Detrand

I do not know how long I stayed under the water, letting the current take me where it would, but I did know that the rays of the sun, as well as the moon, passed over me as I simmered under the surface. At times I awoke, knowing that I had been dead to the world but the passing time did not bother me.

The first time the sun’s rays filtered through the water I felt a flash of fear, uncertain if Adelade’s blood had passed through me, making me weak to the sun. And yet, I did not move out of the water to the shadows. Let the sun do what it must to play its part in the story of my life; to bring me life or to take it, it mattered no longer.

I thought of the pup, hair flying through the air as I threw him in the air. His hands held out in glee, with a certainty that I would not allow him to tumble to the ground: the ultimate display of trust.

He understood not that I was strigoi. If we’d lived in past times, I’d have been his sworn enemy. And yet, with the innocence of youth, he only knew that I would catch him.

And then, Bane’s entrance into my life not only assured that I would betray this pup, but also that I would kill many other innocents. The ones he infected with his blood sickness and then abandoned; to kill or be killed.

Dark thoughts entered my mind as I considered the way and means that I would kill him. It had been a long time since I considered torture. And his blood called to me.

I remembered the bitter taste of it, and knew that it would only improve under my ministrations. For the suffering of the body and soul makes the blood sweet to my strigoi.

The darkness of my thoughts continued as memories of older days moved like a haze over my mind. Of days when my strigoi was newly born and the blood of others called me like no other. After the death of my children, I was unable to control my madness. My despair had been like no other, and I ravaged large bodies in villages and farmhouses, burning the world with my pain.

Only the softness of Sophie brought me to my knees back then and I’d vowed to never lose control over my strigoi ever again.

I’d only broken that vow once.

And yet, the temptation to break it again was so strong because my mind was no longer my own. My strigoi delighted in my predicament. It often struggled for control because its blood thirst was endless, as was its demand for attention. And my control over it was broken with the death of the pup.

As soon as the rays of the sun filtered through the water and touched my skin, it reared its ugly head to take note of what would happen.

And when my body didn’t burst into flames, it grinned.

* * *

Eventually I drug my body from the water, unable to ignore my need for blood any longer, and moved in the darkness to find my next meal. I needed to feed soon, and quickly; I was holding onto my control by a thin thread. It wouldn’t take much for me to lose it. After feeding it blood, my strigoi would be satisfied enough to hand me back my control. I would demand it. Otherwise, there would be no way to direct my blood lust.

And I was determined to find and destroy Bane.

I wandered through the streets, my mind a haze of need. And then I smelled the wildness that came from roaming the forest and I knew the shifters had been in the city. My eyes narrowed; shifter blood would taste like revenge in my mouth, and my strigoi delighted in the thought.

Chaos reigned through the city streets. Broken bodies lined the streets, destroyed by the bite of the shifters. The carts in the market, laden with food and other goods, had all been destroyed.

Bane.

He was attempting to take over the city by unleashing his wolves through the streets. My fangs extended and my strigoi pressed against me, pushing to be released. He would learn who the true ruler of the city was.

I shifted through the living, looking for a sign of any alive in their wake of destruction. And then I smelled a shifter.

I followed the scent until I found him. He hadn’t shifted yet but he staggered through the street like a king among peasants.

I growled a warning, low in my throat. He wasn’t the king of this city.

The shifter paid me no mind, but stalked forward, looking for something. Suddenly he took off and headed towards a street cart at the end of the street. He vaulted through the air, crashing into it and landed next to a man who’d been hiding behind it. The man jumped back; his fear leaked into my senses and I watched unseen, to see what the shifter would do.

The shifter’s animal senses had almost taken over his emotions. His skin moved, making his eyes wider and his bones pop and groan. A cry slipped the man’s lips and suddenly he attempted to turn onto his hands. His fingers scraped against the ground and I smelled his blood as he tried to crawl away.

The shifter growled, his eyes were gold and wolf-like and he jumped on the man, flattening him to the ground. Now in wolf form, except for his face which had yet to fully shift, his claws dug into the man’s back and the smell of his sweet blood drifted into the air. “Where do ya think yer going?”

Holding my breath, I became very still. If I saved the man, my strigoi would emerge and I could possibly kill them both. This act alone could also cause my strigoi to take over my body wholly and completely, and the rage unleashed would be unchecked.

Who knew how long it would be before I’d control it again and then I would become the monster of the city.

I bit my lip, watching as the shifter’s face fully transformed. He howled, and it was filled with a longing for blood. The feeling reverberated through my body. Holding onto the shifter’s fur as if it could protect him from his bite, the man begged for his life and rage coursed through my blood.

I wouldn’t allow this to happen.

The shifter must die.

I stalked forward, moving in the shadows and downwind so that the shifter couldn’t smell me until I was so close that he finally felt my breath on his back. He whirled towards me, too late and as soon as I held the shifter’s head in my hands, he shifted back into the waste of a man that he was. The man beneath him cried out as I yanked the shifter off of him and then he scrambled away and into the neighboring house.

I pulled the shifter towards the shadows, kicking and screaming until I sank my teeth into his neck. I delighted in drinking his blood, for the rage he felt seasoned it delightfully, and my strigoi purred with contentment.

* * *

I moved in the darkness back towards my home searching for another kind of satisfaction. As soon as I arrived, Sophie rushed into my arms.

“You’re alive.”

“Of course I’m alive.”

My fangs were still out, my strigoi still not completely satisfied, and I nuzzled her neck. “Mmm. You smell delicious.”

She moved out of my arms to stare into my red eyes. Her expression darkened. “Detrand.”

I grunted and moved closer to her and pulled down the front of her dress to fondle her nipple. “You look ravishing tonight Sophie. You will come to my bed and give me what I desire, for you are my mate.”

She gripped my hand and squeezed it tight, though it had no effect on me. I pulled my arm around her and gripped her close and ran my nose up her neck. “You are mine, and will fulfill my needs.” I put my hand around her neck and squeezed gently. “I’ve always loved you Sophie and it is time that you fulfilled my role.”

She shook her head, staring boldly into my eyes. “I will not. You are not in control and I will not give myself over to you.” She gripped my thumb and yanked it down, managing to pull my grip from her neck. “Detrand, you must gain control over your strigoi.”

I ran my hand down her chest and to her stomach, splaying my fingers across it. “I have control, you have no need to worry about that.”

Her eyes tightened. “No, you don’t.”

“Come with me now, we will go to my room, and you will delight in all I have to offer you. And then I will rule the night and the day, and you will be by my side.”

I began to pull her towards the stairs and her resistance was futile. She cried out but no one answered her call, the house was empty except for us.

“And where is everyone? Why aren’t they waiting for their master to return?” I began to climb the stairs. “I shall punish them when they return, for they should be at my beck and call.”

Her hands gripped the edge of the railing but I pulled them free. “They’re out looking for you. Even Lula, when she should not be.”

“And why is that?” We were at the top of the stairs now and I yanked Sophie up and over my shoulder.

She pounded my back, crying for me to release her and I threw open my bedroom door, gripping her tight. When I reached the bed, I threw her on it and pulled up her skirt. She attempted to squeeze her thighs together but I yanked them open and held her down.

My tongue first ran up her inner thigh and then I raked my teeth down it, drawing blood. The large vein in her leg pulsed brightly to my strigoi sight and I bit into it, drawing her blood into my mouth. My poison entered her body and she moaned in delight, relaxing across the bed. I rolled her blood around my tongue and then stood up and pushed her knees higher, exposing everything to me.

She gripped the sheets of her bed; her eyes were closed, a smirk on her face. I leaned over and could smell her desire. I licked up inside her thigh until my lips were at the base of her softness. I sunk my fangs into her thigh again, allowing my poison to fill her veins with its addictive drug. My strigoi purred as I partook of her blood.

My fingers entered her and she arched her back against the bed, opening herself to my senses. A flood of affection surrounded me, images of her and I together before we were turned. Her bright smile; laying naked in a field of flowers.

And then I came to myself.

Her skirts were clasped tightly in my hand, her head thrown back in ecstasy.

“Sophie.” I leaned back and looked up at her with shame in my eyes.

It wasn’t the word but rather the sound of it that made her eyes shoot open. I stood up, feeling an awful sense of remorse.

She sat up and scrambled to the edge of the bed. “Detrand.” Her words a soft and gentle appeal and they slid through me like a knife. And then I completely emerged, pushing down my strigoi and taking over control of my body again.

“Sophie.” I fell to my knees, ready to beg her forgiveness when suddenly a pain ripped through my body and a blackness fell over me.

* * *

I was in the water again except there was no light. All sounds were muted and the water rushed past my body, making me feel weightless.

Then there was a loud piercing sound of the crow and I could see it diving through the water towards me. His claws pierced my face and he pecked at my eyes. I waved my hand at my familiar but my movements were slow in the water and he managed to evade my waving.

His feathered head nuzzled against my mouth, pushing and shoving until he was able to climb inside it and I swallowed him whole.

And then I was moving and my arms were wings and we were moving through the river until we finally shot out of it and into the air.

Higher and higher we flew and I reveled in the freedom that the birds feel in flight. But my familiar wouldn’t let me bask in the movement; he pushed me north. And so we flew over the treetops and my eyesight was so sharp that I could see the mice and snakes that ran and slithered through the dead leaves littering the carpeted ground.

The house was now surrounded by shifters and men. We landed on the windowsill of the rambling mansion and I peeked inside to see what my familiar brought me to see. I’d hoped to see the answer on how to kill the witch’s familiar, for the magic that surrounded it was strong, and only by severing the connection of Bane to his witch would we be able to kill them both.

Instead, I saw Adelade, bound by a thick glowing rope. Her eyes were wide as they stared in front of her, her dress ripped in the front, with burns and gashes where the rope bound her.

The witch stood beside her, grinning, exposing her sticky gums for all her teeth had fallen out. Her pale skin was darkened by thick blue veins that lined her face and neck, emitting a deep blue glow.

The witch leaned over Adelade and touched her nose. Adelade shot up in her seat and began to convulse, her face twisted in agony.

I pecked at the glass, attempting to break it to save my sweet Adelade. I would peck the eyes out of the witch and allow her blood to flow freely onto the floor.

The witch swiveled to stare at the window, the moth floating by her side.

A rush of darkness pressed into my body, crushing the wind from my lungs. I attempted to breathe in, unused to needing air, but couldn’t inhale. Then the darkness attacked again and my whole body burned from inside my skin. And then, there was nothing but darkness.

* * *

When I came to, Sophie was leaning over me, a look of worry on her face. I sat up and she jumped back. “You’re okay.”

“Adelade.”

Her eyebrows creased. “What’s wrong? What’s happened to her?”

I jumped up and strode towards the hallway. Even with my attempts to banish Adelade from my life, she’d still managed to get into trouble. Sophie ran after me, attempting to stop me.

I tried to explain. “Adelade, they have her.”

Sophie gripped my arm, trying to stop me. “Who? Who has her?”

“The witch. The shifters. She’s at the shifter home; the witch has her.” I moved to go to the stairs but Sophie gripped me tighter.

“You cannot just go to her. You must prepare, or they will kill you on site.”

I growled. “I will not let them keep her a moment longer.”

“You will not do her any good if you are dead, but only make her predicament more miserable. We must use our witch to stop Bane’s witch.”

I moved towards the door. “Then find her and send her to me. And Samira, also.” Then I moved downstairs, out the front door and into the night, determined to save Adelade and kill my enemy.