Balance Beam

Today would be the day that Cecile Tatum is put to death. A stake right through the heart, in front of hundreds of vampires from all over the state of New York and tourists from the surrounding states. It was nearly nine-thirty in the evening and I sat patiently next to Janis and Summer, tapping my fingernails lightly on the arm of the chair as we waited. The staking was scheduled for 10 pm.

Much to everyone’s dismay, Cecile hadn’t said one word of Alcurd’s whereabouts or his intentions for coming to the city. She was going to be loyal to him until she died, just like she had said. And as far as Aroldo’s men who are tracking him, well, they’ve no luck at all. There was no way he couldn’t leave a trail. Someone has had to see him, or at least talked to him.

“I cannot believe the amount of people here,” Summer said, shaking her head as she looked around the auditorium. “Just to see someone die, that’s all they’re here for.”

Janis rubbed her sister’s back, looking over at me briefly. “It’ll be over before you know it.”

Summer was right though. Most of the vampires that were here showed up by their own free will, unlike the three of us. Aroldo Veneratio ordered that everyone directly involved in this case witness this. How he considered innocent Summer to be part of this, I had no idea. But like the rest of us, she had to put up with it and try her damnest to forget that it even happened.

“Giselle,” Aroldo said as he tapped me on my shoulder. “The prisoner has asked to speak to you briefly.”

I stared up at him, realizing that she was actually going to talk. The bizarre thing was, she was going to confide in me. Either that, or she was going to bitch me out and taunt me one last time before she dies. I nodded at him, rising from my seat and following him to the secret room where she was kept.

“We have microphones in the room, so do whatever you can to get as much information out of her as possible,” Aroldo ordered as we stood outside the room’s door. I nodded, inhaling sharply as I felt anxious about what was going on.

He opened the door and I stepped inside, hearing the door shut behind me. The room was dimly-lit and the only furniture was a table in the center with two chairs adjacent from each other. Cecile sat in one, her hands in cuffs and her feet cuffed to the table. I sat across from her, eyeing her cautiously. We sat in silence for the first several minutes and I began to grow annoyed.

“Your time is running out,” I finally said. She looked up at me, her eyes so dreadful and full of fear.

“Fine,” she mumbled. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know about Alcurd.”

I kept my gaze on her, trying to see if she was lying. “Why do you want to talk now?” I asked.

“Alcurd isn’t living up to his deal of saving me, so I no longer have to keep his secrets. If I’m going to die either way, I’d like to die knowing I helped stop him,” she snarled.

“Well I’m listening,” I said, hoping she would continue. She didn’t, so I sighed heavily deciding to just ask her questions. “Why did he come to New York?”

“He’s going to overthrow the council. He hates how open us vampires are about ourselves and Alcurd’s convinced that exposing ourselves is going to be the downfall of us. I agree, I mean everything was going okay until we decided to treat each other likes humans,” she said.

“Taking over the council would take several followers,” I noted. “He’s not working alone is he?”

Cecile shook her head no. “Of course not. He’s an army of followers, very loyal to him and willing to do anything for him. Alcurd’s been recruiting them for several years now.”

“He’s been recruiting for several years? We’ve only been in the public for a couple months.”

“Alcurd has his ways of finding out things,” she said, her voice cracking. “He has a couple witches working for him as well, besides me. Of course, he’ll just off them once he’s done using them for their power.”

“Where is he, Cecile?” I asked, knowing we didn’t have much time left. She began crying.

“He has a couple safe houses. One in Albany, another in Philadelphia. He’s ready for you guys to strike though, so you can’t. Not yet at least. He’s trained his followers very well and the witches have several premonitions in a day, which could easily warn him of an attack.”

I pulled a piece of paper and pen from my purse and slid them across the tabletop at her. “I need addresses, please.”

Cecile began writing as she continued to speak. “In three weeks he’s to meet with the owner of the bar, Last Drop, right here in the city. That’s when you bust him. All of his witches will be stuck in Albany at that time and he won’t bring too many followers with him. But don’t approach Brandon Connelly before all this happens, or he will reschedule with Alcurd.”

“Brandon Connelly? He agreed to be interviewed by a human magazine, why would he make alliances with Alcurd?” I asked, remembering that Bram had interviewed him.

“He’s just trying to cover his ass,” she said. “Don’t be fooled, he hates being so public as well. I’m sorry, but that’s all I really have to tell.”

I nodded, looking over at the clock on the wall. Cecile still had thirteen minutes to live. She handed me back the paper and pen, and I glimpsed over it quickly to make sure she didn’t just write anything down. She cleared her throat suddenly, causing me to look over at her.

“Alcurd is much more powerful than he was the last time you two were together, Giselle. It’s going to take hundreds of vampires to stop him. It’s going to be a civil war.”

I nodded at her, sighing deeply. I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “I’d like to thank you, for giving us this information. This is definitely a breakthrough and we couldn’t have done it without you.”

Cecile chuckled softly, wiping the last of her tears away. “I see why Alcurd liked you so much. You’re unbelievably nice and understanding, not to mention a hot piece of ass. You’re his downfall, Giselle.”

My eyebrows contorted. “I beg your pardon?”

“Did he ever tell you why he turned you?” she asked and I shook my head no. “He couldn’t kill you, Giselle. He fed on those people and drained them, but when he got to you, he froze. There you were, this frightened, beautiful young lady and he couldn’t bring himself to drain you and he couldn‘t let you just go, so he turned you instead. There’s something about you that weakens him.”

“He talked to you about me?” I asked, surprised. Hell, I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. But I knew that she wasn’t lying.

“Oh yes,” she nodded. “He still doesn’t know you’re in New York though. When he finds out, he’ll try to convince you to go back to him, I know he will. Please, be careful. He’s insane and cruel, and won’t stop until everything is exactly how he wants it.”

A knock came to the door and Aroldo stepped inside. “Time’s up. Giselle if you could please return to your seat, I need to help get Miss Tatum ready.”

I nodded and turned to look at Cecile one last time. “There is one way to definitely make sure he loses,” she smiled at me and touched my arm. Look on the back of that paper.

I jumped back, frightened that I had heard her voice inside my head. Scooping up my purse, I stood and bid Cecile goodbye. I left the room and returned to the auditorium, reclaiming my seat next to my friends. My mind wasn’t on the staking any longer. In fact, I felt sorry for Cecile now. Pulling the paper from my purse, I looked over it to see what she was talking about. In the corner, was a single word scribbled and it took me several minutes to figure out what it said:

Hybrids.

Once the hanging was over, I delivered the addresses to Aroldo in his office. He was pleased with the amount of information we now had. He dismissed me until further notice, saying that he had to set up more security and give orders to his army.

Many of the vampires that attended the staking planned on hitting up Veneratio’s Tavern, so Summer was called into work tonight. This worked out perfectly, because then I could talk to Janis about what Cecile had told me and we could figure out what the hell she meant by hybrids.

***

“Hybrids?” Janis asked me. “Like the fuel-efficient cars?”

We were now in our home, seated on the couch. I told her everything about Alcurd, his plans for the city and even why he turned me. But when I mentioned what was suppose to stop him, she was as stumped as I was.

“Yeah Janis, the fucking cars,” I rolled my eyes.

A chuckle escaped her lips and she shrugged. “I don’t know, Giselle. That’s the only hybrid I know of. Why didn’t she tell Aroldo about it?”

“I have no idea,” I shrugged. My eyes scanned the bookshelf and I stood abruptly, making my way to it. “Remember that one Vampire Lore book that you had? Is it around here?”

She nodded and pointed to a book on the second shelf. Skimming through the titles, I found it and grabbed it from it’s place. Returning to the sofa, I began to flip through the pages until I found what I was looking for. Smiling triumphantly, I handed the book to my friend with the bookmarked page.

She eyed me skeptically. “Are you serious?”

“I know it sounds crazy, but maybe Cecile was trying to say that they do exist.”

“Giselle, this is just stories and folklore,” she argued.

“What if it isn’t? It says here that hybrids are far more powerful than any vampire or witch. They’re resistant to sunlight and Norm witches spells. Hybrids feed on human or animal blood, and can even feed on human energy. They have super strength and speed, which makes them more powerful than a vamp. Oh, and they can reproduce. If all of this is true, then we wouldn‘t be able to realize it was a hybrid.”

Janis looked over at me with wide eyes. “Where the hell are we going to find a hybrid? I’m not sure that I even want to, after hearing all that,” she huffed.

“What if Cecile wasn’t telling us to find one, but to make one?”