Fear and Blood

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The house was a mess, vampires were running everywhere, shouting and ordering each other around, nobody seemed to know what to do, or who to turn to for guidance. Ly saw and heard none of it, however, his only focus were the words that had just come out of Val's mouth.

It felt like the world had dropped away, leaving only Ly and those words. At first he thought he didn't hear Val properly. There was no way Tristan could be...it just wasn't possible. Tristan was one of the most powerful vampires in the world. He couldn't possibly...

Ly started to panic.

“No,” the raven haired vampire said firmly, taking a step away from the doctor. “No! I don't believe you! Is this someone's idea of a joke?! Where is my brother? I want to see Tristan right now! Don't argue with me Val! Take me to him, RIGHT NOW!”

Val took a step back and held his hands up in front of him, as if to protect himself from Ly's growing anger. “All right, all right,” he said, a terrible look of sorrow on his face. “I'll take you to him, just please calm down a little so I can explain the situation.”

“I don't want your explanation,” Ly said, his voice dropping several degrees and making Val shiver. He had to be sure, he had to see Tristan, to confirm that he was alive. “I just want to see my brother! Take me to him now!”

Without another word, Val consented and led Ly into Tristan's bedroom, where a small crowd of aristocratic vampires had gathered around the bed. The room fell silent as Ly entered. As one, the crowed moved aside to give Ly a clear path to the bed. There he saw Tristan.

The young vampire lord was still, not breathing, not moving at all. His usually cheerful face was pale, lifeless. From a distance his stillness could be confused with sleep. The only real sign that he wasn't just sleeping was the blood that stained the front of his dark blue shirt.

Ly moved slowly towards the bed, as if in a dream. Nothing seemed real, the others in the room faded away, leaving only blackness and Tristan. There was no sound, as it it too had died with Ly's brother.

Eyes wide with shock and pain, Ly made it to the bed, knelt down and reached a shaking hand out to touch Tristan's skin. “No,” he breathed. “No, what is this? What happened here?” No-one answered. They all seemed too shocked or afraid.

Ly balled his hands into fists, shock was quickly being replaced with anger of an intensity he had never felt before. “No!” He yelled. “There's no way Tristan's dead! I don't believe it! What happened?” Again no-one answered. “WHAT HAPPENED? ANSWER ME!”

Val took a breath and stepped forward, the only one willing to explain. “Damon was the only one that was there who got away uninjured,” he said slowly. “He said he had driven Lord Tristan and Cassian to a house just outside the city, he didn't know why they were there or who they were going to see. Lord Tristan told him to wait outside while he went in with Cassian, but after a short time he...he heard a gunshot, that's when...”

“That's when I ran inside,” Damon finished off Val's sentence for him as he stepped into the room. The older vampire was looking very shaken, pain and shame clearly displayed on his face as he struggled to tell the story. “I'm...I'm so sorry Lord Ly, I failed! I was meant to protect him but...I ran inside after I heard the first shot...I couldn't see anything, I couldn't find him! Then I heard two more and I ran towards them. That's when I saw Cassian on the ground bleeding and Lord Tristan...” his voice gave out. “I'm so sorry. If I had been doing my job properly...”

Ly got to his feet and everyone in the room took a quick step away from him. His eyes were blazing and his voice was hardly even a whisper as he spoke. “Did you see who did this?” he hissed, eyes fixed on Damon. “Did you see the man who killed my brother?”