Walk Into The Light - Shadows of the Night 6

Chapter 4

Hi,

Here's the next update for you! And the most important question of all: Where's Anna? What do you think?

Lara

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Chapter 4

"The Circle was called to the Riverdistrict this night before they came to Victor's mansion and started arresting vamps," I said. "Do you know why?"

Alexander stared at me with the blank face of a century-old vamp, giving away nothing. I stared back, waiting for a reaction, and got exactly nothing. I wasn't going to get an answer to my question, might as well drop the bomb myself.

"Twenty humans dead by the hands of vamps. You know what that means," I said.

I didn't get the result I wanted. Again not the slightest hint of a reaction, anything that would indicate some sort of alarm in the head vampire's posture.

Let's see how you react to the next tidbit of fact, Alexander.

"If these were vamps of yours, people will either think you're behind it or that you're not strong enough to enforce the law. The Circle might have no choice, but go against you," I said.

The head vampire looked at me with the calmness of a deep, frozen well and said nothing. I stared back, willing him to react.

"Does the Circle know the identity of these vampires?" Giuliana said.

I shook my head. "I don't know, but my guess is that Vladislav has the ability to control vampires, so I think it's his doing, am I right?"

Smiling softly, Alexander cocked his head. "Mr. Varner, you do not have enough knowledge to make assumptions about my maker, or the range of his power."

"I know enough to know he's out of his mind and that makes him dangerous as fuck," I said.

"Your conclusion is based on faulty logic. And while his actions may seem irrational to others, they are not. Vladislav is an egotistical tyrant that will maximize his own self-interest with a disregard for life – be it human or other. No matter which century, no matter which part of the world he conquered, his actions have always been driven by a yearning for more power or control. He reassures his grip on power with violence and is ready to use it in extreme measures. Power and control are the two pillars Vladislav's world is built on."

"Why is he in New York then? What does he want with the state?" Giuliana said.

Alexander laughed softly. "This time his main objective is not necessarily power."

"Control?" I offered.

"Control. Over me. Revenge. Absolute subjugation." Alexander's voice was void of inflection and followed a rhythmic staccato beat.

"How is he going to achieve that?" I said.

"For centuries Vladislav has operated on the principle of subduing his enemies without fighting himself. It gives him pleasure to watch others do his dirty work."

I narrowed my eyes. "So that's what he did in the Riverdistrict?"

Alexander smiled. "Vladislav can control vampires below a certain age that do not possess enough willpower to resist, but that does not answer the question as to who these vampires were and if they were under his control."

I thought about Fabrice and his band of outcast vamps. "But that's not it, is it? What about the coven leaders and the vamps belonging to them?"

"Even a vampire as powerful as Vladislav cannot hold that great a number of vampires singularly. A coven leader, however, can be controlled, and by this can be the vampires he turned. As long as Vladislav is physically close enough," Alexander delivered in a cool rush.