FicWad

In A Darkened Room
By Mishi

Chapter 19
His Tortured Soul

Note: Hey everyone! I wanted to add a quick note about the next update. I’m going to try to post on Aug 21st, but I don’t know if I’ll have the next chapter finished by then. The week after that I’ll be in the hospital having my kidney removed. Yeah, I’ve been going through kidney failure, so things have been moving a little slow-it also didn’t help that chapter 20 required more research than any of the other chapters so far. I’ll have my husband’s laptop in the hospital with me, so I might get it posted or might not. Please be patient and stick with me and I’ll be back to regular post as soon as I can. Thanks, Mishi. ^_^

Touya was ready for a fight. His sword was out and his senses were on full alert as he wandered the building. He had let his nose guide him to the apartment, and after opening the door, he was positive that the room had recently been occupied by humans. He was also positive that blood had been spilled within the bedroom. Now that he was in the apartment, he could feel the demonic energies that lingered as a result of the summoning spell. This building was only one of several of which he would be visiting from Jagger’s list. The living room had no furnishings, but the walls were covered with a dingy white wallpaper with red and pink flowers, which was peeling in several places. After noting nothing special about the kitchenette, he focused solely on the bedroom and headed for the door, which was closed. The room was set up in a similar manner to the way in which the room Maire had been kept in was set up-there was a bathroom to the left and the bed was to the right near the windows. He walked up to the bed for a closer look at the floor beneath it, and found the summoning circle was in place.

The blood he smelled from the mattress couldn’t have been more than a few nights old. He could see Maire’s naked body tied to the bed before him, and he had to close his eyes and shake the horrible image away. He wondered how many other women they intended to torture in this appalling fashion.

Seeing nothing of use among the peeling pale green walls of the bedroom, Touya walked into the bathroom to search for clues. He opened the medicine cabinet to find nothing inside, although, there was toilet paper and running water. He studied the shower, which looked as if it had not been used in a very long time. The toilet and sink appeared to be kept clean, but there were no cleaning chemicals to be found. Other than the fact the water and power were on, and the toilet paper was present, there was no evidence that anyone had been in the apartment.

Finding his search to be useless, Touya decided it was time to leave the apartment and move on to the next building. With sword still in hand, he entered the hallway and made his way to the stairs. Peeking over the railing to pier down at the floors below, he made sure the path was clear for his dissent. A few moments later, he was exiting the building, and returning his sword to its place inside his coat.

His disappointment with the lack of action so far in the evening was taking its toll on his nerves. He had hoped a fight would help him work off the sexual energy he had built up with Maire. If his meal hunting hadn’t been so uneventful, he wouldn’t have been this eager for a fight now. For the two thugs he had counted as his prey at the convenient store had proven no challenge what so ever. He had picked them for the simpleness and quickness of the task. He had been walking the streets with his senses searching the area around him, when he heard their thoughts about robbing the store only a few blocks from where he was. He had fed from the bald African-American youth, who was shaking from drug withdrawal, between a freezer case and shelf of toilet paper. The wild-eyed Caucasian youth standing at the counter pointed his gun at the aging Korean sales clerk. Although the Korean gentleman had noticed him, Touya had stealthily stalked up to the counter and disarmed the youth before he could make sense of what was happening.

There had been signs written in Korean hanging all over the store, so when Touya tried to explain what he was going to do with the thugs as the clerk called the cops, he used Korean to do it. He explained that the boys would be locked in the storeroom as the grateful forty something reached for the phone. Touya could sense that the one who had had the gun had also been suffering because of drugs. As he drank for the young man, he tried to kill the mental need for the addiction just as he had with the other victim. He had left them in what was probably the first peaceful bit of sleep they had had for a very long time. There had been no need to tamper with the memories of the clerk, because the clerk had thought nothing of his speed. Touya looked into the man’s mind and saw nothing suspicious there. No, the clerk was just happy to have been saved.

So he had left with his hunger sated, but his energy level was way too high. He couldn’t return to Maire like he was. The energy from the fresh blood had only made his desire worse. Luckily he had the list of address with him, and he intended to check out a few of them before returning to Maire’s apartment for the night. Maybe he would get lucky and run into the Blond Bitch.

He pulled up to the rear entrance of the building just as he did with the last one. The alley was clear of vehicles and there were no humans to be found. With his weapon ready, he forced open the door and started his search. He wandered from floor to floor following his nose until he stumbled across apartment six-thirteen on the sixth floor.

“Same floor and number as the last one,” he mumbled to himself as he surveyed the empty living room with its crumbling white plaster walls.

He entered the bedroom to find it set up just like the other apartment; the bed was near the windows, the bathroom was to this left and the summoning circle was in place beneath the bed. He could smell the blood, but could not see it. And again, in the bathroom there were no cleaning supplies to be found. There was nothing to help him learn one thing about his enemy.

Angered by coming up empty, Touya stomped out of the apartment determined to visit one more building before returning to Maire. He race through the streets like a madman, ignoring traffic lights and dodging other vehicles. When he reached the third building of the evening, he all but flew up the stair heading right for the sixth floor and room six-thirteen. What he found should have made him at least somewhat satisfied, but it didn’t. Among the pale yellow walls of the bedroom was a bed with the summoning circle beneath it. There had been a table and one chair in the living room, but other than that, this apartment was just like the other two. It seemed this cult, just like the demons it served, lacked creativity. This pattern would cut down on a lot of tracking time.

His senses told him that this apartment hadn’t been used as recently as the other two. The scent of blood and human was barely noticeable and there was no trace of demonic energy. If not for the summoning circle he wouldn’t have counted this as one of their sites. This left him agitated to a greater extent. What was he hoping to accomplish? Was he hoping to catch them in the middle of defiling another woman? No, he had started out too late in the evening for that, but surely they would have to contain the victim for sometime after the summoning had been completed. Could he hope to find them laying in wait as they sit biding their time, and anticipating the birth of some monstrosity?

His eyes settled on the bed and he suddenly felt tired. He wanted to return to Maire and the warmth of her body. The building would be there tomorrow, and so would the bad guys. Deep down he knew where he needed to go if he really wanted to get anything accomplished-the farm house. He could search all the buildings he wanted, but Maire wouldn’t be safe until he took out the nest. Take out the masters and the runts will be nothing. It was a waste of time and power to deal with the underlings, he wanted those who were pulling the strings; the true source of the problem. Touya pondered on his next course of action as he walked out of the room, and then out of the apartment.

As he drove his way back to Maire, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number he hoped was the one wanted.

A deep feminine voice answered with a, “Yes?” He smiled and shook his head. Alexa had never been one for talking on a phone.

“Good evening, Alexa. This is Touya, of Andrew’s territory; I require an audience with Cerberus,” he spoke formally.

“Your reason for this audience?” She asked with her voice flat as if she could care less about his request.

He wasn’t sure what to say. A personal request would mean nothing, but if he could make her see it as a danger to the vampire community he had a chance. “There is a cult in the city that is causing a problem for me. They could become a threat for us all very soon. I would like to learn more about them.”

“In what way would this cult be a threat to the Community?” She asked with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

“They are breeding an army of beings who are demon in human skin. They are as strong as we are, but have no scent or evil aura. They have all their demonic powers, but no way of being detected. The half-breed I fought informed me that the cult has plans to take over the city,” he explained calmly, hoping the exaggeration would win him a few points and get him what he wanted.

“A moment.” He heard her say, and then there was along silence over the line. He was only a few minutes away from Maire’s street when Alexa returned to the phone, “It is agreed. I require the cult’s name.”

“Legion of Belial.”

“I will call when it is time. I am assuming the number you are calling from will be the number I will be using to reach you?”

“That is correct.” He parallel parked effortlessly with one hand in front of Maire’s building. He was about to ask if she knew how long Cerberus’s research might take, then he realized she had already disconnected the call. “I’m getting too used to talking to humans,” he chuckled sarcastically.

Remaining in the driver’s seat, Touya dialed Bethany. It took seven rings before a groggy voice answered, “Shit boss, you are lucky I charge this phone with it turned on. If that woke Nanna up I’m fucked twelve ways from Sunday!”

“It’s nice to speak to you as well, Bethany.”

“Do you know what time it is?”

“About midday for me. Do you really want to continue this line on of conversation, or would you rather I get on with it, so you can get back to bed?” He growled as he got out of the car and locked it.

“Whatever! Get to it, so I can get some sleep,” she grumbled.

“That’s my girl,” he grinned and headed towards the alley next to Maire’s building. “I need you to contact Jagger again. I want him to get all the information he can find on Tabitha Martin and Alfred Swartz. Then see what he can dig up on a cult that goes by the name the Legion of Belial. They have to be leaving a paper trail somewhere; and if anyone can find it, I know it’ll be Jagger.”

“Eww, I have to deal with Mr. Creepy-Sex-Fiend again?”

He was looking up at the window to Maire’s room when he answered Bethany’s pathetic whine, “Sorry, but it’s a necessary evil. You know, you wanted to have sex with a vampire…”

“Oh, you wicked bloodsucking bastard! I wouldn’t touch his sickenin’ ass even if I was a ten dollar crack hoe!” She squealed into the phone, but Bethany couldn’t hide the amusement she got out of his comment.

Touya let himself laugh at her reaction before continuing on with anything important. “Did you write down what I told you?” He eventually asked.

“Yeah, I got it. Is that all you woke me up for?” The tone of her voice implied she was trying to make him feel guilty.

“And you want to know why we never worked out. You sleep all night and all we ever do is argue,” he teased.

“You don’t sleep all day; and that arguing is all the pent-up sexual tension looking for a way to get out,” she shot back at him.

“I’m going to return to my girlfriend now,” he said with an evil snicker.

“Really, how’s it coming with my vampire fuck-buddy?” She laughed sarcastically.

“It’s on my to do list, Bethany,” he matched her sarcasm.

“Better be, you fanged fuck,” she laughed and hung up on him.

“College educated and she has such a colorful vocabulary,” he mumbled and shook his head as he tucked the iPhone back in his pocket. “I really need to comment on her dirty mouth.”

With merely a though he was drifting through the air towards Maire’s window, until without a sound he touched down on the landing of her fire escape. The light was still on in the room, and she was sitting up in the bed with the pillows pilled behind her back and her legs crossed in a yoga pose reading a book. He had pictured her doing several things while he was gone, but reading hadn’t been counted among the ideas. He crept in the window bring a cold breeze with him. Maire looked up from her book to find him closing the window. She hadn’t heard him enter, but only felt the cold air that had swept across the bed.

“You could have used the front door, you know,” she remarked with a smirk.

“No key,” he pointed out as he took off his coat and went to hang it up. “Besides, I’m fond of coming in by the window,” he chuckled with a grin.

He pulled off his boots and left them in front of the closet, before heading for the bed. As Touya moved, she was captivated by the way the crimson silk of his shirt clung to his arms, giving her a wonderful show of the muscles underneath. She was trying her hardest to pretend her focus was on the pages before her, and she hoped he hadn’t noticed her watching him approach the foot of the bed.

Justin was curled up on the bottom of the bed sleeping until Touya had entered the window. Now he sat wide eyed and waiting for attention as Touya stood next to the bed and reached out to pet him.

“How are you, little buddy? Have you finally decided to return to the bed?” Touya scratched Justin’s head as he questioned the cat, who decided to purr in reply. “This is the oddest creature,” he remarked offhandedly to Maire.

“What’s so odd about, Justin?” She asked with a look that said she was clearly puzzled.

“Cats don’t like vampires. They have heightened senses and know that we’re not natural. They also know we’re predatory and to stay away from us. They’re very sensitive animals. But from the moment I entered this apartment, Justin, has been nothing but warm and friendly towards me. It’s just not normal,” he explained as he continued to pet the affectionate animal. However, when he finished Justin meowed as if to put in his two cents.

Touya and Maire shared a quick laugh over the timing of the meow before Maire suggested, “Justin has always been a good judge of character. He absolutely hated my last boyfriend. He actually peed on him.”

Touya looked at her with a huge grin, “Is that so?”

“I thought you’d like this story,”’ she sighed and shook her head, but continued, “We had just had a bad argument about the dinner I cooked, and he was sitting on the couch while I put everything away. The next thing I know he is yelling and chasing poor Justin into the bedroom. Apparently, Justin jumped right up on his lap and let’er rip. He had urine all over his stomach. He stunk to high heaven. After that, we spent a lot of time at his place…unit we slept together a few times and broke up.”

Touya squatted down next to the bed and got his face closer to Justin’s. “Smooth, my furry, little friend. I think that one earns you some fresh salmon,” he laughed.

“Oh, now you’re going to spoil my cat, is that it?” she couldn’t help but be amused.

“Yes, such loyalty and intelligence must be rewarded. I just gained a great deal of respect for this animal.”

“Whatever you say, Touya.”

He reached for the paper sack, which he had placed on the floor next to the bed earlier in the evening, and stood up.

“Do I finally get to know what is in the bag?” Maire asked not waiting to see if he would offer an explanation first.

“Clothes,” he stated plainly. “I had to bring something a bit more comfortable to sleep in.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she put her hand on her forehead and apologized. “I didn’t think about that. I guess your day clothes would be a bit restrictive for sleeping.” She thought for a moment about what he might wear and how scrumptious he might look in it, and nervously asked, “What exactly did you bring to sleep in?”

“Don’t worry, baby, it’s nothing you can’t handle. I’ve got a pair of sweats and a tee shirt,” he assured her and pulled them from the sack for her to examine. The sweats were gray and the tee shirt was red with a large white Nintendo logo smack-dab in the middle of it. She nodded her approval and he quietly made off to the bathroom.

After about ten or fifteen minutes, Touya exited the bathroom with his day clothes in arms. “Do you mind if I hang my shirt and pants in your closet, and put my underwear and socks in with your laundry?” He asked while standing at the end of the bed.

“Oh, sure! Go right ahead.” She looked to the sack, which was still sitting on the bed; it didn’t look like it was full enough for a change of clothes for the coming day. “Umm, are you going to wear those again tomorrow?”

“Yeah, just to get home. I have a change of socks and underwear in the sack.” He answered as he crossed the room.

Her eyes were glued to his body as he moved. She was mesmerized by the way the sweats hung loosely at his hips. He collected the sack from the bed and returned to the closet to place it next to his boots. When he bent over to do this, she received a very delightful view of his backside. Before he turned to see the look of guilt that was written all over her face, she lowered her head and buried herself in her book.

He examined her on his way between the closet and the bed; she was hunched over her book with her elbows resting on her thighs, so that she could hold her head up with her hands. Touya knew her well enough to know she was trying to hide her face. Besides, he could hear her heart pounding-something had excited her. He figured she had most likely had a dirty thought and was now beating herself up for it. He stood silently next to the bed waiting for her look up, but she was determined to keep her eyes where they were.

With mild amusement, he climbed onto the bed to kneel beside her and whispered in a deep seductive purr, “What are reading, Maire?” He heard her take in a deep breath and let it out in an attempt to control her breathing. Maybe a sexy whisper in the ear had been a dirty trick? He really did need to learn how to play nice.

When she was able to speak, she looked up from her lap and answered, “The Bible.”

Suddenly, Maire was left blinking alone on the bed and Touya was next to the window. She could have sworn that the bed had moved, but it happened so fast she couldn’t see it with her eyes. All she knew was that it had left her stunned from the force of his pushing off the bed. She looked at the wall to confirm her suspicions about the bed moving, and found the wood of the headboard had been forced into the plaster of the wall.

“There goes my safety deposit,” she mumbled. She turned to Touya, who seemed to be standing too still, and noticed the look of horror on his face. His eyes were the same amazing color of blue they had been in the alley on the night she had first met him. She wasn’t sure what it was about the Bible that had made him react so violently. Not knowing what he might do next, she asked, “Touya, are you ok? Tell me what’s wrong, because I don’t know what to do.”

“You let me get that close to a blessed item? You lied to me…just like Elizabeth lied to me,” he answered. He was shaking slightly, but her eyes couldn’t see it.

“No…Touya, it’s not blessed. It’s just a Bible. Why would I get a Bible blessed? Come here and touch it…it won’t hurt you. I promise you, Touya, I would never hurt you,” she insisted holding out the Bible with its dark blue leather cover.

“You’re lying,” he whispered with a dry mouth.

“I swear to you…may God strike me dead right here if I’m lying to you!” Her voice was desperate and the hand which held the Bible was shaking.

‘She’s so desperate…does that mean she’s telling the truth? It could just mean that Michael’s waiting in the hall with a bunch of chains, and she’s desperate to get this over with. But what hunter in their right mind would come after a vampire at 2 a.m.? There would have to be an outrageous number of men out there to take me on at this hour,’ his mind struggled as he watched her. In an effort to calm his fears, he closed his eyes and reached out with his senses to the hallway. To his relief, he felt no one waiting for him outside her doorway. ‘She has to be telling the truth; there’s no one there!’ He thought and took a deep breath in and out before slowly moving towards her.

She was careful not to move as he cautiously inched his way forward. Her plan was to make herself appear as non-threatening as possible. The spine of the Bible was closest to him, so when he was close enough to reach it; he tapped the spine with his index finger. Nothing happened. He lowered his head and his arm fell to his side. He felt so incredibly foolish. Maire was about to lower her arm when his hand shot out and snatched the Bible from her hand. She was stunned by the speed of action and let out a gasp.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I saw that you were about to put your arm down and I wanted the Bible, so I grabbed it,” he explained taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

“How…”she started to asked, but he cut her off.

“I’m a predator, Maire; I have the ability to anticipate the movement of my prey,” he stated coolly as he looked at the Bible in his hands.

“Am I prey then?” She asked struggling to keep her voice neutral.

Touya looked at her and again felt foolish. “No, you’re a beautiful woman, whom I hunger for in many ways, but you will never be prey,” he handed her the Bible and sat beside her, so he could put his hand on her stomach and his face against her neck. “I’m sorry for being so stupid and doubting you. I ask you for your trust and I treat you like a conspirator-I don’t deserve you.”

His voice was low in her ear, but she had managed to catch all of what he said. She also heard the pain behind the words. His body actually felt tense as it rested against hers. If she had realized that finding her with the Bible was going to cause him so much pain, she would have read something else.

“No, Touya, it was my fault; I should’ve picked something else to read.”

“You didn’t know I would react that way, because you weren’t thinking about the thing being blessed or not.”

“I still shouldn’t have…it’s a religious item. I really should have thought more about it.”

“Why were you reading the Bible, anyway?” He lips were becoming as dry as his mouth, so he liked them in an attempt to moisten them. However, his lips were so close to her neck that in doing so he touched her skin with the tip of his tongue, causing her forget what she was about to say. “Sorry, I honestly didn’t mean to do that,” he apologized and sat up.

She rolled her eyes at him, but took him at his word. Then she proceeded to explain, “I was trying to do what you asked and discern where my boundaries are.”

He licked his lips again and questioned, “How exactly was it helping you do this?”

“I was looking up passages on the topics of modesty and fornication,” she stopped to nervously bite her bottom lip. “I used several Post-Its to makes some notes and bookmark a few things I’d like you to read.”

He looked at her with raised eye browses, “Really?”

“I wasn’t sure how familiar you were with scripture, so I thought I would let you read it before adding my comments.”

“I was exposed to some of the New Testament under Francis’ guidance, but nothing more,” Touya replied hesitantly looking at the Bible in her lap.

She knew what she was about to ask might upset him again, but she couldn’t get over the way he had react to the Bible in the first place, or the pain she had sensed in him afterwards. It was in Maire’s nature to heal those around her, and that’s what she wanted to do for him-if he’d let her.

“Touya,” she said softly reclaiming his attention from the book in her lap. “What kind for person actually blesses a Bible?”

He let out a bitter laugh and turned to face straight ahead. His hair fell around his face like a protective blanket to keep him hidden from her. When he answered it was with a hollow voice, “The kind of people who come upon you while you’re sleeping and wrap you in heavy chains. Then they lie you in a pine box with a stake through your heart, and put one of those damn things,” he pointed at the Bible without looking at it, “Which is blessed-so it burns like hell-on top of you. As if that is not torture enough, they nail the lid shut, throw you in a hole, and bury you alive,” he stopped to lick his lips and take a deep trembling breath. “My heart was fighting to beat and reform around the stake. I don’t have words to explain how painful that was. Do you know that vampires need to breathe? A lack of oxygen can actually damage our brain. It was so hard to breathe in that coffin with the chains restricting my body. Vampires can go into a sort of coma like state when they are in great pain or need to heal, but they are award of what they are feeling. I might have appeared to be dead to them, but I was aware of every thing they did to me. I…”

“Stop, Touya, please stop,” Maire pleaded. She was horrified by what she had just heard and tears were threatening to burst from her damp eyes. Knowing Touya as she did, she couldn’t imagine how someone could be so cruel to him.

She reached out and moved his hair away from his face. Then to her amazement, he pressed his head against her hand and moved with it until he was looking at her with the saddest eyes she had ever seen. There was no holding back the tears after that.

He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips for a small kiss, “Thank you for your sweetness. I need you to excuse me for a moment…I really need a glass for water.” She nodded and he let go of her hand before asking, “Do you want anything from the kitchen?”

She sniffled and responded, “No, I’m fine.”

Maire watched him mope his way out of the room through the tears pouring from her eyes. ‘He’s hundreds of years old, how many nightmares just like that one has he lived through?’ She wondered wiping the tears away from her cheeks. ‘That’s a lot to heal. And I don’t know if I can listen to another story like that one. Oh Lord, give me strength! My heart and mind are not in the right place for this one. I think I’m going to need a little extra grace this time around.’