The Blood Painted Cage

I woke blearily on something warm and soft. My eyes remained half closed as my body’s senses stirred and felt something moulded beside it. Gradually I worked out I was in fact pressed against Vince who was currently asleep. My leg was curled over Vincent’s and my cheek was leaning against his shoulder while his hand was buried in my hair and his face pressed against the top of my head, keeping me still and breathing in my scent. My hand had somehow slipped beneath his shirt and was resting on his smooth olive chest.

For a moment I just lay in his arms, partly because I was still feeling groggy and partly because I didn’t want to move, until the reason why I was now awake in the middle of the afternoon became apparent. In the back of mind was a slightly tug. It was gentle but enough to grab my attention.

I fumbled around mentally and found that someone was attached to my mind and creating a quiet link. Alarmed, I followed it until I found a void of darkness waiting patiently. With a mixture of fear and sadness, I assessed the vampire at the end of the link and grew vaguely annoyed when I still could not break through his veil. The Lost one didn’t speak to me, only pleaded with me to go to him.

I didn’t move as my sense of duty battled with the words of Vincent. He was determined to keep me safe and not let me destroy the Lost one. He had made me promise not to go outside alone and without telling either Elizabeth or himself. But the Lost one was not far and he was calling for me quietly. No one could stand against him; not even Vincent with his parasite. He’d only be killed if he tried to fight the Lost Silver. The thought of Vincent lying dead in his own blood helped me decide quickly on what to do.

I breathed heavily and let my mind slip around Vincent’s. Lowering his awareness and soothing him into a deeper sleep, I very carefully pushed myself up into my knees. He didn’t so much as twitch as my mind soothed him and gave him the illusion I was still lying in his arms. I leaned over him briefly, letting my hand stroke his face. Vince was breathing evenly and deeply and, as always, looked calm but ready to leap into battle at any moment. Gently I let my lips press against neck lovingly before I lightly slipped off of the bed.

I sensed that the sun was strong outside and the clouds had gathered strongly. Quickly I pulled on a simple thin cardigan and padded my way out of the room. As I made my way through the old and dark house, I kept my mind firmly on the one at the other end of the thread. They never moved from where they stood in the forest outside. They remained still and waited patiently for me to come to them.

Nervously, I unlocked the door quickly and stepped out into the bright sunlight before following the mental trail to the Lost one. My mind was buzzing as fear and dread filled me. Either Vasco or Jonathan was waiting for me in the depths of the woodland and I didn’t want it to be either. Both had been kind to me and taught me how to use my abilities. When others could not comfort me, they were there, reaching out to me to give me strength. But one of them had lost their sense of self as their energy had grown to survive on death and cut out their emotions, just as Nuan had said. And it was left to me to deal with them before they begin to kill freely and threaten the security of the Old World.

As I swept through the trees, the sense of power grew thick in the air. It wasn’t ominous or imposing but it wasn’t welcoming either. With my bare feet covered in mud, I came to stop. The woodland was quiet, a little too quiet. Patiently I waited where I stood. I flexed my toes and turned now and then to observe the maze of bark and wood. When someone was finally standing with me, he had appeared so suddenly and silently I squeaked and stepped back a few paces.

With a heavy heart I stared at the smiling white haired man in front of me. He appeared the same but my eyes were still not used to his new short hair style and appeared strange to me.

“Eva, I am glad you came.” Jonathan said with so much emotion I would’ve thought he was his usual self if it wasn’t for the fact he had now opened his black void like mind to me. There was nothing there within him. No feeling, no colour, nothing. All there was was a need to kill, to feel that spark of joy from every death by his hand.

“Jonathan, I am so sorry.” I said thickly.

He smiled weakly and shook his head. “No need to apologise. What has happened has happened by my own hands. And to be honest, I don’t feel anything. I can’t feel sorry for myself.”

“There must be some way to reverse it.” I stammered, trying my hardest to keep in control of my growing urge to cry. “We can fix this Jonathan.”

“I know I can.” He said, stepping forward to stand in front of me and cup my face gently. “I have been doing research Eva and a few months ago, when I felt the darkness coming, I found a cure. There is a way for me to reclaim my emotions.”

Relief filled me briefly until dread settled. The hard look in his soft blue eyes caused flashes of the assassination attempts and the attack on my house to flicker in my mind. Jonathan had been trying to kill me for the last few months. What he had found was something I could not give him and he knew this.

Without moving, I held his cold stare and tried my best to remain calm. “How can I help you?”

The smile on Jonathan’s mouth grew eerily. I didn’t like that smile. It was a twisted version of the gentle smile I was so used to.

“There is only one way I can reclaim the man I once was.” He said softly and pressed a hand over my chest. “Eva, would you be so kind as to let me have your heart?”

I forced a laugh nervous out. “Not in the literal sense I hope.”

“I am afraid so Eva.” He said calmly.

My face fell and paled. Taking a sharp step backwards, I watched him in confusion as I clutched my hands to my chest protectively. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know why but the energy that all Silver’s have remains pure within your clan. You can kill as much as you want but it won’t morph into the thing mine has however Sinclair’s have a gentle trait and abhor killing. Their personality keeps them in check.” He explained in a warm tone he no longer felt. “To appease the energy within me and revert myself back into a being of emotion and life, I have to devour your energy source.”

My throat closed up in disgust. “You mean you want to cut out my heart and eat it?” I echoed in revulsion.

He nodded once. “That’s it exactly. I have no idea why it works, and to be honest I don’t care, but a Lost Silver eating the heart of a Sinclair heals them.”

Nodding my head slowly and mechanically, I began to walk backwards. “You can’t be serious Jonathan.”

Jonathan opened his arms wide. “I am. Whatever lies in your heart keeps your energy pure. To cure myself, I need to eat that source.”

“I can’t Jonathan.” I said thickly from both sorrow and fear.

The power that surrounded him rippled and thickened as he looked at me with a sad expression. “I thought you wouldn’t. It was why I have been trying to get hold of my salvation through others. They were too weak though and your guards were too loyal.” He sighed heavily. “That parasite of yours though was the major problem. He had taken down quite a few of my assassins. But he won’t be coming this time. Not that he could do much even if he came here anyway.” Jonathan said with a slight nonchalant shrug.

Dread and panic swamped me and gripped me so firmly I shook slightly. I flung my mind out to seek Vincent but I only found a barrier, keeping me from feeling his comforting mind. “What do you mean?” When he remained silent and only smiled at me hauntingly, my fear turned to anger. “What have you done to Vince?”

A strange rumbling echoed above and the sky darkened slowly. The sudden gathering of a storm caused Jonathan to look up then back at me warily.

“You have been feeding properly.” He said almost irritably. “No doubt the parasite convinced you to.”

The sky growled angrily, mirroring my growing rage. “Tell me Jonathan!” I demanded.

Jonathan scratched his face in apparent boredom as he watched me with half closed eyes. “Although I am Lost, Gawain still follows me. He wants me to return to who I once was and he values my life more than yours.” He said. “Blackburn has protected you too well so he has gone to dispatch him for me.”

My heart stopped from terror. Gawain was Jonathan’s chosen partner, his guard and killer. As long as Jonathan was alive Gawain could never be killed. He was practically immortal and not even Vincent’s calculating parasite would stand against him. It did not take me long to decide to run back and help Vincent. I whirled around to begin the sprint back to the Blackburn house however Jonathan would not let me go so easily. Letting his mind grab my ankles, he forced me to fall into the earth below me quite hard.

“You are to face me, Eva.” He said firmly. “Either I rip out your heart or you end me. If you wish to save your lover, then destroy me, and do it quickly before Gawain hacks him to pieces.”

I pushed myself up and stood shakily onto me feet. I didn’t want to fight Jonathan. He had helped me so much through my early years as a vampire. I still could hear the echo of his laugh and the gentility of his voice. I didn’t want to destroy my friend. I grabbed my throat when an invisible pair of hands gripped it suddenly. I struggled to breathe but Jonathan stared at me with something cold and lifeless in his eyes. Suddenly I realised this was no longer Jonathan. He had died the moment the energy morphed into the demonic essence it was now. I didn’t know whether eating my heart would cure him but I knew I could not let myself die. Not until I left an heir behind at least. I thought of Vincent suddenly. I wanted him to be the father of my child and no one else. I didn’t want Vincent to be killed fighting in a battle he couldn’t possibly win but I couldn’t help him here. At least, not in the fight against Gawain. I could still stop Gawain. To kill Gawain was to kill Jonathan. Suddenly, my options were very limited and I grudgingly came to a decision.

Roughly I let my mind slip in between my throat and Jonathan’s grip and shattered the link. He stumbled back slightly and grunted in pain before he looked up at me with that haunting smile.

“So you will fight me.” He said in a light tone.

“I do it for Vincent.” I said softly. “And I do it for you.”

The earth rumbled suddenly rock and mud began to shoot out of the ground, floating and merging above Jonathan’s outstretched hand. It was happening so quickly I barely had time to throw up a strong enough barrier when the thick ball of rock hurtled at me in an incredible speed. My head spun from pain when the ball hit my barrier and shattered. Jonathan gathered him mind for another attack and in that moment, left me an opening to take control of the situation.

Quickly and without hesitation, I created a link between our minds and flooded his mind completely. He staggered at first and tried to batter me out but my mental power was far stronger than his now at its full capacity having been made to feed properly.

I soothed him gently, lulling him into a sort of hypnosis to prevent him from fighting me. He stood their limply, breathing slowly and his eyes half closed and unfocused and the small stones he had been gathering fell to the earth again now that its creator had forgotten what he had been doing.

Continuously singing gently in Jonathan’s mind, I let my mind slip through his body until I found his heart. For a moment I comforted him for his sake and for mine, whispering words of comfort and love while gently caressing his hair mentally until I felt time pressuring me. Every moment Jonathan was alive gave Gawain time to destroy Vincent. Trying my best to stop the tears from falling and failing miserably, I gently took control of his body. Very slowly to ensure Jonathan felt no pain, I closed his body down. I stopped his heart, lungs and blood flow carefully and, just before the last of his life fade, I felt emotions spark within him. As death claimed my old caring friend, he was filled with love and gratitude for me, silently thanking me for destroying him.

As I gently guided his body down to the earth, my tears were now flowing like rivers down my cheeks. I had felt his old self that had been trapped deep within himself. He had been filled with so much regret and pain. Jonathan had only wanted his old self back, to feel emotions and see the world in colour and life, and the energy tried to do that for him; just like mine had reacted to my needs and wishes when I lost control. He never wanted it to be my death for his life.

I allowed myself a moment to place his hands on his chest and lean down to kiss his forehead. I would come back to his body and bring him in doors but right now I had another problem. Vincent was currently lost.

I stood sharply and wiped my face hard before darting back towards the house. I was thankful that I had not strayed too far from the house as Vincent’s rage was abnormally strong. While I did not fear for him with Gawain undoubtedly dead, I did fear for Elizabeth’s safety. I had no idea how strong she was and if I did not stop him quickly, he may end up killing her.

I practically threw myself at the door and shoved it open as soon as my mind fiddled with the lock. I darted inside and almost instantly found the body of a lithe blond vampire which was undoubtedly the body of Gawain.

My eyes snapped up when there was a crash and a large body came flying out of the neighbouring room in an explosion of wood. They rolled across the floor but leapt to their feet smoothly, hunkered low and on the defence. I was shocked to see that it was a woman who had been thrown across the hall and someone I recognised thoroughly. Her skin was olive and her thick bird nest hair was just as dishevelled as it was when she appeared as a small child. Only Elizabeth wasn’t a small child. She was a tall, busty and quite curvaceous woman with open claw like wounds covering her limbs and torso. My sudden distraction and new deeper confusion of Elizabeth however was taken quite roughly by Vincent as he darted out of the room he and his sister had been fighting in.

Before Vincent even got close to his snarling sister, my mind lashed out and hit him hard in the chest which threw him back. Having been knocked smoothly to the ground, Vincent growled but remained still as my influence took over his limbs and held him still. He was calm though and it became apparent that his parasite was learning when I am stepping in to stop him and not resisting my control over him.

I walked swiftly over to him and my legs gave way as soon as I was standing over him and staring at Vincent’s bloodied rough face. I didn’t care for the pain my knees received at hitting the floor hard. I only cared that Vincent was still with me. He was alive still, unharmed and breathing. Tears and a horrible sorrow filled me rapidly as the reality of what I had done and what Jonathan had tried to do sunk in.

I couldn’t stop the tears this time and buried my face in Vincent’s torn blood spattered shirt, letting myself cry without holding back. At first the parasite remained strong but the sound of my crying and Vincent’s desire to be in control soon had the man pushing himself up. Before I had time to register what was happening, Vincent was sitting with me in between his legs and clutched to his chest. He held me tightly, stroking my hair while he spoke softly to me, not bothering to ask what had happened. He knew and he was livid at having not kept his promise to me. Vince had wanted to protect me so much from the heavy weight of killing my old friend yet he couldn’t stop what I had needed to do. No one would’ve been able to stop the inevitable. Jonathan was to die my own hands and he was not to be the last. Any Silver who becomes Lost in the future was to die by my own hands and that knowledge was hard to bare. I was not only the ruler of the vampires but I was also their executioner.

I continued to cry my heart out for a long time, taking comfort from Vincent’s soothing voice and secure arms while Elizabeth watched wordlessly, waiting for the sun to disappear from the sky so she could gather the dead.