BloodRose

17. Rhea: Part 3

The next few weeks were the best in Alias's life. As a member of Ambrogio, he could petition The Titan for a request. He of course, asked that Hannah be brought to him at once. He would never lose her again. Garret added his vote of confidence and the request was soon granted.

Alias stole blood bags from local banks that Hannah recommended and they were the only two vampires in the clan to do so. They hated the idea of draining more innocent people and instead, they would talk and reminisce during the time allotted for them to feed on the blood slaves.

Garret knew all of this. They knew he knew, but they trusted him. Their actions were against the rules, but if he was ever to come into power, he would need Alias on his side. So, for now, he let them have their happiness. He had his, in a small way, but a way none the less. One of the blood slaves was his. He had brought her in when he was initiated.

Dhalia was the most beautiful human Garret had ever encountered in the centuries of life he had lived. He loved her in what way he could. She was his.

Then, that fateful day, she was taken from him. He knew it hadn't been Alias's fault. Still, he hated him for it. And yet, in the end, Alias would answer for another sin, a worse betrayal.

*1982, Alias*

Alias was walking down one of the Ambrogio corridors on a mission he would never carry out. He had been fighting his orders from the moment he'd gotten here and finally they had pushed him over the edge. They had asked him to do something he had told himself he would never do again. When he had taken up his conviction with Garret, the vampire had helped him cover it up. Alias was grateful, but now he needed another favor.

He did not think Garret would oblige him this time.

Garret's door was in front of him now and the request changed in Alias's mind as it opened.

"Help me get out."

"You can't. I told you what will happen if you try," Garret's silky voice did not sway him this time. Alias was getting out and there was nothing this vampire, older and stronger than him by far, could do to stop it. He was getting out and he was getting Hannah out. Still, to have the powerful presence on his side could help him. He knew the influential member was close to one of the blood slaves. Maybe he could use this to his advantage. Dhalia was her name?

"Please, Garret. I can't do this without you. How can you not see that what they are doing here is wrong? Don't you want to get Dhalia away from all this pain and torture?"

Bringing her up had been the right move after all. Alias saw Garret's face soften momentarily. Then the mask was back up and Garret was shaking his head.

"You know we can't run. If we do, we will just be hunted down and killed," the note of finality in his normally compromising voice took away Alias's brief ray of hope.

For all his talk about caring for Dhalia, he was more willing to risk her safety than his own. Alias couldn't comprehend it, putting someone he loved in danger, putting Hannah in danger.

Alias dropped his gaze and turned to the door, but before he could act out his supposed submission, Garret spoke.

"We can't all leave."

Alias hesitated, but kept his hand on the doorknob. The emphasis had made it sound like Garret was going to say more. When the silence stretched a minute long, just as Alias was about to turn around and voice his question, the velvet words filled the air.

"You can get her out."

Alias did his best to remain calm and turned around slowly, his question only in his eyes. Garret again hesitated before whispering his response to the unspoken query.

"Sometimes the living and the dead leave the world the same way." A riddle, a hint, an escape. He knew how to get Hannah out.

"Thank you," he whispered back.

He quickly exited the room and found Hannah. She was marching toward a mission of her own when he bumped into her.

"Hannah, we have to go. Now," Alias said with an urgency that made his voice shake. He didn't like this, seeming desperate and afraid around her.

Her brows drew together, confused. "Wh-"

Alias cut her off, "I can't obey orders anymore and you being here, close to me, will only get you killed. I have to get you out."

Hannah shook her head, "Al, I'm not leaving you. If I'm getting out, so are you."

"No, Garret said-"

"Garret said? Please tell me you are not still falling for his ruses."

"Ruses? What are you talking about? He's helping me. He's helping us."

Hannah sighed, "He's been using you from the beginning. I thought you'd just been playing along, trying to devise a way out of here when he wasn't looking. I was too afraid of getting caught to ask you about it," she looked up at Alias, "You really thought he was your friend?"

Alias blinked. He'd never thought of Garret as a friend, but in a way, he'd trusted the man who had returned to him the only thing he'd ever held dear. Had Garret really just been using Hannah to get to him, to trap him here?

"You're right, we have to go," said Hannah, "But both of us. Garret only told you one of us could leave because he needs you to overthrow The Titan."

Realization dawned on Alias. It had all been a game from the beginning. Making him desperate to see Hannah again. Initiating him and then getting her back for him. Telling him only one of them would make it out.

The old master of Ambrogio was fading, but he was still stronger than a lone vampire. Garret was probably already building up support in other members, but there were still too many loyalists for him and his followers to take on. With Alias, the third strongest member next to The Titan and Garret, backing him, the tide of the struggle would turn in favor of a new leader.

"Okay," was all Alias could say as the connections flooded his mind. Hannah took his hand and led him to where they needed to go. To get to the nearest dump, they had to pass the cells where the high priority slaves were kept. Before they were halfway down the corridor, an alarm sounded through the halls.

Alias and Hannah broke into a sprint, but almost immediately slammed into five members headed in the opposite direction. They were surrounded and backed up against the bars of one cell. Without the fresh-blood advantage, they were outmatched and outnumbered. Bluffing was their only hope.

As he opened his mouth to reinforce the excuse that Hannah was already rattling off, a hand grabbed his shirt from behind.

"Kill me." He recoiled in shock at the words and the grip.

The woman pleaded again, "Kill me, please. Please, you have to. When he comes, he lies. He tells me he loves me, but he doesn't. He hates me. He hurts me. Kill me. Please, kill me!"

The other vampires grabbed Hannah, but Alias slammed them off of her and into the wall. They were on their feet in no time. Alias snatched Hannah's hand up in his own and took off down the hall. As they retreated, he could still hear the screams of the woman over the alarm. They must have thought she was with them, that they were trying to free her too. She was dead before they rounded the corner.

Then, Alias realized why her face was so familiar. She was the blood slave that Garret had obsessed over. Dhalia.

This cannot end well, was the first thought that shot through Alias's mind before it all went to hell.

The next thing he and Hannah knew, they found themselves surrounded on all sides, a crowd of acolytes pressing in from all sides. When the wave parted, they were both restrained and made to kneel before the man Alias had once considered an ally, maybe even a friend. Garret made his way down the aisle and calmly lifted a hand, brushing away a tear that had made it's way down Hannah's face.

Alias felt his hope drain away, coming to rest as a knot in the pit of his stomach. There was no way both of them were getting out of here. Not alive anyway.