Incompatible Means (Completed)

Chapter 6 Part 2

Behind one of the vampires surrounding Roderick there seemed to be an explosion of darkness like something punched through the night, then a tall man with raven black hair to his shoulders and a serious expression appeared. This was not vampire speed, he had just suddenly appeared. Eyes that were completely black bore into the back of the nearest vampire, who seemed clueless to the appearance of a new creature. He remained clueless even as the creature, looking mostly like a man, sneered while he stabbed a stake into the unsuspecting vamp's back. He repeated the same process twice more while Roderick looked on with a satisfied smirk. When the newcomer sneered I saw his teeth and he didn't have fangs of a vamp or shifter. I didn't know of any type of monster that could teleport and after seeing it two more times I knew that was exactly what he was doing.

While the new monster dispatched of the crew around Roderick the vampire holding me did a remarkable job of keeping Jason off of me even though I didn't understand why. As Jason landed blow after blow he kept me from being harmed and never made a sound, it was surreal and creepy as hell. Finally, the assault finished as Jason's attention switched to Roderick and the vampire holding me straightened and set me down. I wasn't sure what was going on but I didn't stray too far from the hulking vampire that had just saved my life.

"You were a fool to challenge me, Jason." Roderick's voice didn't hold the gloating tone I had anticipated but in a way sounded almost sad. Which confused me.

"I'm not the only one to think you are a poor excuse for Archon. Your time is coming, more will try." Jason spat at Roderick while trying to find a way to get away. The new, whatever the hell that thing was, watched the exchange with a blank expression, body lax as Roderick moved closer to Jason. Roderick let out a regretful sounding sigh before moving quickly to rip off Jason's head. The wet sound of tearing flesh mixed with cracking bone was a very unique sound, one I was sure I would never forget. I stood there in shocked silence looking from Roderick to the broken body that was once Jason wondering if I should run screaming to keep my cover. Deciding against it at the last moment.

"Marko, call in a cleanup crew," Roderick said. "Then take the big one in for questioning. I'd like to know how deep this plot went and who else might be involved."

At this point, my mind finally caught up to everything that had happened. The only thing that made any kind of sense was that Roderick was controlling the big vampire that had protected me. He was literally using him as a puppet, I guess it wouldn't be considered telepathy since that was just reading minds. What the fuck did you call controlling minds? Mind control just didn't do justice when seeing it done in person. Roderick hadn't even looked over to us, he controlled another vampire all while handling another fight. I couldn't wrap my mind around just how terrifying that was.

Marko nodded taking out a cell phone. "You want me to wipe this from the human's mind and leave her in her car?" he asked.

"I will take care of her," Roderick stated.

"Sir, I think it would be best if you returned to the estate until we have things sorted out. She's just a girl, I can take care of it."

"I said I will handle it," his voice had turned stony. Though I could tell Marko didn't approve he gave a simple nod of his head and the subject was closed. I was looking forward to seeing how Marko would handle the 300-pound vampire to my side. I was also curious as to why they were going to question him when Roderick already had access to his mind, were they going to question him because Roderick was deciding to "take care" of me? I turned to look at the vampire in question and Roderick did the same. As soon as my eyes landed on him he dropped into the dirt, looking dead but most likely just unconscious. That startled me a bit and I quickly moved away from him a few steps, Roderick walked in front of me, getting my attention.

"Aisling, hear me," Roderick said looking deeply into my eyes as his voice dropped lower. "All you will remember is that some men tried to rob us in the park. I scared them off and we were both unharmed. Do you understand?"

I nodded as he turned me away from the scene and started walking us away. I was grateful that he hadn't tried to erase the whole thing, it would have been hard to act like nothing had happened as I had begun shaking once realizing what Roderick had done to the vampire. This way I had reason to be quiet while I thought up yet another contingency plan. Thinking of this plan was not going well, the events of the night kept going through my head. How had Marko known to show up at the park? Had he been watching the whole time and I never picked up on it? Is that why I felt like I was being watched or was it Jason and his people? Since Roderick was some kind of telepath did he call Marko? Marko wasn't a vampire so I was pretty sure it wasn't some kind of Archon power. What about how angry Roderick had been when Jason had touched me, how that had made me feel somehow protected and for a moment not so alone. Acting the damsel in distress was getting to my head, that was all. Might as well play into it some more.

"I feel quite shaken up," I whispered feebly. "Do you think you could drive me home?"

The thought of doing a job in my home was awful, the cleanup would take forever and I was already getting tired from adrenaline crash. However, getting this job over with would be worth it and with not knowing how the whole Marko thing worked I wanted it done while I knew he was on a different task, not lurking in some shadow. I was beyond frustrated at how many obstacles I was having to cross just to get this guy alone, not to mention how the guy kept acting like a gentleman. Even the other vampires thought he was soft. What if he wasn't that bad of a vampire? Or did being a kind person make you a bad vampire but a good guy? Mercifully his response saved me from having to figure that mess out. I didn't get paid to think vampire philosophy.

"It would be my pleasure to escort you home, Aisling," Roderick said as he walked next to me, very close but not quite touching. 

Thank you for reading another part of this story. The picture at the beginning is of Marko, or at least how I envision him when I write, let me know what you think about him. What do you think he is?

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