10. Eric
Eric woke in the night to an intense heat, burning through his veins like hellfire.
Jesus. What is this?!
He stood from the bed, staring down at his arms in the dark of the room. All of his senses seemed to burn through him, picking up every perceptible detail. He felt his blood swimming through his veins, coursing through his muscle. His eyes strained and he saw beads of sweat forming on the tiny ridges of his fingertips. His head waned and twisted with a strange spinning heat. He clutched at his temples with his finger tips, screaming through the pain. Up until now, he had forgot where he was, who he was, who he was with. It came back to him, and he spun back to the bed, his pupils like pin pricks.
“Claire? Where are you?! Claire!”
The bed was empty, and there was no sign of Claire in the room. Sound flooded back into Eric’s ears, and the temporary flare of his mating fever seemed to subside. His senses drew back, his eyesight returned to the enhanced form of vision that was normal for him. The world hissed against his eardrums until he was hearing regularly once more, he heard his own breath racing in the dark of the room. It was raining outside. A crack of thunder illuminated the valley beneath his window, casting a brief flash of white across the room. Eric saw the shadow on the wall in front of him, and he turned to the window to face his suitor.
“Ira? Is that you?”
The Victorian clad doctor stepped forward from the shadow, his face illuminated by a pale ray of moonlight. A dark smiled tugged at the corner of his thin lips. The dark shadows beneath his hollow eyes twitched, a flicker of amusement passing over his face.
“Where is Claire?!” Eric shouted. “What is happening?”
“I’m afraid your darling mate has been taken from you Eric.”
A beat of dread passed through Eric’s body, he caught his breath and tightened his fists.
“Explain yourself.” He growled. “What have you done with her?”
“It’s not so much what I’ve done with her.” Ira smiled. “It’s what I’m going to do.”
Eric cast his eyes around the room quickly, trying to get a bearing of his surroundings. Ira had been in the room and he hadn’t noticed, but that was because his senses had been impaired by his mating frenzy.
Take a deep breath and scan the room. He reminded himself.
Eric strained his ears to hear the presence of any other creature within the radius of his room. He heard the heartbeat of another, and he recognized it instantly.
“Ezra?” He said her name out loud, half confused.
“Oh you always were the smartest one Eric. Come out Ezra.”
A dim humming noise filled the room and the lights overhead turned on one by one, illuminating the darkness. Eric turned around to see Ezra gliding through the door, her eyes rolled over white. Eric realized instantly that Ezra wasn’t in control of herself, she was possessed.
“What have you done to her?” Eric hissed, spinning back to face Ira. “How are you doing this?”
“I’ve spent so many years reading, watching, waiting. Moving between the great families as an archivist, a researcher, a doctor. You were all very keen to use the resource that was my knowledge, but you never really considered me one of you. None of you did.”
“You’re wrong.” Eric spat. “You’ve been considered a member of this family for as long as I remember.”
“Exactly.” Ira spat. “And that was the problem. Ira of the Vandark, Ira of the Caravo, Ira of the Belmont. Everywhere I went I was an asset, I was a tool. One thousand years of servitude and not once was I offered my own seat, my own castle.”
“Is that what this all about?” Eric laughed. “You want a castle of your own where you can hang a crest on the wall? Parade around servants of your own?”
Ira’s faced twitched momentarily at Eric’s mocking.
“No. I want more than that, and I’ve been waiting for my chance to seize it. I don’t want a mere castle, I want the whole world. I will take control of our world, I will be a ruler of all vampire.”
“You’re a crazy bastard.” Eric hissed, “And my family will murder you before we let you attempt such a thing.”
“You can try.” Ira laughed, pacing back and forth across the room, an air of control dominating his every movement. “But you might struggle. I have control of Ezra and her faculties, I have control of others within the castle too. I have chosen only the strong. I have been building the strength to use this incantation for years. Now that it’s working, nothing can stop me.”
“Playing around with magic? A dangerous thing Ira. You will be your own undoing, I guarantee it.”
“I highly doubt that Belmont. Anyway, come - I tire of talking to you of my plan. Come with me and I will put it into fruition before your very eyes.”
“What are you talking about?” Eric hissed. “Tell me what you’ve done with Claire or I’ll kill you.”
Eric jumped at Ira with his arms out, ready to grab the doctor by the neck and break it clean in two. He’d barely moved from the floor when Ira waved a hand in Ezra’s direction. Eric’s body froze midair and he felt himself suspended in a wave of ice cold fire. He strained to turn his head, and saw Ezra holding her hand out toward him. He looked back to Ira and realized what was happening. Ira was using Ezra to control the inhabitants of the castle.
“You bastard. You’re not going to get away this.”
“Of course I am. I’ve been planning it for a hundred years. All I was waiting for was a breeder, and you got her nice and ready for me. Come, let’s go up to the roof. You can watch me rape your stupid little whore, just before I throw you and your family into the river below.”
*
Using Ezra’s power, Ira dragged Eric through the hallways of the castle. Eric twisted in the air the whole while, fighting against the hijacked witch’s power. He knew that struggling was no use, and that Ezra’s hold over him would be too strong, but he fought nonetheless. They walked up the center spiral of the castle, the main pathway that led up to the roof.
“Where are we going? Why up here?”
“After I use your whore in front of you and send your family into the river below, I’ll be leaving this hellhole.” Ira chuckled, walking a few steps ahead of Eric’s position. Ezra walked at the back of the pack, her hands extended outward, keeping Eric frozen.
“There’s a reason for this storm.”
Wind battered at the walls of the spire outside, while thunder rolled through the air all around them. Eric glanced left out a narrow window in high spire, and caught glimpse of the storm that raged outside.
“It’s all part of the incantation.” Ira explained. “I’ve been summoning the energy to do this for months. Harnessing the power of the storm I could take control of the witch, the golems within the castle and I even had energy left over to open a portal.”
“A portal?” Eric tried not to betray his surprise. Portals were a rare feat of magic, and only the most accomplished sorcerers could summon them.
Ira turned back to face Eric. “Yes, you don’t think I’d start my dynasty here do you?” He laughed. “You vampires have such a penchant for the macabre. I will build a real fortress, it will make this wreck of a castle look like a stone shack.”
They came to the top of the spiral staircase and walked through an open door that led onto the broad rooftop of the Castle Belmont. Eric caught sight of the gruesome scene Ira had orchestrated, and felt fury burning within him instantly.
Ira had positioned five stakes against the North East corner. The stakes were set into the stones wall, angled back so they hovered over the river far below. On four of the five stakes, were the remaining members of his family. His father, Wraith, Veronica and Sophia.
Just away from the stakes, a table had been positioned, on which Ira had tied Claire. Eric felt his whole body burning with fury to free the girl, and he also felt the burning heat of his mating frenzy too.
Finally, set into a wall just left of the table, a portal sat burning through stone, giving brief glimpse of some far and distant room. All the while the storm raged around them, wind and rain whipped across the broad stone expanse, biting at Eric’s skin from every angle. The wind screeched all around them, and thunder rumbled through the valley several times a minute. The scene was illuminated by the high torches that covered the walls of the Castle Belmont, and white sheets of lightning added to the chaos too.
“The last stake is for you. Ezra, do the honors.”
Eric growled as the witch moved his body swiftly through the air, fastening it to the last stake with magic bindings. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder into the valley below, the river swam deep below them.
His stake was the last in the row. Beside him was his youngest sister Sophia, Wraith, Veronica and then his father. Sophia cried in fear upon seeing her brother being tied next to her.
“Eric please! Do something!”
“It’s alright Sophia, I’ll get us out of this, I promise!”
Eric heard Ira laughing somewhere ahead. He looked over and saw the doctor fiddling with a mountain of luggage that had been arranged by the portal. Stone Golems were carrying more boxes out by the minute. Eric looked across at his family. Sophia, was the only one looking back at him. Veronica and his father had their eyes trained keenly on Ira, their faces etched with a fury that Eric supposed was similar to his own. Wraith’s eyes had rolled over white and his face was cast up to the sky. Eric heard Claire’s voice, and his eyes were on her in an instant.
“Eric? Eric is that you? Please help me! It burns so much, it burns so!”
“Claire! What did he do to you?! I’ll save us, I promise. Just hang in there!”
Claire was tied to the table in the pajamas she had fallen asleep in. Her eyes were blindfolded. She flinched at the sound of Eric’s voice. Eric turned his attention on Ira.
“What have you done to her you sick bastard?”
Ira spun from his trove of pillaged treasure, seeming to remember he had prisoners at his command.
“I haven’t done anything you stupid fool!”
He walked back from the portal, past the table and paraded in front of the family. “You really think I’d risk hurting a breeder? She’s burning because of her mating frenzy! Her body is craving for sex. No worry, for I shall give it to her now. And then I will cast stakes into your hearts and cast you into the river.”
“No please!” Sophia cried out at Ira’s threat. Ira simply cackled in response. Eric looked at his sister, who was trembling in terror.
Another voice came from the other end of the line. Eric glanced sideways to see it was his oldest sister, Veronica. Her eyes burned into Ira’s while the wind dragged her red hair across her pale face.
“You don’t have to kill us Ira. Take the girl if you must, but let us live. There’s no sense in this.”
Ira smirked and walked up to Veronica, stopping just in front of her stake. “You really think I’m that stupid? You would come after me as soon as you could, I’ve been the subject of your bastard father long enough to know that truth.” Ira looked at Atticus, who simply stared back.
“What? No words for me old man?”
“If you’re going to do it then just do it.” Atticus growled. “You always did take too fucking long with everything.”
As Eric watched the exchange between his family and his captor, he looked at his brother Wraith, who seemed far removed from the scene before them. His face was twisted up at the sky, his eyes filled with white. Eric could see the reflection of the storm in his brother’s blank stare. The faint trace of a smile hung on Wraith’s lips. The expression felt familiar to Eric, for he felt he had seen this look on his brother once before. The night that Wraith’s body had been taken prisoner and possessed by the demon.
“What have you done to Wraith?” Eric shouted over the commotion of the storm as he watched Ira approach the table upon which Claire was restrained. He trembled in rage as he watched Ira draw a hand up the inside of Claire’s thigh. He broke away for a moment to answer Eric’s question.
“That fool? Nothing. His mind is so weak, it seems to have been possessed as a side effect. Another testament to the weakness of the Belmont lineage.”
Ira’s hands were back on Claire again, but for a moment, Eric saw past the transgression. If Ira didn’t have control of Wraith, then that meant his brother still had control of himself. Ira didn’t know the Belmont family secret. He didn’t know the truth about Wraith. That meant there might still be a chance.
“Eric is that you?” Claire writhed on the table underneath Ira’s touch, her arms and legs struggling at the bindings. “I’ve been waiting for your touch for so long, please take me!”
“Yes it’s me darling.” Ira said, taking advantage of Claire in the confusion of her sexual frenzy. “You want me to mate you darling don’t you? You want me to fuck your cunt with my dick?”
“Stop that you bastard! She doesn’t know what she’s saying! This isn’t fair!” Eric lunged against the restraints, trying to break the magic that held him to the stake, knowing that it was impossible. His father spoke from the end of the line.
“You’ll kill her Ira. You know that. Her body is only suited for Eric, you’ll only end up killing her.”
“Probably.” Ira laughed. “But what’s the harm in trying? She’s deep in the heat of her frenzy, she won’t know the difference…”
Ira pulled back the blindfold that was on Claire’s face, allowing her to see the scene around her for the first time.
“You want me inside you don’t you Claire? You want to be my slave for all time.”
Eric could hear Ira trying to flare his intention, which in comparison to his own was weak and pathetic. Claire’s face twisted in confusion at the sound of Ira’s weedy voice.
“Eric? Eric… that isn’t Eric.”
Her eyes widened in realization that it wasn’t her lover hovering over her. “You? You?! No! Get away from me! Don’t touch me! Eric, Eric, help me!”
Ira’s cool resolve melted for the first time, replaced by incarnate rage. Eric smiled weakly at the sight. “It’s okay darling. I’ll save you, I promise.”
“It doesn’t matter if she wants me or not.” Ira said with a tone of finality. “I’ll make her mine either way, and place my child in her womb. I’ll lock her in the tower of my new fortress, and keep her there for all time, using her over and over until I have an army big enough to take the world!”
Ira wrapped his hands around the waistband of Claire’s pajama trousers and yanked them down, stripping her lower half in one powerful move.
“There’s just one small problem with your plan Ira.”
The doctor looked up from Claire one last time to meet Eric’s sneering expression.
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
“You forgot about my brother.”
Eric turned to the vacant expression of his brother, and he stirred every ounce of his intention. He called to him, pushing his voice deep into the mind of vessel that was once his twin. He found the demon that had laid dormant within him all these years, finally woken by the storm tonight.
“Wraith! Look at me, it’s your brother, Eric!”
Eric howled over the orchestra of the storm. Wraith turned to him, his white eyes reflecting the chaos of the night overhead. He spoke to Eric, with a voice that the family hadn’t heard for a long time. It wasn’t the hollow voice of the demon that possessed him, it was his voice, soft, frightened - the voice of someone that had been trapped by a demon for a lifetime.
“Eric? Eric is that you? It’s been such a long time brother.”
“Stop this!” Ira yelled, clearly perturbed by the eerie scene unfolding between Eric and Wraith. “Stop this nonsense at once! You won’t stop me from taking your stupid human!”
Eric ignored Ira’s attempt to distract him. He knew he only had a brief chance to hold Wraith’s attention. “Wraith! I need you to do me a favor, I need you to take hold of the demon within you and use it to attack Ezra, can you do that?”
Wraith’s white eyes glanced at the drop below him.
“But the fall…”
“If you don’t do this we’ll all die Wraith, you included!”
The white eyes of his brother passed over the scene in front of him, as if seeing it for the first time. He took it all in, considered something for a moment and then he nodded solemnly.
“Stop this now!” Ira screamed, climbing from off the table to confront the brothers. He turned to Ezra and held a hand in her direction. “Witch, I’ve had enough, kill the brothers first!”
Eric turned to his brother, who was staring back at him with all his focus. Wraith spoke, his own voice entwined with the spirit of the demon possessing him.
“Now?”
“Now!” Eric screamed back. “Attack!”
*
The storm swelled in the sky above, and in an instant, war broke out on the rooftop of the Castle Belmont. Ira left Claire on the table, to deal with Eric and Wraith. He stood, body shaking, a hand stretched in Ezra’s direction, hoping that the witch would carry out his order in time.
“Kill them!” He screamed. “Kill them both!”
His order came at the same time as Eric’s. The possessed hands of the witch flew up and red light frothed at her fingertips, but all eyes were on Wraith.
The brother raised his eyes to the sky, and a horrific groan left from the tortured creature’s lips as if he were letting out a great torrent of energy. Suddenly, the thunder and lightning in the sky above intensified ten fold, and a bolt of white electric thundered down through the night, right into the body of Wraith.
The fire of a thousand suns coursed through the body of Wraith, the electricity swam through his veins, breaking the magical shackles set on him by Ezra. Lightning channeled down through his body, Wraith lifted his arms and pointed them at Ezra, pushing the raw energy of the storm out through his palms.
A colossal rail of white light leapt from Wraith’s hands, his throat screaming a hoarse cry of pain all the while. The bolt leapt straight through the air into Ezra. The witch was sent flying back across the rooftop, crashing into some wall that was in the far off distance. Ira’s dark possession of her broke immediately, for each one of the Belmont family fell forward from their stakes dropped to the floor, their magical shackles existing no more.
Eric jumped to his feet and set his eyes on Ira. The doctor was already making a run for the portal, realizing that his plan had failed.
“Not a chance.” Eric growled as he leapt through the air, and in one swift movement he was across the roof and his hands were around the neck of the treacherous doctor. Ira looked up at Eric in horror, his face burning with fear.
“Eric, no! Please! It’s all a big misunder-”
Eric shot his hands to one side, breaking the neck of the doctor immediately. He left him standing for a moment and a fraction of a second later he was back in front of the traitor holding a stake. He plunged the wood through his chest without saying a word, and turned without stopping to watch him burst into dust.
A moment later he was at Claire’s side, untying her from the bench with the help of his sister Sophia. As soon as she was free, they helped her redress. Eric picked Claire up from the table and held her in his arms, squeezing her as tight as he could.
“Eric! Eric is that you?!”
“I’m sorry.” He repeated the words a thousand times over. “I should never have let this happen, I’m so sorry.”
She squeezed him back even harder.
“Don’t be stupid. This isn’t your fault. Can you set me down?”
“Oh no.” Eric shook his head. “I’m never letting go of you again. Seems every time I do something bad happens.”
“She’ll be alright now.”
Eric turned at the sound of Veronica’s voice.
“You must be Claire, I’m Veronica. Eric’s older sister.”
Eric begrudgingly set Claire down. She brushed herself off momentarily and took the hand of the red haired girl.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Well, I wish the circumstances could have been better, but yes. It’s nice to finally meet the latest addition to our family.”
Atticus and Sophia stopped at the side of Veronica, and the family stood as a unit, staring around them at the aftermath of chaos that Ira had left.
Eric’s eyes darted about the roof, surveying the damage. The portal through which Ira had tried to escape still whirled on the wall. The Golem Ira had possessed had turned back into inanimate statues, frozen in time until magic would wake them again.
“Wraith.”
Eric turned in the direction of the stakes upon which he and his family had been tied to. He walked toward them quickly, pulling Claire by the hand as he did so.
“Four,” He spoke quietly to himself, realizing there was one stake missing. His father spoke from behind.
“The stake he was tied to fell when the lightning struck. The blast must have been too much.”
Eric looked over the edge of the castle wall, where the stake had been fixed into the stone. The river raged peacefully hundreds of feet beneath them.
“We can still save him!” Sophia said hopefully. “We can send a party to look for him!”
Eric turned and saw Veronica and Sophia staring at his father with the same hopeful expression.
“No.” Atticus said gravely. “The blast, the fall - there’s not a chance he survived.”
“He gave his life to save us.” Sophia started to weep, throwing herself into the chest of her father.
“Did it leave him?” Veronica said, looking at her father.
“The demon? I can’t say for sure. All I know is that he saved us all. I hope he found peace in his last moments.”
Eric turned around to look back at that fall below. His eyes wandered over the dark landscape below, knowing full well that his brother was dead. Claire’s hand tightened around his own. He looked at her and smiled softly.
“He saved us all.” She said. “He was a hero.”
“Indeed.” Eric said sadly. He knew that the majority of his life, his brother had been haunted by the demon inside of him. He hoped as his father did, that there had been peace somewhere in his final moments.
“Stop witch!” Everyone spun on their feet at Veronica’s voice. Ezra stumbled towards them, tendrils of smoke rising from her body. Atticus put a hand out in front of his daughter, who was ready to launch into battle.
“At ease Veronica.” Atticus said. “I think we have our old Ezra back. Is that right?”
Everyone looked at Ezra, who had been on the receiving end of a bolt of lightning. Her hair was a mass of black wire, her clothes were ripped and smoking. Her skin was marred with dark smoking burns, her eyes scored with red. She spoke, her voice etched with the grain of suffering.
“You are right Atticus, you old fool.”
Everyone took a deep breath and relaxed at hearing Ezra’s usual voice. She looked at the aftermath for the first time, taking it all in with jaded realization.
“Ira. What a cunning bastard. I should have known he was up to something. He’s been sneaking around my library for months. I didn’t think the bastard had it in him.”
“None of us did.” Atticus said. “Are you alright?”
“I’m okay. That was an old incantation he used to take over my body. I should have seen it coming. This is my fault.”
“None of this is anyone’s fault.” Eric said. “We couldn’t have known Ira would betray us like this, after all these years.”
Ezra turned to the portal and held out her hands. “I’d better close this.”
“Wait a moment.” Eric walked back to the group to get a better look at the portal, he kept a tight hold on Claire. “It’s just as I thought. Father, Veronica - look through the portal. Do you see anything that looks familiar?”
They looked through the portal. On the other side there was a stone room of some sort, in a keep in some unknown location. Boxes of luggage and pillaged artifacts lay in the room, along with the frozen stone giants that Ira had cursed to do his bidding.
“On the far wall.” Veronica lifted a hand and pointed through the portal.
“The sign of the White Order.” Atticus said. “We should close this portal at once.”
“What about the things?” Sophia said. “There are several artifacts I can see from here that belong to our family.”
“That is a room in the fortress of the White Order.” Atticus said calmly. “There’s no telling what spells they have in place to protect themselves against vampire.”
“But Ira-”
“Was obviously working alongside them. I dare say he had some form of protection. It’s not worth the risk. They’re just things. I’ve already lost one child today, I will not lose another.”
Atticus turned from Sophia to Ezra and they nodded mutually. Ezra flared her fingers and the portal was closed a moment later. She turned to the stakes which had been on the wall. “So Wraith is dead? I can’t say I’m surprised. That bolt he hit me with was stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before. It must have tore his body apart leaving the demon like that.”
Eric looked at Ezra. “You knew he was possessed? But how? Only the family knew.”
“The demon that was inside your brother was well hidden, I’ll admit. But such things are easy for a witch to spot.”
“You knew and you didn’t help him?” Veronica clenched her fists, anger and sadness swirling in her blood red eyes.
“There was nothing I could do to help him child. The demon that had taken residence in your brother is stronger than anything I’ve ever seen before. I’m surprised he lived as long as he did. He was strong.”
The group fell into reflective silence, looking over the smoking wreckage left from the battle.
“Wraith died a long time ago.” Eric said mournfully. “I haven’t known my brother in a long time. His death was not in vain. May the earth have mercy on his soul.”
The family stood in somber reflection, nodding at Eric’s words.
Finally Atticus spoke.
“We will honor Wraith’s sacrifice properly soon. But first we need to rebuild. We should probably all get to cleaning things up. Ezra, perform a perimeter check of the castle. It’s likely that Ira was working alone, but I want to be sure.”
Ezra nodded. “Of course.”
“And I will come too.” Veronica said.
“Of course. Make sure you see Sophia to her room safely first. Eric.”
Eric turned to the voice of his father.
“See to it that you get Claire back your room safe. We shall reconvene soon to plan our next move as a family from here.”
“Yes father.”
With that the group broke off into parts. Ezra woke the Golems that Ira had taken control of, setting them to work on cleaning up the mess the battle had left behind. Eric walked Claire to the South West corner of the roof.
“Where are we going?” Claire asked as she followed him.
“I thought we could use the entrance at the South West corner. The main staircase at the center will be full of Golem, and I don’t fancy squeezing around them in a tight space.”
Claire stopped to look at a purple blemish far on the horizon.
“Dawn is breaking.” She said with some trepidation.
“Not to fear.” Eric smiled. “There’s still an hour or so until the light will touch the castle. Do you remember the first time I brought you to the castle? This is were we first landed.”
Claire smiled fondly in remembrance for something that had been a true nightmare at the time.
“I do remember.” She smiled. “I was nearly frozen half to death because you carried me here naked.”
Eric took Claire in his arms and they laughed together, watching the sunrise in the distance.
“I know. I was foolish back then. I feel as if I’m a completely different person now.”
“Me too.” Claire said, turning in his arms to face him. They kissed briefly, holding one another as the rest of the world melted away. “My fever still burns. But it seems to have cooled a little.”
“Of course.” Eric said. “It must have been hell for you tied to that table. It will come back again of course you realize. I guarantee I will be ready for you this time.”
Claire placed a hand on Eric’s chest and looked into his eyes. “I already feel it coming back.”
Eric grabbed her hand and placed his forehead against hers, looking deep into her eyes. “Why don’t we go back to the room? We can forget about all this for now. Let’s just make it about me and you again, as it should be.”
“That sounds nice, but I was wondering if you could do something for me first.”
“Anything.” Eric said, squeezing her hand. “What is it?”
Claire turned out to the distant sunset, looking down at the land beneath the castle. “Let me fly with you again, carry me through the air one more time.”
She turned back to Eric to see the blood red in his eyes twinkling with mischief. He scooped her up in his arms and a second later he was stood on the edge of the castle wall, holding Claire over the dizzying fall below. Claire let out a shriek and laughed, half panicked.
“Eric be careful!” She wrapped her arms tight around her man as she looked down at the distant earth below.
“No worries my darling.” Eric crouched down for a moment and stood up tall, a thundering groan leaping from his throat as he stretched out his wings. “No harm will come to you any more. I swear that with my life.”
Eric tightened his hold on Claire and fell forward over the edge. They fell through the air, hurtling towards the earth, Claire screaming all the while. He gathered air beneath his wings and waited until the last possible moment. The tips of the forest below them were inches from his face when he spread his wings properly, launching them back up into the air, speeding like a dark bullet into the night.