The Fourth Horseman

The Beast Within

Ethan and I had been hanging out on the front porch making ourselves present. We wanted those assholes to see we were anything but scared. Have we ever been scared? Come to think of it, I can't remember a moment where I felt I was outmatched or close to losing. Not a single echo of fear in my long memory.

Maybe Ethan was right. I had never loved anything like I loved Nicole. Yes, I had many past lovers, and some were part of my life for many years, but no true love. Only desire and lust. Females would come and go. I would leave them after I grew tired of them. Not having something my enemies could hold over my head or trigger a retaliation has most certainly made me naïve. Now I was different. I had marked Nicole, not for her blood but because I needed her in my life. Now that I have Nicole I feel complete. She will walk beside me while living and I will turn her when the time comes so she can walk with me in death as well. I did not see a future for me without Nicole present.

Thinking of her sleeping on the couch soundly made me content. I decided it was time to go check on my sleeping beauty. I was about done with Ethan's company anyway. I tire of his never ending stories of battle and wit. If any brother was consumed with ego it was no doubt him.

I open the door and immediately sense something is wrong. It's quiet, and Nicole's scent is no longer strong. I do not hear her quiet breaths. There is no noise at all. I walk through quietly not making a sound. I smell the air to see if I can find a remnant of her scent. Anything that will point me in the direction she had gone. I caught a faint whiff of her steps into the kitchen, on the bottle, then to the sliding glass door. Maybe she was outside. She should know better than to go out without me by her side. I grew irritated at her discretion and slid the door open.

The smell of her blood hit me before anything else. I saw the shattered glass on the ground and drops of blood splashed on the porch. Anger and rage so powerful exploded out of me in a gigantic roar. I felt my skin twitch with the rise of the black veins and my fingers curled to fists. Ethan was beside me in an instant, smelling the air and took off running in the direction of her fading scent. I was destroyed. My mind collapsing into insanity and the prospect of Nic being hurt in any way because of me laid waste to the few strands of sanity I had left.

Another groundbreaking roar erupted out of me as I ran after my brother. We were too late. The car sped away and as much as I wanted to chase it I knew it would be fruitless. War however gave chase, running after the car at full speed. I ran after him. If he could try so could I. War was faster and did not want to give up. After a few miles we stopped. Nicole had been taken. All because of me.

We made our way back to the house and my brother had managed to see the plates on the car. It was a start to tracking her down. I also had a lead myself. The second smell I recognized. Like an ancient memory or familiar road. I knew the smell well. It was female, and she had been one of my many, roughly 150 years prior. I had long forgotten our endless nights and excursions around the world. She had been by my side for well over fifty years. But I left her and never looked back. In fact I hadn't thought about her at all in the years apart aside from just now, when her scent filled my nose. Her name was Cora.

I told Ethan about detecting her scent mingled with Nicole's. I hadn't seen or heard from Cora in years. I had all but forgotten about her. I became enraged again, just thinking of Nicole lost to God knows who. What they might do to her, what they want from me , but most of all, how can I get her back.

My brother had some connections and was able to track the plates. They were registered to a vampire I did not know. I began to dig a little to try and find some more information on what Cora would be doing or where she could be. I didn't have much luck as what little I could find lead to dead ends. We had no promising leads. I was frantic and so was War. I hoped with us searching together we might be able to find some form of a trail to follow.

Three Weeks Later

I had become a savage. I no longer cared for my duties or obligations. I was a mad man, killing and ravaging those who gave me answers I didnt want to hear or knew nothing. Ethan was the same. We had went round and round, unable to get a trace on her whereabouts. I became a neurotic, pacing mess of the man I once was. I stayed out all hours asking around and killing. We had nothing to go on, until one day Ethan received a call from a stranger.

They refused to meet either of us but were confident something was happening at a warehouse about 6 hours away. They mentioned a blonde and two males stalking around but mainly staying inside. They never left. This was odd behavior so the vampires began to talk and become curious of their actions. This person didn't know what could be in the warehouse, but had heard screams early on. Now silence. The only reason they were reaching out to Ethan is because he was War, and had earned a reputation in those parts. Suspicious activity was required to be reported. It had gone on long enough to be questionable, so the reasonable thing to do would be to call Ethan.