The Silver Cross - The Path Of A Monster (Book One)

Chapter Seventeen - Broken Chains

Jack threw himself out of bed quickly, carefully opening the curtains, peeking out, catching just a glance of the beautiful sunset, the oranges and reds that erupted in the sky. He half-expected Cain to hammer on his door, or a text to come through on his phone, but he'd kept neither of them, his brother was long gone, his phone was probably lost or smashed to pieces to prevent it getting into the wrong hands, the secrets of the order revealed by just a few lines of cryptic text.

There was no telling what to expect at Phoenix, everyday brought something new to the door, a new vampire occasionally, or some business, politics within that world. Hunters were of course the main topic of conversation, but he had expected nothing less, figuring it was best to keep his mouth shut, or risk being killed by vampires too.

He threw on a simple pair of jeans, sliding into a jumper as he dressed for the chillier weathers. He had to learn to fit in with the humans again, to not be the one to stand out, no matter how thirsty he became and fight the urge to return, to slaughter all those in the order, no matter how tempting that was, yet he understood why he wanted to, anger was a vile emotion that was only enhanced when he became a vampire, it wasn't something he could help but something he could channel.

There were only a couple he'd spare the fate of immortality or death, the one who saved his life, Sophie, and his niece who in all of the mess was another innocent victim but his brother, he would not spare, he would kill but not allow to suffer but Nicola, he would allow to suffer with the same fate as his own, fed blood as he was, to make her turn as he was, forced to suffer in the darkness when he would have happily died instead, having given his life for a worthy cause.

The moon rose high in the sky, illuminating the stars on the blanket of darkness. He had seen the sky so many times, the darkness, the night and yet it had never looked so beautiful, as if he could see each individual star's shine, its wink to let him know it was there and the moon's soft call, the beautiful orb that erupted with light and beauty, illuminating the world at its feet. There was some beauty in the night, in what he had become. He was brought up to believe it was all a lie, that the creatures were merely evil beasts to be put down, and yet he did not feel evil, or like a beast, just a better version of himself.

Winds gathered as he rested on the balcony, his flat a gift from Evelyn, a place for him to rest while he chose where he would move on to. He thought about travelling, by ship no one would suspect a thing, and short journeys would allow him to go just a couple of days without blood, nothing too dangerous for either himself or the other passengers, but he had to be careful, choose his destination carefully or face the end before his life truly began.

If he played his cards right, he'd have centuries to live as a vampire, to make up for the years he never really lived as a human. It did not take him long to realise just how much of a slave he was, once the chains were broken and he was lifted out of their darkness. If he wanted, he could do anything, go anywhere he wanted, be a part of something and really live. As a human, he was always the order's puppet, given orders and expected to follow without question, just like his father and grandfather before him.

There was a part of him that wondered if that was his fate, to be liberated by death and brought into the world he once despised, to be changed and witness change as ageless seasons came and went, years along with them, leaving him still young, frozen like a photograph up on someone's wall, a name long forgotten by the order he came to despise, or one long forgotten by the order he destroyed. Whatever his part was, he welcomed it, looked at it favourably with a great smile while others would come to fear his actions, once they knew that even death couldn't stop Jack Partridge.