Twenty…

Twenty: Judgment

Contains disturbing content, language, and explicit sex.

Aubrey was guilty of her relation to the Shadow Clan.

John Lansing was her judge, jury and… she dared not think of the rest.

John took her to his weathered home. It didn’t seem too far from the Haas manor, but that didn’t help matters.

Did Vaclav know one of his own was completely whacked in the head?

Her arm crushed beneath his, John forced her into the house.

Smoke from the fire pit drifted to her nose and down her throat. She stifled the urge to cough.

“What are you going to do with me?” she screamed instead.

He dragged her to the closet and threw her inside.

“Stop!” she shouted. “I’m pregnant!”

There was no reaction in his eyes. Just the perpetual coldness.

“Welcome to your new home,” he said. “Later, you’ll meet Lars. He’s a rogue vampire; the kind that doesn’t think before biting.” John chuckled; then slammed the door shut and locked it.

He howled like one of those wolves he conjured.

Aubrey slid to the floor, rocked by disbelief. John continued his crazy rants outside the door.

He’s completely, totally, fucked-up insane, Aubrey thought.

“You’re as good as dead!” he shouted. “Along with that little bastard you’re carrying! The blood of the Shadows runs through its veins as well!”

Panic seized her. Aubrey’s breaths came in quick, shallow repetition.

What the fuck am I going to do??

How long would it be before Vaclav noticed she was missing? How much time did she have?

As it turned out, it was enough time to reflect on the flurry of events during the last few weeks. Her thoughts were the only thing that kept her from going insane.

Only two days before, she and Shawn made love.

It was pleasant at first.

Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata softly emanated from the stereo in the pavilion.

Shawn’s kisses were gentle, his lips like butterfly wings as they brushed her skin.

Slowly, his backside went up and down.  Then his mouth found her neck…

His promise broken, Shawn roughly bit her.

So Aubrey paid him back by clawing the shit out of his back.

Unfazed, Shawn continued to bang her while sucking her neck.

She screamed at him, kicking at the mattress and pounding his back.

Shawn ejaculated.

Then he rolled off her and said, “I’m sorry I did that. I don’t know what’s wrong with me anymore.”

Aubrey hated him. His apology meant nothing. She wished it could be like it used to be…

Back in college, waiting for him by the lockers.

His kisses, how they used to be romantic. No fangs involved.

She once thought they had the perfect relationship. Almost perfect.

How did her life become such a nightmare?

After what happened with Shawn, Aubrey confided in Riley.

 “Shawn bit me while we were doing it,” she said. “Now I’m totally scared of him.”

“It’s just because he’s new to it. When male vampires are horny, they want to bite…”

“Like they’re animals or some shit,” she said.

“Well, as it stands, I’m never having sex with him again.”

“Just give him time. He’ll get adjusted to it and stop hurting you.”

Easy for you to say, she thought.

Riley shot her a look.

Then her mind wandered to thoughts of Vaclav.

…and the kiss they shared a few weeks earlier. How he could be so romantic.

Blanketed by the soft comfort of his memory, Aubrey drifted to sleep.

Softly kissing her cheek, he watched over her in her dreams, protecting her.

She only wished Shawn could do the same.

Another dream began. Aubrey was submerged in a river of blood… until the substance vanished around her.

She hovered above a massive atrium. Her son stood below, his silhouette lit by flames. The fire did not hurt him, in fact it seemed to give him power; powers she’d never before imagined.

Finally, she would be seeing those powers in full force… if only in her mind’s eye. But her dreams knew far more than she realized.

He walked forward; then turned to a statue.

He lifted his arms. Spheres of light materialized from his palms.

Those spheres shot forward like bullets.

The statue exploded, causing the floor to rumble and shake.

As if nothing happened, he casually strolled a few paces ahead… morphing into a teenager.

Again, he turned to a statue.

Everything turned white. Aubrey’s ears rang.

The explosion was incredible.

It was a hellfire, raging in all its fury.

Again, he continued down the walkway.

As he matured, so did his powers.

…and once he becomes an adult, those powers would evolve into something both great and terrible; horrible and wonderful.

My name’s Reznik, he said in the dream.

Now she knew. She knew of his powers, she knew of his name.

Reznik.

Her dream shifted once more. She saw John levitating inside the closet.

Except it wasn’t a dream at all.

John lowered to the floor and slithered up to Aubrey.

“Aubrey,” he whispered.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty.”

She stirred; then bolted to her feet.

He traced her jaw with his fingers.

“I can understand what Vaclav sees in you. You’re very pretty for a Shadow,” he said. “Tell me, Aubrey. Will you allow me to suck your blood?”

His fingers moved to her neck.

There was no time to think, just react.

She kicked his nuts.

Aubrey tore out of the closet, shutting the door. She panicked for a second while wondering what else to do.

John groaned.

She spun around and tried to lock it.

Too late, the knob turned. She threw all her weight against the threshold.

“Now that’s not nice, Aubrey. Pretty please let me out?”

Fuck you, she thought, her back wedged to the door.

His foot went through the door, shattering the frame.

The door flew forward.

The impact sent Aubrey reeling over the television.

“Tsk, tsk,” he teased. “Now I have to fix the door.”

“Go to hell.”

“I’m already there. Care to join me?”

*

hehe. Thanks for reading. ♥ Chapter 21 coming this Monday.