The Vampire Queen's Resurrection

CHAPTER TWELVE: THE QUACKSALVER

Aaliyah was trembling with rage when she discovered that someone had double-crossed her. It was a declaration of war against her, and she had trouble controlling her vampire. Taking short deep breaths, she reigned in her fangs which would not be subdued against the onslaught of emotions catching her.

All those months of hard work gone! Of course she remembered the exact formula but that wasn’t the point. Everyone always wanted to swindle her in one way or another. This was the reason why she’d taken a throne. Every ungrateful vampire she’d sired was fighting for higher speed, more strength, more power – more money. It was never enough for them, never!

With a snap of her finger, every vampire she’d created appeared in front of her – that was how powerful she was. Nobody could top her in strength or speed. Every of her sired children stood bowed in front of her, including members of her family and Jadeite included.

The saddest part was that most of the person present in that room had one way or another betrayed her or tried to overpower her.

“Who?” she asked in one single word which was supposed to be enough to give an indication of her wrath.

There was simultaneous whisperings among everyone where everybody started to subtly blame each other until the voices rose several octaves. The rumble became a pandemonium, until it gave her a terrible headache.

“Enough!!!” she roared angrily, closing her eyes in dismay and she started to massage her temples to ward off the discomfort. “Whoever has stolen the formula can come forward right now. I swear if I find out the culprit, I will not spare his or her life.”

This time she wasn’t kidding – she was done with backstabbers. Nobody was interested in helping he with her ideas, but once she realized the impossible, every smooch came sucking for their share.

“What happened Al?” her father asked with a frown – the man who’d protested the loudest when she had announced that every new killing, every new prey would have to be validated by her – their queen. There had been too much destruction, too much c*****e which had to be stopped.

“My Sun Elixir formula got stolen.”

“Sun Elixir?” Clegane Stoneheart reiterated with a frown at the unfamiliar name. “Oh you mean your stupid idea about making vampires walk in the sun. Don’t tell me you’re still adamant about that dumb concept?! Is that what you’re calling it nowadays? The sun elixir?” he scoffed derisively.

Aaliyah turned to her father, her topaz eyes shining with contempt and arrogance. It was time that he stopped treating her like a child. “Yeah?” she infused sarcastically. “Well, for your information, it worked. My friend Jadeite here can testify to the fact that the pills actually worked.”

Upon hearing her name, Jade stepped forward, and Aaliyah nodded subtly at her. She was giving her the permission to speak the truth. “I’m not sure I…I know what you mean, Al?” Jade stammered hesitantly, making Aaliyah turn incredulous eyes towards her.

Jade? Well, she’ll be damned. She would never have tagged her longtime friend as a traitor. They’d met many years ago in college, and Jade had pleaded Aaliyah to turn her into a vampire when the latter had discovered the truth about her. Without remorse, Aaliyah invaded her best friend’s mind to have an idea what was going on.

Aaliyah was shocked to learn that her best friend was madly in love with the demon Matzah. They had planned to steal the formula from her since day one, and the plan was to now discredit her in front of the whole vampire kingdom.

How she wished she could hypnotize everyone like she did with the humans, but she’d discovered at her own expense that vampires’ minds were not so easily controlled. With one breath, she could already work out who was actually on her side and who was against her.

Needless to say that the latter outnumbered the former. She sighed heavily, massaging her temple at the predicament in front of her. Sometimes, she wondered why she bothered working things out for those ungrateful followers.

“Knock it off, Jade,” she warned in a low dangerous tone which made the blue eyes in front of her fluttered with fear which was quickly masked. “I’m giving you a second chance here. Where is Matzah? What have you done with the formula?”

Jade blinked her eyes unbelievably, enacting bewilderment to the perfection. That woman should have been given an award for her flawless acting. Nobody had the power to read other vampire’s mind except herself. “Al? Is there something you want me to say? I’ll say it. But…,” Jade looked around in wild disarray, portraying confusion and pity.

Aaliyah would have snorted had the situation not been so funny. Her dear friend and the demon knew that she would never have allowed their reunion. She could read the resentment they bore towards her, and never had the burden of that throne feel so heavy.

“…I am not sure what I am supposed to say,” Jade went on

Instead of admiration and respect, she read that they thought she was a tyrant and an insensitive leader who oppressed them by forbidding their love story. Rebelling was the only way for them to overcome her.

In short, Aaliyah was a villain to them, to their love story.

“Alright, enough of that!” her cousin Caspian intervened in his hateful voice full of contempt. “Funny, Aaliyah. We never tagged you as a quacksalver, honey. A vampire who falsely claims to have some magical pill for us is ridiculous. I know you always wanted to be a hero, but this is a little bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

She didn’t even bother replying to the cousin who’d always loathed her, who thought that she was incapable of ruling over them simply because she was a woman. The pain of her two best friends’ betrayals was still too fresh in her mind and heart for her to bother about other’s opinions.

It took her a moment to gather her strength before she faced her disciples once again, her eyes no longer portraying any emotion. She knew that the topaz color glazed over with a glacial expression.

“You’re right Caspian. I’ve always aimed to be a hero to you guys while you’re so desperately trying to prove that I am not worthy of the title. This is getting a bit old and redundant, don’t you think?” she drawled frostily, staring directly in the blue eyes of Jadeite all the time she was speaking. “I’ve got a better idea. Those who don’t wish to follow me, can they please step aside?”

There was a unanimous frightened gasp. Everybody was scared because she had the power to snap their necks in one snap. But she was done ruling with fear – all she’d ever wanted was to be loved and admired for who she was. Instead, her own people had only used her and now they viewed her as a tyrant.

“I am serious. I am not stepping down from the throne. That’s only because I still believe that I can do good. So, all I’m asking is that those who want to follow me, willingly, please come forward?”

Only a few vampires took a step forward, while Aaliyah noted with undisguised cynicism that even her father was not part of the ones who were with her. Her sister Sloane and her husband Wyatt was thankfully on her side. Her other two siblings Oceane and Chloe were also standing near Aaliyah. The only one who remained in the opposite side was her youngest sister Everlee who looked at her defiantly.

“Alright, then. The rest of you are free to walk away from here and I give you my word that I won’t follow you or avenge your betrayal.”

They didn’t give her the time to revise her decision, and all vanished from the place without waiting to be asked twice. Jade included. To those who remained, Aaliyah turned towards the large glass window which gave a view to one of Boston’s busiest streets. “Thank you for staying with me. I won’t be needing you for tonight.”

“But Al, is it a good idea to let Jade walk away with the formula? What if she sells the pill to the wrong person?” Oceane asked worriedly.

Aaliyah’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous glint when she faced her followers. “Don’t worry about her. She will have what she deserves soon.”

It turned out that only a few days later, Jadeite and Matzah were caught by witches as they’d been trying to sell them a fake potion. Of course, Aaliyah had kept one secret ingredient to herself which was essential to make the pills complete. The two culprits were brought before her for a trial.

“These two are no longer under my protection,” she said with cool detachment as they were brought forward at her heels.

“A…a…aliyah, please,” Jade was begging, her blue eyes begging for compassion. Ha! Now, her friend seemed to believe that Aaliyah was merciful? When only days ago, they’d turned her into the most despotic bad vampire queen that was ruling over them against their will. “We made a mistake.”

It seemed that the news spread over vampire town because the room filled with the same audience of the previous day. All the vampires she’d sired, along with their children gathered to watch the spectacle. She knew it was a scary destiny for vampires to be handed over to another species, whether it were witches, dragons or werewolves.

“Did you now? Why don’t you tell what happened then?”

Both Jade and Matzah blurted out the truth, and Aaliyah only had to nod in the direction of the witches to acknowledge that she would take care of this. The witches were too keen to be rid of the quacksalvers and were out of the room in a jiffy. All that remained in the room were the very vampires who’d disbelieved her only a few days ago, and whose opinions didn’t matter anymore.

Aaliyah had nothing to do with followers whose loyalties depended on her justifying herself. She crossed her arms across her chest and watched them with an aloof expression. “Did I forget to mention that the formula requires one drop of my blood?” she taunted with deliberate sarcasm. “And another ingredient which I will never disclose? Do you really think that I am foolish enough to trust any of you?” she spat spitefully, her fangs showing as she hissed angrily.

There was a hushed silence which was louder than any word could have been.

“We’re sorry, Aaliyah,” Matzah was saying.

“It’s Queen Aaliyah for you,” she corrected with a touch of arrogance. If they were so keen on tagging her as a tyrant, she’d played the role to the perfection. “I don’t treat backstabbers as my friends.”

“Aaliyah, is it true you found the solution for vampires to walk in the sun?” Clegane asked in awe. “Does the pill actually work?” Aaliyah didn’t even reply, she just turned to her sister who opened the door to wander in the broad daylight.

The crowd gasped in delight as they watched Chloe walk freely under the glistening sunlight with no sign of feeling the slightest discomfort. With the fist crossed over their hearts, all the vampires bent the knee in front of her. Even that damned Caspian which made Aaliyah smiled grimly.

Of course, they now believed in her – she had something every vampire wanted. They would give a piece of their soul to be able to walk freely in broad daylight without being detected. Bending the knee to her was an insignificant compromise.

“I’ve never forced anyone to pledge their alliance to me,” she said loud enough for her voice to carry through the room. “If you’re following me now, it’s because you’re all willing to do so, and you truly think that I deserve the right to rule. If anyone objects to this, I suggest that he leaves the room right now.”

Nobody moved. She nodded briskly; her heart and emotions weirdly detached before turning to Matzah. “You’re free to walk also – you no longer serve your purpose. I don’t allow unfaithful bastards in my close circle.”

Matzah’s face lost all color and turned as white as snow, a stark contrast with his violet eyes. Slowly, he turned towards Jade, asking the question he didn’t dare formulate in words. Aaliyah whooshed towards where Jade was standing and snapped her friend’s neck so fast before anybody even had the time to even blink.

“This will serve as a lesson to you all,” she simply said, not letting anyone else see the tears falling over her cheeks as Jade fell lifeless to the ground followed by Matzah’s painful growl.