Forbidden (Fallen 2)

“How will they react?” I gulped.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell. They’re temperamental humans, no offense,” he said and then grinned.

“You know when people say, no offense, it usually means you should take offense,” I said trying to lighten the mood. It worked.

“I guess you’re right,” he chuckled.

“Hey,” I said smacking him in the arm.

“Ow,” I said cradling my hand, “I have got to stop doing that.” I mumbled to myself. He chuckled and picked up my hand bringing it to his cold lips and placing a soft kiss on it.

“All better?” he asked.

“All better,” I said, but not only about my hand. I felt like he finally understood where I was coming from and things would get better from now on. I hoped. I desperately hoped so.

Jonathon held tightly onto my hand as we followed the others down the dark underground tunnel. I had expected The Coven’s headquarters to be above ground in some kind of modern building. I hadn’t expected this dark tunnel. This was what you expected from vampires, not humans. It seemed like every turn and curve led us farther underground. It smelled old and musty and kind of dank like it had been closed off for a long time and only recently re-opened. Maybe it had once been a city that had long been buried.

The walls and floors were all stone making the small curving underground hallway very cold. And the presence of so many vampires didn’t help to make it any warmer. Not only had the Pulmers come but other vampires had shown as well. I wasn’t sure what this, Coven, would think of so many vampires entering their, ‘lair’, as I liked to call it.

Amelia, Patrick, and Danny walked in front of Jonathon and me, while Mason, Joseph, and Diana were immediately behind us, the other vampires that had introduced themselves as Luigi, from the deli/bakery, Balthazar, Vivian and Viola, who were sisters, Benji, and Gabriel.

Luigi I had already met, Balthazar seemed very nice, he was taller, his hair was brown and disheveled, and he had the power of charm, which wasn’t the most amazing power ever but still useful in its own way. Vivian and Viola who were sisters frightened me when I first saw them but they turned out to be very sweet, they both had vivid red hair, both their lips were painted a bright cherry red, they wore dark shades of reds and purples, but their powers were pretty cool, at least I thought so. Vivian had the power to make things disappear while Viola had the power to make things appear out of thin air. Viola was constantly making things appear and Vivian was making them disappear just for fun. Benji was a short guy and very quick, even for a vampire, and very young. He had been turned at a young age of about fifteen; he wasn’t sure how old he had been when he was turned so this was just a guess and he was constantly playing pranks. But despite all the years he had lived as a vampire he was still a little kid. He had light brown hair that stuck up in every direction. Benji had the power of invisibility which I thought was awesome but Jonathon found annoying since he seemed to get

the brunt of Benji’s pranks. Gabriel. Gabriel frightened me. He had black hair and his silver eyes seemed almost white. He seemed to wear a permanent scowl. He wore a black short sleeve t-shirt and black jeans with a black belt and black shoes. Everything about him was black. His hair, his clothes, and his personality. But he wanted to help so he was welcome. And he had unique power. There was no other vampire with his power; at least not that that anyone knew. Gabriel is an implanter. He can take your mind and entangle it with his and plant any thought he wants into your head and whatever he tells you to do you have to do it. It is a frightening power. But a useful one. Especially in this situation. With his power we might actually have a chance at winning. But with Selena you never knew your odds and I didn’t want to get my hopes up but I could feel that it was already happening. I couldn’t help it.

The ground kept sloping downwards and it kept getting colder and colder. The torches in the walls made me feel like we were entering some sort of medieval torture chamber. My breathing was becoming more labored and coming out in puffs of fog. I was so scared for what was going to come. Jonathon hadn’t given me much of a description of The Coven and every time he mentioned them or I did he always flinched and got mad. There was something I didn’t understand.

We came around another curve in the wall and finally I saw more light ahead.

We entered a large underground room. It was circular and the stone wall and torches continued in here. It was empty except for our own party. There was another opening on the opposite side of the room. I clung tightly to Jonathon’s arm. The fog of my breath filled the room. I was shaking partly from the cold and partly from fear.

I knew it didn’t make sense to be afraid of a human. Or part human. Or whatever they were. Especially when I was surrounded by vampires but if these humans could kill a vampire, lord only knew what they could do to me. No one in our little group spoke. We stood in a huddle, Jonathon and me in the middle. I was the object they had to protect at all costs. Their bodies acted as my shield. I clung to him like he was a life vest and I was sinking under into the cold water.

I could hear voices and footsteps coming from the other archway. Their shadows were coming closer. My breathing increased to the point of hyperventilation and I thought for a moment I might pass out. That would be embarrassing. My fingernails dug into Jonathon granite skin.

The first figure appeared in a bright red cloak, the others that followed were in charcoal black, they all wore hoods that covered their faces, the person in red, whom I assumed was the leader, stood in the middle a little in front of the others. I counted how many there were. There were twenty including the leader. It seemed a small number to me but I was sure that this was not the only Coven of vampire hunters. There were bound to be others. Like Jonathon had said, as long as vampires exist so do vampire hunters. It was a vicious cycle. But as Selena had proven it was necessary.

The leader, the one in red, threw back his hood. He was around fifty years old, with salt and peppered colored hair and beard. His eyes were a searching yellow color. They reminded me of a hawk. His mouth was set in a hard line. He didn’t appear to be a pleasant person and he scared me more than Gabriel. But what scared me the most was the angry red scar that ran down his face. It started at his scalp and went down the right side of face and continued down his neck and maybe went farther because his cloak covered his body from his neck on. It pulled the corner of his eye down into a grotesque shape. It was an old scar, healed by many years, but it still managed to look awful.

My grip tightened on Jonathon’s arm.

He said something in quick Italian that I did not understand. Maybe I should of listened to my mother the summer before we moved here and learned Italian. But no, I had been a stubborn teenager intent on speaking only English. After all, the school here catered to not only Italian students but students from all different countries. I hadn’t thought it was necessary to learn it. But I hadn’t planned on falling in love with an Italian vampire either. Now, I wished I had bothered to at least buy a dictionary.

The others threw back their hoods.

I gasped.

“Isaac?” I whispered.

“Ky?” he asked his face full of complete and utter shock.

I thought I was going to fall down onto the dirt floor from the shock but Jonathon’s strong, sure, arms held me up. He was my safe harbor.

“What are you doing here Isaac?” I asked in a shocked voice.

“The better question is what are you doing here with him?” He said rudely. Suddenly the man in red turned to Isaac.

“Did I give you permission to speak, Fledgling?” The man in red spoke in a harsh accent that was not Italian. It sounded vaguely Russian.