Destined Part I

Dawn is Breaking

They made it to Paris before morning.

Kristopher had called upon a friend from town who was a pilot, and he had happily agreed to fly them in his personal jet into the city.

The sun hadn’t yet broken the horizon, but the four men still leapt out of the jet in a fury and ran hurriedly toward the place where the vampires resided.

Kristopher led the way, having lived there with them for a brief period of time over a century ago, before he freed himself of their reign. The city had changed dramatically since the time in which he lived there, but he remembered perfectly where he needed to go.

The four of them sprinted swiftly through the downtown streets of Paris, across the cobblestones of the Champs Elysees, passing darkened shop windows and quiet loft buildings, moving noiselessly through the sleeping city.

The square was lit up like a Christmas tree, with sparkling strands of lights draped across the foliage lining the road in celebration of the holiday season. The Eiffel Tower stood quietly in the distance, shimmering against the rising dawn.

The men whipped around a bend on the walkway, rushing past a corner coffee shop and Kristopher suddenly stopped. Cain, Haiden, and Marcus came to a halt beside him.

“There it is,” Kristopher declared.

Behind a row of oak trees, the vampire’s dwelling radiated like a beacon. Their residence was an old church, its colorful stained glass windows stretching tall next to the gothic curves and pointed arches. The grey stone was weathered, but the thin columns and rose windows still spread assertively across the towering building.

They approached the church, seeing that there were guards flanking the exterior doors, holding rifles against their chests. The watchmen marched from one side of the top step to the other, rotating stiffly once they reached the wall.

“Kristopher and I will go this way,” Haiden whispered to the others as he pointed, “and you two go around and make your way from the back.”

It only took a second until Cain and Marcus were out of sight, dashing toward the back of the building.

Haiden and Kristopher crept around the bushes toward the gate, ducking behind a stone column where they were hidden from view. They sat there for hardly a minute, but to Haiden it seemed like an eternity.

Finally, when the guard began to march away from them on the steps of the cathedral, they attacked. Haiden was up in the air, enveloping the man instantly, ripping his throat into pieces with his sharp fangs. He scowled, still seething, as one obstacle plunged to the ground at their feet.

Kristopher pulled the door open, and they both slipped inside soundlessly, leaving their victim behind.

The entry of the church was wide with tall arched ceilings displaying the glowing, painted glass. The colors refracted the expanding morning light, casting rainbows across the wooden walls. Dawn drifted eerily through the arched windows as the two of them moved forward in silence.

Kristopher promptly led Haiden through the columns toward a steep spiral staircase that winded up the four levels of the cathedral, extending nearly twelve stories in height.

“Which tower is she on?” Haiden asked between his teeth. His hands were clinched in fists beside his body, trembling with the rage that was aching to be set free.

“Nicolas would be holding her at the highest point,” Kristopher answered, his voice hushed so as not to announce their presence, “So we go all the way to the top.”

Haiden glanced upward, his face as hard as the granite that encompassed him. He started forward, rushing past the gargoyles which sat protectively at the base of the steps.

Taking each stair three at a time, Haiden and Kristopher rose to the top of the church within minutes and began to make their way around the highest floor. As they searched, their feet landed noiselessly on the blood red carpet as they sprinted through the hall. They flew passed the wooden doors which lined the corridor, gliding by the archways which overlooked the sanctuary below.

Haiden fought to concentrate, hoping that any sensed emotion; any feeling would point him the right direction. If he could only sense what she was feeling, somehow reach her soul, he would know exactly where she was located.

Nearing the end of the hall, Haiden was beginning to feel frantic that they wouldn’t be able to find her when a wave of fear washed over him, sending him to the ground, gasping for air.

Kristopher rushed toward him, leaning in close to his son.

“What is she feeling, Haiden? Where is she?” he demanded.

“She’s so afraid,” he said hollowly. “She has to be close, her panic is so clear.”

Kristopher whipped his head around, focusing on the door that was nearest them.

“She’s in there,” he breathed, yanking Haiden to his feet and the two of them raced toward the room.

Before they could crash through the entrance, the door opened, sending the two flying, colliding violently into an enormous vampire who was cloaked in a black robe, apparently standing watch over the balcony.

Just as the guard was lifting them off the ground, Haiden caught sight of Cain and Marcus lying there, bound and lifeless in the corner. Then he saw his angel, chained to the chair on the terrace, writhing in pain as the sun began to shine brightly above the horizon.