Come In

Chapter Eighteen

"I was walking home from work." She began, and it seemed that her hysteria had passed.

"It was dark, and cold, but that's what it's always like, and- well you hear about things happening; girls getting grabbed and murdered and... other stuff- but I just didn't think it would happen to me. I mean, really, what are the odds?
"But these two guys were walking behind me, following me. I took different streets, just to see if they really were following me. I got to that alley, and saw two other guys coming from in front of me. I turned to go into the street, but then there was another guy coming from that way. I realised that they were herding me into the alley. I knew that I shouldn't try to run- I was wearing heels, and what if they had a gun or something, right?
"I backed into the alley, and started to beg them to let me go, but they just laughed. Then their faces... changed. It was horrible; they looked like monsters! On of them pushed me to the ground, and I crawled to the end of the alley- I don't know what I expected to get from that. But they began to scratch me so hard that I bled. And then they licked the blood off of me, and then one bit me in the neck. That's when I knew that he was a vampire- my sane mind told me that they were probably vampire fanatics or something, but I knew deep down that they weren't human.
"That was when you showed up, and just before you killed the last one, he whispered in my ear. He said 'Fight for the King'. I don't know what that means. But I really do need to thank you. You literally saved my life tonight. Thank you."

I smiled, as did she.

"Of course. No one deserves to be killed like that. Besides, it's kinda my job." I said, as Victor came in with the tea. Kim's hand was shaky as she took her cup, but she managed to hold it.

"The King... hm..." Victor muttered to himself. I frowned- did that mean something to Victor?

"Have you heard of that?" I asked as I sipped my tea. His eyes flitted up to me, as if I broke him from a trance.

"I think so. Let me research it. I'll let you know what I find."

"I thought all of that information was already in your mind." I said. He laughed half heartedly.

"It is, but my memory isn't that good anymore. I still need to consult my books every now-and-then." He said, walking towards his bag. He pulled out an old, thin book, which seemed to be falling apart. He sat down and began to read through it.

I decided that I'd let Victor do his research by himself. I was never very good at that anyway.

"I'm going to go and make a bed for you in one of the guest rooms, if you would like to stay here." I said.

"Thank you. Yeah, I'd feel better if you were here, I think." She said. I nodded and went upstairs.

It was three days later when Victor jumped up from the sofa, letting his book fall to the ground.

"Of course!" he bellowed. I stared at him from my seat in the kitchen, a spoonful of cereal poised at my mouth.

"The King." He said, seemingly abashed by his excitement.

"What about him?" I said, abandoning my breakfast and walking over to him.

"That's the thing- it's not a him... it's a they." He explained.

"As in, there's more than one king?"

"No, The King is the name of a group of Pardos. They've been around for a century, and their main goal is to obtain strong fighters, vampires with powers or abilities. They always have a witch with them, and they keep her there to maintain control of their captive vampires' minds. The vampires become robotic, an army of strong fighters, who 'The King' have ultimate control over." This was a lot to take in... there were witches now? What next, is Kim going to turn out to be a ghost?

"Wait- why are they building an army? Who are they warring with?" I asked.

"No one- their thoughts are: you don't build an army after a war has been started- you build one so people wouldn't dare start one with you. They believe that the fact that their army is so strong and loyal, means that no one will ever try to fight them." Victor explained. I started to feel a black hole forming in my chest. Not only was Cam no longer Cam- not only was he being mind controlled- it was all for nothing. There was no reason for him to have been taken. This clan of vampires had been around for a century- they must already have quite a sizeable army. They've already achieved their goal. They didn't need Cam.

I felt like giving up. But then I felt pure rage boiling inside me.

They took Cam from me, and they didn't even need him.

"That's it." I whispered, my voice void of life.

"We're going to find them. And we're going to kill them." I growled.

"When?" Victor asked. I could tell from his face that he seemed to have no argument for me. He also wanted them dead.

"Tonight."