The Real Enemy

The Real Enemy
Pain shot through Viv's head as she woke up. She tried to move her arms, but they were tied to a chair. The room was dark except for one light hanging above her.

"She's awake," a voice said.

Viv blinked, trying to clear her blurry vision. A man stepped into the light. Her father.

"Dad?" Her throat felt dry and scratchy. "What are you doing? Why am I tied up?"

Marcel Thorne's face was hard, not like the caring father in her childhood memories. "It's for your own protection, Vivienne. We had to get you away from Blackthorn."

"By shooting me with something?" Viv pulled at the ropes. "That doesn't feel like protection."

Another person moved in the shadows. A woman with long white hair and cold eyes stepped forward.

"The dart only put you to sleep," the woman said. "I am Seraphina, leader of the Crimson Guardians. Your father has told us much about you."

Viv looked around. They were in some kind of building with old brick walls and high windows. Five other people in red leather armor watched her from the dark.

"Where's Damien?" Viv asked.

"Hopefully dead," her father spat. "But vampires like him are hard to kill."

"You're working with Erebus," Viv said, remembering the last words she'd heard before passing out. "I heard you."

Marcel's face changed. He looked shocked, then angry. "What are you talking about?"

"I heard you say to get my blood sample to Erebus!"

Seraphina stepped closer. "Erebus? Lord Erebus of the vampire council? Marcel, what is she talking about?"

Marcel shook his head. "She's confused from the dart. I would never work with vampires."

But Viv saw something in his eyes. A flicker of fear.

"You're lying," she said. "Damien told me the truth. He knew Mom. She was helping him with research about hunter blood. Our blood."

"Blackthorn has filled your head with lies!" Marcel yelled. "He killed your mother! I saw it with my own eyes!"

Seraphina put a hand on Marcel's arm. "Perhaps we should show her the video. Then she'll understand."

Marcel nodded stiffly. He pulled out a small device that looked like a phone and put it in front of Viv. The screen flickered to life, showing grainy security video.

Viv's breath caught. There was her mother, in a lab coat, working in what looked like a medical lab. Damien entered the scene. They talked for a minute, then seemed to fight. Suddenly, Damien grabbed her mother's throat. The video cut out.

"That's the last footage we have," Marcel said, his voice shaking. "We found her body the next day, drained of blood."

Viv stared at the screen, her mind running. "That doesn't make sense. The files in Damien's office showed photos of them together after that. And pictures of me as a baby with both of them."

"Fakes," Marcel maintained. "Created to trick you."

"Then how do you explain this?" Viv held up her wrist, showing the blue mark of her blood bond with Damien. "This only forms with a true bond. You know that, don't you? That's why you've been hunting him all these years. You're afraid of what our bond means."

Marcel stepped back, his face pale. One of the Guardians whispered something to Seraphina.

"The Twinned Souls prophecy," Seraphina said. "It's true then."

A loud crash came from outside the building. Shouting followed, then gunshots.

"He's found us," Marcel said. "Guardians, defensive positions!"

The people in red armor rushed to the windows and doors, pulling out strange glowing guns. Seraphina stayed beside Viv.

"Your father believes he's protecting you," she said quietly. "But I've had my doubts about him for some time. The blood samples, the missing reports..."

"Untie me," Viv begged. "Something bigger is happening here. Erebus is kidnapping people with hunter blood. Damien was trying to stop him."

Seraphina paused, then quickly cut Viv's ropes. "Find the truth," she whispered. "For all our sakes."

The warehouse doors burst inward. Vampires poured in, fighting with the Guardians. Viv ducked behind some boxes, looking for a way out. Then she spotted him.

Damien fought through three Guardians, his moves so fast they were almost a blur. His eyes glowed bright blue instead of the normal vampire red. When he saw Viv, relief washed over his face.

"Vivienne!" he yelled, fighting his way toward her.

Marcel appeared between them, carrying a glowing blade. "Stay away from my daughter, monster!"

They collided in a flurry of movement. Despite his age, Marcel fought with amazing skill. But Damien was bigger, faster. He knocked Marcel down and was about to strike when Viv cried out.

"Stop! Don't hurt him!"

Damien froze, his hand inches from Marcel's throat. Their eyes locked, and something passed between them—a look of recognition, then confusion.

"Your eyes," Marcel whispered. "They're blue, not red. How—"

A new group burst through the side door of the building. These vampires wore black armor with a strange sign on their chests. At their head was a tall, stylish vampire with silver hair.

"Lord Erebus," Damien growled.

"Blackthorn," Erebus said with a cold smile. "And the hunter child. How convenient to find you both here."

Marcel scrambled to his feet, looking at Erebus in shock. "You said you wouldn't come yourself. You promised to let me bring her to you."

Viv felt like she'd been hit. "You are working with him!"

"Not exactly," Erebus said. "More like he works for me. Have for years, though he doesn't always remember it. Vampire compulsion can be so useful on weak minds."

Marcel's face went blank, then twisted in confusion. "What's happening to me?"

"Dad?" Viv started toward him, but Damien pulled her back.

"He's been compelled," Damien whispered. "Erebus has been controlling him."

Erebus clapped his hands. "Enough talk. Seize them both. Kill the others."

The fighting exploded again, more violent than before. Damien pulled Viv toward a back exit.

"We have to run," he said. "We can't fight them all."

"But my father—"

"Is lost to us right now. Vivienne, please. Trust me."

Those two words hung in the air between them. Trust me. After everything that had happened, all the secrets and lies, could she?

Viv looked back at her father, who was now fighting alongside Erebus's vampires, his eyes glazed and empty. The truth hit her like cold water: Damien wasn't the enemy.

"Lead the way," she said.

They ran through the back door into a narrow alley. Damien's car waited at the end, engine going.

"The missing people," Viv said as they raced toward it. "You know where they are, don't you?"

"Yes," Damien said. "Erebus has them in his private lab. He's been experimenting on them, trying to extract and concentrate hunter blood elements."

"Why?"

"To complete a ritual that requires both royal vampire blood and hunter blood. My blood and yours." Damien opened the car door for her. "That's why he's been manipulating your father, using him to find you."

As Viv slid into the car, something sharp stung her neck. She slapped at it and pulled out a tiny dart.

"Damien," she gasped, already feeling numbness spreading through her body.

Damien spun around, but it was too late. A person stood on the roof above them, lowering a blowgun.

"Got her," the figure called. "Tell Lord Erebus the plan worked."

Viv's vision swam as Damien caught her falling body. The last thing she saw was his face, twisted in fear and rage. The last thing she felt was his cool hand on her face.

"I will find you," he whispered. "I promise."

Then darkness took her again, and this time, Viv feared she might never wake up.