In Love With a Vampire

Chapter 33

“Go upstairs…now.”

“What?”

“Upstairs now!”

Pete stared at his wife incredulously. He could tell she meant her words but how could she? They were not making any sense. He could not leave her here alone with her insane brother.

“I am not going anywhere Lory…I am staying here and making sure that you stay alive…”

Lory licked her lower lip and pushed hot air through her nose. She had fallen in love with Pete because of how fiercely protective he was. The man had always managed to make her feel safe whether it was from other people or herself. An image of her screaming in her room and launching objects at the wall flashed in her mind. Yes, there was no way she would have survived on her own. There was no way she was going to lose the only thing that separated her from utter madness.

“Listen to me, Pete…I can handle my brother just fine on my own. If you stay here, odds are, you will shift and he will discover what you are. Pete, he will kill you, that is what he has been trained to do…that is why he is hell-bent on getting her.”

Lory briefly glanced at Donna. Her restlessness had dissipated. She was now calm, almost tranquil. Lory swallowed. Was the future vampire leader close to death? What would her kind do if she were to die here, in their home?

Focus Lory, big bad brother at the door?

Pete was grinding his teeth and studying his wife. What did she mean by ‘that is what he was trained to do’? Lory felt her husband’s eyes boring a hole through her face. She felt unnerved by the look, the look of distrust, there were things she had never shared with Pete. Things she did not wish to share.

“You have questions, and that is valid. But now, now we have no time. You trust me right? You trust that I will do anything to keep this family safe?”

Without missing a beat, Pete bobbed his head. He then stole a glance at Donna and Lory’s nephew.

“What about them? Should they come with me?”

Lory c****d her head to the side in deep thought. If her brother was here it meant that he knew that either his son or Donna were here, in her home. Had he not sent his goons after Donna? Not seeing them immediately would warrant a search of the whole house.

“No…too risky. Go to the-"

A loud bang emanated from the front door. He was trying to break in. Lory grabbed Pete’s arm but Pete did not budge.

“Pete…please, I cannot lose you too…”

“But I can protect you…I can take him…”

“No, you can’t. As I said, he has been trained to kill your kind.”

Pete opened his mouth to respond but before he could get anything out, another bang blared throughout the house. If he did stay, he would change into a beast. What if he hurt Lory while fighting her brother? Could he ever live with himself if he hurt her or worse, killed her?

“I will be close by, call out to me if things-"

This time the bang was louder, more forceful. They heard their gold-coated hinges hit the ground. Within seconds, Anthony would be in their house. Once again Lory grabbed Pete’s arm and this time, Pete allowed himself to be shoved towards the stairs. As he climbed them, he caught Lory’s eye, Lory bobbed her head in understanding. She mouthed I love you too before making her way towards the door. When she reached it, she let out a hefty sigh and wrapped her palm around the gold-coated door knob.

“Hello brother dearest? Any particular reason you want to ruin my door?”

Dressed in a long, dark overcoat and a matching newsboy hat, Andrew’s lips stretched to form an amused grin.

“Are we going to pretend that this is a social call sister dearest?”

Lory c****d her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows in feigned confusion.

“Is it not? I truly was under the impression that it was.”

The two siblings held each other’s gaze for a full minute before Andrew began to chuckle. The chuckle morphed into a sinister laugh, a laugh that caused a tear to emerge from his left eye. Lory’s heartbeat accelerated at the sight of that tear. Memories threatened to break through the gate she had entrapped them in. She shook her head, forcing them to stay put, the last thing she needed was her past clouding her present.

“Alright, alright…I will bite. How have you been since we last saw each other? Did you enjoy yourself at my dinner party? How did it feel to be back among the same people who cast you out, people who proclaimed you to be mad and cut all ties with you?”

Lory’s lips stretched into a smile that did not quite reach her eyes.

“I ate shrimp and slapped your wife. It was a lovely evening all around.”

Andrew unconsciously bobbed his head before taking a step to the side. He then angled his head to face the rising sun.

“Tell me sister dearest, what exactly do you intend to tell your neighbors when they wake up to see brutally murdered individuals in their street?”

“Animal attack.”

“Ah, so that is what it was? An animal attack? And pray tell sister dearest, what sort of animal was it?”

“I do not know, I was locked in my house, scared to death.”

“Why did they attack men outside your house? Who were these men and why were they here in the first place?”

“Government spies. Aliens. The mafia, who the hell knows?”

“Ah, but I know…I know exactly who they are and I, for one, will not buy the whole animal attack story. So let’s try again, shall we? What the f**k happened to my men and where the f**k is my son?”

So he did know that Jim was here. How? Had one of his men recognized Jim and relayed this information to him?

“It’s an app. Find my family or something of the sort. We are one intelligent species aren’t we?”

Andrew took a threatening step toward Lory. She responded by quickly slamming the door in his face. She then ran to the kitchen and pulled one of the drawers. She retrieved two knives and tucked one of them into the waistband of her sweatpants. Lory then remained very still as her front door opened. She heard boots enter her living room, her brother’s voice ensued.

“That’s the best you got sis? Slamming a door in my face?”

Lory did not move. The kitchen was still somewhat dark; she waited for Anthony to spot Donna and Jim. Soon enough, she heard a low laugh.

“You make it too easy for me Lorine…”

Lory gritted her teeth, she hated that name.

“So how is this going to work…Lorine?”

He was taunting her and it was working.

“Should I just walk out with what belongs to me? Wonder what will happen when those wretched vampires learn that their future queen died in your hands. I bet they will come after you and that peculiar husband of yours…where is he anyway? Did he finally realize that he had drawn the short straw and left you? You know, like all the other men in your life…Lorine?”

Lory furrowed her eyebrows. Something was wrong. Andrew’s voice no longer sounded aloof. Had he figured out that she was in the kitchen?

“You’ve never been very good at hide-and-seek.”

Lory launched her knife toward her brother’s figure at the kitchen doorway. Anthony moved his face and the flying knife whizzed past him.

“Tsk tsk tsk…Did you forget the first rule of combat…Lorine? Know your opponent so that you can always anticipate their moves…”

Lory blinked as Andrew suddenly approached her. The light from the rising sun flowed into the kitchen casting a light on the two siblings. Anthony made a fist and swung it, Lory easily ducked and retrieved the knife from her waistband. She then lodged it into her brother’s lower abdomen. The sharp-pointed steel hit something hard and fell to the ground with a clank. Lory blinked in shock.

“Unlike you, I hold the first rule of combat at heart. You think I would forget how much you love knives?”

Lory shoved Andrew and grabbed another knife from the pulled out drawer. She then launched herself at him, aiming for his neck. Anthony recovered from the shove just in time to grab Lory’s raised arm. They remained in that position; Lory screaming and trying to get the knife into her brother’s neck, Anthony smiling as he applied pressure on Lory’s wrist. Soon the knife fell to the ground with a loud clank. Lory let out a frustrated cry, retrieved her hand as if in surrender, and then launched a punch at Anthony’s throat. Anthony let out a series of coughs, the punch knocking the air out of him. Lory lowered herself to the ground, picked up the knife, and dashed to the living room. Anthony followed her while clearing his throat.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

Andrew spotted the knife in his sister’s hand and let out a sigh.

“You honestly think that you can get that knife anywhere near my throat?”

Lory shrugged before assuming a combat position.

“Tell me…Lorine. Have you ever won a fight against me? Ever?”

Memories tried to break through Lory’s psychological steel gate. She shook her head once again.

“There’s a first time for everything brother…Now how about removing that protective gear you have on? I mean this should be a fair fight…”

Andrew chuckled before removing his hat and unbuttoning his overcoat. He shimmied his upper body, the overcoat fell to the ground.

“Let me make a proposition. Tell me what killed my men, peacefully hand over the vampire b***h and my son and no harm will come to you…”

“f**k no.”

Anthony bobbed his head noncommittally and stuck his hand in his right pocket. He retrieved a long chain which he then wrapped around his hand.

“Harm it is.”

The two siblings launched themselves at each other. The woman swung her leg across the air hitting the man in the face. The man recovered swiftly and retaliated using his chain-draped fist. The fist landed on the woman’s face and when it pulled away, the chain was covered in fresh blood. The woman took time to recover, her body vibrating with pain. The man took advantage of this moment and swung his folded fist again, this time aiming for the woman’s stomach. The woman saw this and stuck the knife she had been holding into the man’s fist. The man cried out in shock and pain, the woman took advantage of this and head-butted the man causing him to stagger backward. The woman then launched herself forward and thrust herself on the man, throwing both of them to the floor. The woman proceeded to yank the knife from the man’s half-cupped bleeding hand and directed it towards his neck. The man groaned when the knife left his hand. He caught a glimpse of the knife fast approaching his neck. He stuck out his unharmed hand and wrapped it around the woman’s knife-wielding one. Suddenly, they both heard something,

“Aunt Lory?”

The woman got distracted, the man took advantage of this and knocked the knife off the woman’s weakened grasp. The man then reached for the woman’s neck and began choking her. The woman’s eyes widened, she desperately flailed her arms but the man kept himself away from her reach and squeezed harder. The woman’s face began turning purple, a silent scream escaped her mouth.

The man squeezed harder.

The woman’s eyes rapidly blinked, her pupils vanished. A wicked smile appeared on the man’s lips; he was winning.

“I always win…Lorine. I always-"

The front door swung open, two pairs of feet shuffled into the room. A scream and a gasp sounded. Maria whizzed across the floor and stopped in front of the struggle. She then reached for the man’s hand and yanked it. The man, confused, tried to angle his head to see who had disrupted his victory but before he could, someone punched him, hard.

The man slipped into unconsciousness.