The Dark Secret, Part 8
by Tracey Sands

The Encounter

Entering Sarina's chambers, Hayer was greeted with the scent of Jasmine. The elder breathed the fragrance deeply. It had been a long time since he had smelt Jasmine. The odor calmed him.

Greetings Hayer, the mute elder greeted him. Greetings Sarina. I've come to discuss the vision. The mute elder nodded. 

Hayer paced her chambers. The scent of jasmine reminded him of his mortal days and he was finding it hard to concentrate. Trinya popped into his mind. Hayer quickly brushed her out of his thoughts. He didn't want Sarina picking up on it. Sarina had incredible power and could read vampires thoughts and images with ease; it was hard to keep a secret with her around. Sarina's tongue had been cut out when she was a mortal. When she had been turned into a vampire, a new tongue had never grown and she had never spoken. Because of her handicap, it had allowed her to increase her powers in other areas.

I have foreseen Garath creating an army to try to overthrow us. I have also seen a mortal coming to our aid. The mortal is deadly and may be a threat to us, but we need him for help against Garath. I also see Sarah being valuable to us in some way, but I am not sure what yet.

Sarina nodded, and began to pace her room. Yes, I have seen the same thing. I know who the mortal is; I will reveal this in good time. Garath is going to change everything about us and how we operate. We will need to reveal our vision soon to the other elders. Some of them are frightened and thinking of rebelling. We need to ease their worries.

Hayer frowned. He hadn't been aware of some elders thinking of rebelling. He did not like weak vampires. The elders were at the top of their kinds' society. The elder's purpose was to protect the rest of their kind. If a few elders were frightened, how was the rest of society? They would indeed have to reveal their vision if they didn't want a massive hysteria happening.

Tonight something very important will happen. Events will begin to change. We must not interfere. Now I need to retire. Sarina waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

The elder vampire was mystified by Sarina's last statement, but he obeyed and left her chambers. The smell of jasmine lingered with him. Upon leaving her room, he suddenly realized he hadn't seen the source of the smell. The room had held no flowers.

The lawyer had been waiting at the bar for almost an hour, and still no Cindy. He felt extremely awkward and out of place. The bar smelled of stale smoke and laughter echoed the walls of the tiny place.

John sat on a barstool at the bar. Cindy was extremely late. He was positive that she had changed her mind and had stood him up. He had decided to leave when he saw her walk in.

The leggy brunette was wearing a red mini skirt; a black tank top and her long brown hair flowed freely down her back. Several men in the bar stared openly at Cindy. The brunette ignored them all and strutted over to wear John was sitting. She gracefully climbed up on a barstool beside him.

"Hi stranger." She purred in her sultry voice.

"Um...hi." He mumbled. His heart raced and his palms felt extremely sweaty. Cindy looked amazing. John was dressed casually in khakis and a dark blue dress shirt. He wasn't sure if he was good enough for the brunette. A lot of men in the bar seemed to be interested in her.

Cindy seemed to pickup on his uneasiness. "I'm here for you John and no one else. You don't have to be shy with me. I like you a lot and I've been waiting awhile for you to call me." She batted her eyelashes at him suggestively.

John smiled and took a deep breath. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving." She said and smiled coyly at him.

John stood up and led her to the reserved booth. The booth was private and away from the rest of the patrons. Alone with Cindy, the lawyer felt more confident. It felt great to be with humans, he could almost forget the news about his sister.

Garath paced the deserted street in fury. He had been so close, so close to grabbing her. His feet flew from one end of the street to the other. The young vampire could not believe the elder was that fast. Hayer had taken Sarah and flew past Garath so fast that the young vampire hadn't even seen them. Garath had only felt the wind of the passing. 

Pacing the street, he was drained and knew he needed to feed. The young vampire was also confused and worried. If he could not beat one elder, how was he expecting to beat all of them? Garath growled. He was fed up with the elders butting into his business. He would have his revenge.

Garath turned up the street. He moved quickly. He knew the bars and clubs would be letting out soon, perfect time to feed.

Groaning she opened her eyes and saw candles glowing softly. Sarah blinked her eyes rapidly. A face peered at her. Recognition came slowly. It was Trinya. Sarah tried to sit up, but Trinya's gentle hand pushed her back down.

"You need to rest daughter. You have had a rough night and I'm afraid that you need to recuperate."

Sarah couldn't remember much about the past couple of days. The memories and images were fuzzy. She remembered seeing her brother, but that was pretty much all.

"W-w-what's wrong with me?" Sarah managed to say. Her throat was dry and hurt. 

"You don't remember?" Trinya asked. Sarah shook her head. She felt extremely tired. The girl was having trouble staying awake.

"Sleep my daughter. When you awaken I will tell you all you need to know. I must go now. I'll be back later to check on you."

Sarah's eyes felt incredibly heavy, and she could not keep them open. It was almost like Trinya was talking to Sarah's body telling it to sleep. Sarah wasn't sure what kind of powers vampires had, but her body didn't feel like her own. The girl couldn't fight the weight of exhaustion she suddenly felt, and sleep embraced her.

John and Cindy were walking arm and arm down the deserted street. He couldn't believe how much they had in common. Since sitting down at the booth, it had been non-stop talking. They had shut the blues bar down and not wanting to go home, they continued to talk walking down the street.

"I'm so glad I called you." John said squeezing her arm. He felt giddy like he was in high school. He couldn't believe how much he liked her.

"I am too." 

They were approaching an alley. John had his guard up, he did remember that his sister had been attacked and killed near an alley.

"I have to pee." Cindy announced suddenly, giggling.

John looked around. No stores or restaurants around them were open. "Can you hold it?"

"No. I'll go in this alley. Just guard the opening for me." Cindy giggled again in her sultry voice.

John was hesitant he didn't like her going into the alley alone. Cindy didn't wait for his approval but ran into the alley. He stood at the entrance glaring into the darkness trying to see her. He could faintly hear the slapping of her high heels, and then silence.

"Are you okay Cindy?" He called. His heart was beating quickly and he felt goose bumps all over his arms. 

"Yes. I'm just peeing."

A car drove past John. He ignored it and continued to peer down the alley. He was afraid if he looked away for even one second something would happen to Cindy and his magical night would be over.

A few minutes had passed and John's worry grew. He didn't think peeing would take that long. "I'm coming in!" He warned.

On shaky legs, he began to walk through the alley. Just as he was nearing the first dumpster, he was almost certain he heard Cindy. It was a quiet sound, she gasped. But she sounded like she was in distress.

John rushed through the alley. He couldn't see well but he let his intuition guide him. Reaching the third dumpster, he saw Cindy lying on the ground. She looked so tiny and vulnerable. John crouched beside her and tried to help her up. "Are you okay? What happened?" Cindy groaned, but felt limp in his arms.

"How dare you interrupt me?" A voice growled.

The voice was deep and full of anger and vengeance. John trembled, but stood up. He had to defend Cindy. He peered into the dark alley but could see nothing. Stubborn he held his ground.

"Do you think you can beat me? You a mere mortal!" The voice laughed, it was a deep menacing sound.

John's legs shook hard. He was dealing with a vampire. John was sure of it. Quickly his mind raced how was he going to kill a vampire? His sister had told him fire would do it, or was it chopping off the head? The lawyer trembled. He was only a human and a vampire was supposed to have super strength. How was he going to compete with that?

Standing alone in the alleyway, John waited for the vampire to reveal himself. The lawyer was afraid but knew that Cindy depended on him.

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