The Cost of Freedom

I awoke with a start. Fumbling out of the tangled mess that was my sheets I scrambled out of bed and pressed myself up against the wall of the room I was in. It took me a few panicked moments to realize it was my apartment. A deep orange glow from the setting sun illuminated the space faintly. My ragged breathing was the only sound filling the small space. After a few moments I had my breathing under control and my heart no longer felt like it would burst from my chest. As I took in my surroundings I realized I was in my sleep clothes.

Had that all been a dream?

My fingers trailed along the side of my neck, but there was nothing but smooth skin. No bite marks. However, there was only one way to know for sure. I closed my eyes for a moment, focusing on my power with my fingers still pressed to the side of my neck. There, just a small tendril of his power planted within my own. Tapping into it sent a shiver through my body, causing me to pull away from it and sink to the floor.

It had really happened, that bastard of a vampire had marked me. A low growl left my lips, he had made one hell of a mistake doing that. If he thought she would just wait around for him to come get me once the sun set he was sadly mistaken. I quickly stood and went over to my duffle bag to grab a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a loose gray tank top. The damn vampire had even gone as far as to change my clothes, I thought bitterly as I changed and yanked on some combat boots and snatched my leather jacket as I left through the fire escape once more.

So why was I not packing up my things and leaving this town in the dust while I still had the daylight to do so? Because running from a Master vampire was not such a simple task, especially since I already had the first mark. Another thing I had to worry about was Alexandru catching wind of this, when a Master vampire marked someone as their animal to call news tended to spread to the other Master vampires. Smaller rumors had brought Alexandru coming after me. Staying out of his grasp had taught me a few things. The first being that I could not out run them by my own means. I would need a little help. As I rounded the front of Marguerite’s shop I walked in but stopped when my eyes met an unfamiliar face. The young woman had mocha colored skin with dark hair that fell down her back like black silk. Her deep brown eyes met mine and I felt the magic behind them, faint and nothing compared to Marguerite’s but she was a witch nonetheless.

“Where is Marguerite?” I asked sharply, in no mood for pleasantries.

“Handling some personal business, can I help you?” she asked with a smile.

“I need Marguerite, it is an emergency,” I said in a low tone, already frustrated with the young witch. I had barely three hours before the sun would be fully set and Vincent would be able to hunt me down to finish the next mark. With each mark his bond to me would strengthen until the third and final mark. I had to run while I still could and pray that the first mark would wear away with time, it was the least binding of the three, merely a seed planted to allow the second mark to take root. The third mark, well, I could only hope it would not come to that.

“She is busy,” the girl repeated once more, this time crossing her arms.

I advanced on the counter she stood behind, placing my hands on the glass top and leaning towards her. “Listen little witch, I don’t believe your kind want the Master of this city to grow any stronger, and if you want to prevent that from happening you will tell me where Marguerite is otherwise Vincent will gain considerable power and your kind will be left at the mercy of his vampires,” I spoke in a low growl, my tone deadly serious.

“Why would you help us?” The girl questioned, slightly shaken by my words. Good.

“You think I want to be under his control?” I asked rhetorically. She seemed to consider my words for a minute.

“Marguerite will be in the grave yard with the other elders, preparing for a ritual.” Before she even finished I was already hurrying out of the shop. The graveyard was a few blocks from here so I ran, not fast enough to make the humans suspicious but I did not have time to spare. The sun had already dipped below the buildings, casting the street in shadow. It was as if the sun was sinking faster than normal, making me run faster. As I closed the gates of the grave yard behind me I stopped for a moment to focus on finding Marguerite’s scent since I did not have enough time to search the entire place. When her scent met my nose I hurried towards it. The grave yard was obviously ancient, large tombs stood above ground with family names carved into them. It was like a maze of gravestones and tombs.

“Marguerite!” I called out as I got near, a slight panic settling in my stomach as I realized I was running out of daylight. “Mar-” I stopped mid shout as I rounded a corner and saw Marguerite with two other old witches standing around a tomb, she turned towards me with a large leather bound book in her hands.

“What is all the yelling for child?” she chastised with a frown.

“Vincent, he-” once more I cut myself off as realization spread across Marguerite’s wrinkled features. She knew.

“When?”

“Last night, he came into Blue Nile, the herbs you gave me tipped him off,” I explained quickly, “I plan on running, but I need something to even the odds, a vanishing spell.” A vanishing spell would sever the ties of the first bond temporarily and give me enough time to get away from this city.

“We need to get back to my shop now, I have the ingredients there,” Marguerite was suddenly all business. She handed the book to another witch, “Gale, keep performing magic to throw them off our trail, Bonnie, watch over Gale, we can’t have them finding out what we are doing,” she said with authority as she turned back to me, “let’s go.”

“And where do you think you are taking Vincent’s Animal to Call, Marguerite?” I turned to face a tall vampire with long black hair who had eyes the color of polished silver. He had three other vampires with him. A grin spread across his lips as our attention shifted to him. “So much power already, I have never felt this strong before, I suppose it is you who I should be thanking,” he said in his smooth voice, his silver eyes locked with mine. “I can only imagine how strong our Coven will be once you have all three marks,” he said as if this was just idle conversation. The thought sent my heart racing.

“This is our territory Sebastian,” Marguerite warned.

“Ah yes, but you see, you are trying to go against the master of this city by trying to help our dear Simone leave. Such a transgression cannot be over looked,” as soon as the words left his lips Marguerite clutched her head and stumbled to one knee in pain. The other two witches came forward but before they could utter a spell the other vampires had them held up by their throats.

“Stop!” I demanded, my heart racing as I watched Marguerite slowly crumple. I could hear her heart beating, but it grew fainter every second Sebastian continued whatever torture he was doing. It felt like he was draining all of the witch’s power to prevent them from fighting back. Sebastian's eyes left Marguerite and stared into my own with a curious expression.

“What was that Simone? Have you reconsidered your departure?” His tone was mocking.

“It’s me you want, leave them be,” I said clenching my fists.

“How brave, so you will come without a fight then?” Sebastian said, slowly advancing towards me.

I scoffed, “I will never stop fighting your master,” I snarled, saying the word ‘master’ as if it were a curse. How could they be out with the sun not yet fully set? Was this due to me as well?

“By force it is then,” Sebastian said, with one gesture the vampires he had come with advanced towards me.

“Three against one, not very fair,” I commented as I crouched, switching my gaze between the three vampires as I spoke. I could sense they were newly changed, did Vincent really think such weak vampires could take me? One attacked and I used his momentum to flip us so that he hit the ground and I landed on top of him with my knee pressing into his throat. They could not kill me, and I had that to my advantage. With a quick movement I moved so that I had the vampire in a choke hold in front of me as another vampire tried to attack me from behind. Instead of his punch hitting me it connected with the vampire I held in a choke hold, breaking his ribs. I let go of him and he rolled to the ground groaning and trying to breathe properly. I dodged the second vampire’s efforts to grab me once more and instead hooked my foot behind his knee and crouched down to snap it as the vampire fell. A snarl ripped from his lips and I silenced him with a swift snap of his neck. None of these vampires would die, but I was making sure their wounds were significant enough to keep them out of play for a few hours. However, as I turned to take on the third vampire I came face to face with Sebastian.

His power was nothing compared to Vincent’s and for a moment I had no doubt that I could take him on; however, as my eyes met his I felt the energy drain from my body. My limbs turned to jelly when I no longer had the energy to stand and I collapsed into his arms. How was he doing this? His fingers found my chin and lifted my gaze back up to meet his, a grin on his lips.

“Time to sleep kitten,” he said softly, his breath like a frigid breeze washing over my face, forcing my eyes closed.

I had certainly walked into the wrong city.