with his plans of setting up the rest of Malachis family for the fall. Why would he protect the shifters from Raven? The most he had offered was to tell the boy that he didnt have to kill humans to feed, that he didnt have to do any damage at all, if he didnt want to. It wasnt his fault that Raven had chosen to inflict death instead.
The first time Raven had killed had been the only time Kane had stepped in, catching the boy before he left the dead lying with the mark of the vampire within easy view of the humans. Keeping his kind secret was ingrained within his self-preservation and he had forgotten to share that secret with Raven. Kane then showed him how to slice through the fang marks and make it look more like a simple sadistic murder.
Raven had taken to planting his victims near Moon Dance for the authorities to find. It was the perfect arrangement. Most vampires were innately evil so Kane had spent most of his undead life within the reach of murderers. Seeing this boy kill seemed only natural for his kind.
Had Syn been awake to witness the killing spree, he would have put the world out of its misery by killing Raven or binding him to the grave. Now that Kane had experienced such a punishment, he would rather a quick death be the choice.
Before his banishment, hed been friends with one other vampire Michael. Theyd been together longer than either of them could probably remember or even wanted to. Theyd both been gifted with the bloodstones because they had retained their souls they and Michaels brother Damon.
Michael was a good man still on the side of the angels as they say, though hed heard through the grape vine that Damon had developed a dark side and was taking it out on his brother. Maybe hed pay Damon a little visit after he was finished here and teach him some manners. Kane wondered about the sudden sibling rivalry because Michael had loved his brother but things always had a way of changing.
Kane didnt want Michael to know the evil that the grave had left crawling around inside him. Hed spent some of his time in the last couple of weeks watching Michael from a distance. He knew Michael and the oldest jaguar son, Warren, were now friends just like he and Malachi had once been.
Shifters were traitors and Michael had yet to find that little fact out. By getting the shifters out of the way, he would be doing Michael one last favor for old times sake.
Kane reached up, touching the earring that housed the bloodstone knowing it had always restricted him from killing humans. If his soul were truly evil, then the magic within the bloodstone would not work for him. Hed often wondered how Malachi could have overlooked that simple fact the proof of his innocence had been right in front of him.
No matter Hed spent thirty years in his prison for something he hadnt done. Payback will be hell my friends.
*****
Telemarketer? Chad asked, as he tried to hide his smirk, while his little sister slammed the phone down hard enough to make it fall off the wall. It landed with a crash on the floor.
Envy kicked the phone down the hall pretending it was her boyfriend's head before turning on her brother. Are you all dogs, or is it just the ones I date?
Chad held his hands up in mock surrender, In my opinion, girls are just as bad. Now calm down and tell big brother what happened.
Envy laid her forehead against the coolness of the wall. She refused to let even one tear well up enough to escape. She didnt like Trevor enough to cry over him and she was seriously getting tired of all guys lacking in one way or another. Jason just called to ask me out. He thought I was single again because he just ran into Trevor at a new dance club. He was practically screwing another girl right there on the dance floor.
Chad shook his head. He'd feel no pity for Trevor once his sister got her hands on him. How about we go clubbing then? he cocked an eyebrow, not wanting to miss this for the world.
Envy smiled, liking that idea, Give me ten minutes to get ready.
Chad nodded and sat down on the edge of the sofa and clicked on the remote to watch the news, though he wasnt paying it any attention. He hadnt wanted her dating Trevor anyway. He knew the guy acted like an all American, rich, college prep just to throw everyone off his scent, but that didnt mean he liked him lying to Envy about who he really was. If Trevor was going to sleep with her, then she needed to at least know the truth about who she was screwing.
Starting a relationship out with a lie wasnt the best way. If you were going to lie, then you shouldnt get involved in the first place. Hed cornered Trevor the last time hed seen him at the station and told the undercover agent to either tell Envy the truth about what he was doing or to stay the hell away from her. It wasnt his fault Trevor didnt listen to anyone but himself.
It angered him to think that Trevor might be using Envy while he did undercover work in the bar scene. With her being a bartender for a lot of the clubs, it gave Trevor a reason to follow her into the buildings before they opened and stay till after they closed. Being there without the crowds allowed Trevor to do a lot more snooping and Envy was none the wiser.