Fade Into Black - Shadows of the Night 5

Chapter 60

Hi,

What Anna is seeing in this one: Is it real, part of her imagination, or is it somewhere in between? What do you think, can she defeat Vladislav and if yes, how?

Lara

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Chapter 60

I couldn't stop watching Alexander. Wherever or whenever this memory originally happened, Alexander was already a vampire. Still, something about him was different. Dirt and blood marred the white cloth of his tunic and its sleeves were torn. The impeccable Alexander looked disheveled, as if a long fight had worn him out to the point of exhaustion.

Alexander came to a halt a few feet in front of the throne, staring at Vladislav with defiance.

"Did I not make myself clear? You were ordered to kill humans that defied me. Any humans," Vladislav said. "Yet my second in command told me you spared a group of five men yesterday. Why is that?"

Alexander stared at him for a long moment.

"Why are you asking me things you already know?" he finally said.

I looked at him closely, drank in his features. A fierce blend of contempt and anger burned in Alexander's eyes. I had rarely seen that much emotion on his face. It made him look different. More human than vampire.

Alexander, what did you do?

Vladislav lifted his forefinger.

Time moved forward, slipped through my fingers like grains of sand. The two soldiers had moved with vampiric speed. They were holding Alexander in a tight grip. Alexander didn't move, didn't even attempt to shake them off as Shinji stepped in front of him and punched him in the gut.

I gasped. No. Shinji hadn't just punched Alexander. He'd torn right through skin and flesh.

Alexander grunted and slumped forward. Shinji stepped away from him, his right arm bloody and loose at his side, and bowed to Vladislav.

Alexander righted himself slowly and looked up, his eyes a burning, vivid sea of determination as he stared at Vladislav. It was similar to the two-thousand-yard-stare he'd often used in my presence, but different. This was pure defiance.

"Thanks to you, many of these humans are on the brink of starvation," Alexander said. "These were once my men. They already served under my father."

"And now they no longer are yours to command, Adorján. Your loyalties lie with me now. They have since the day I killed your father and turned you into a vampire. And they will, until you die."

The words echoed through the throne room, bouncing off the stone walls, crawling under my skin like cold, poisonous pins and needles.

Vladislav's pupils had dilated and widenend. "You will kneel, when I tell you to. You will crawl when I demand it. And you will be utterly loyal, to me and to me alone," Vladislav said.

Alexander didn't avert his head, or bow as I expected him to. He remained where he was, not moving an inch.

"That is where you are wrong, Vladislav. My loyalties lie with my men and they will remain there until I decide otherwise," he said.

It was as if a visible storm had moved into the throne room and infused it with a compulsive need for motion. Some of the soldiers started murmuring, hushed whispers that might only be picked up by vampiric ears. Most openly stared at Alexander.