The Cost of Freedom

The sun washed over me like a warm blanket. I blinked in the sudden brightness of it all and squinted as the scene came into focus. My body froze. This valley, I remembered it clearly. The lush green field I stood in was surrounded by a ring of trees, thick and luscious. I was back in Romania. I began to question my sanity, to question what was real and what was not. Could I be dreaming again? Had I ever woken up? My heart beat heavily in my chest as I tried to understand what was happening in my mind. I took a step forward and realized I was in a white silk dress that hung to my knees, my bare toes curling in the soft green grass. My hair hung down in its natural waves, golden like my lion’s fur, as I turned on the spot to take in the vision before me. I would be lying if I did not say the sight made me nostalgic, Romania was my home, my Pride was here, and so was my younger brother.

Just then a sound caught my attention and I whirled to face a large lion standing at the tree line. It stood staring at me, its mane moving ever so slightly in the soft breeze. With a swift turn it disappeared into the trees once more. Without understanding my sudden urge to chase after it I found myself running gracefully across the open clearing and into the trees. My feet carried me easily through the thick forest, the lion always within sight but out of reach. I could not understand the desire to catch the lion and yet my feet continued to carry me forward. Suddenly the lion disappeared from view and I stopped. As I listened for any signs of it the only sound around me was my quiet breathing. “Come back,” I pleaded, calling out for it as I turned on the spot to try to find him. Suddenly a pulse of cold energy swept through the trees. The pulse stole the breath from my lungs for a moment and made me stumble forward a step.

The sun was covered by black clouds, stealing its warmth and turning the day to night. My eyes swept from the sky to the trees as their branches sharpened into something more sinister. Goosebumps rose along my arms as a chill swept through the trees. The grass turned a lifeless brown beneath my feet, fallen leaves crunching beneath them as I took a step back. What had once been beautiful was now haunting, lifeless, it was a nightmare. “No,” I breathed, staring at the scene in front of me in confusion and horror. From behind me I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The noise echoed in my ears even though the trees should have muffled it. My piercing blue eyes searched the trees for the source of the noise.

“Simone,” Vincent spoke my name in a fatherly tone, calling out to me, willing me to turn and face him. My movements stopped and I stayed staring at the lifeless trees in front of me, knowing full well Vincent was behind me. His power crept along the ground like a mist, swirling around my ankles and sending chills through my body. My heart seemed to kick into over drive, preparing to run.

“I should have known this was no dream,” I muttered, finally putting the pieces together. “You used my memories against me,” this time anger had made its way into my voice. I did not take lightly to him using my memories of Romania as a weapon against me.

“Simone, you must calm yourself otherwise I will be forced to make you.” He spoke the words in a stern manner, indicating that he was not one to bark and not bite. A flash of lightening cast a flash of light through the darkness we both stood in, making me flinch. “Are you calm Simone?” He asked in that infuriatingly calm voice of his.

I was far from calm. Frightened, angry, and confused yes, but calm? Absolutely not.

“If I want to calm down I will, you have no say in the matter Vincent.” I spoke the words slowly, fully aware that I was treading into dangerous waters and yet unable to stop myself. He had hijacked my dream, I was in an environment of his making and I had no idea how to get out.

“What a childish thing to say Simone. As if you ever had and say in the matter.” He spoke calmly, his words reminding me of a disappointed teacher. However I could hear the sliver of anger in his words. Oh yes, that had definitely pissed him off.

I felt the energy around us shift and suddenly large black vines shot from the ground beneath me. Before I could even try to escape they had encircled my wrists in their grip and then my ankles. They lifted me a few inches off the ground and held me in place facing the vampire. However I shut my eyes and kept them shut. I knew exactly what he was trying to do and I would not make it easy. The wind began to pick up, blowing my hair around slightly as the sound of his footsteps approached.

“Look at me Simone,” he commanded emotionlessly.

I refused.

“Simone.” This time his tone held a warning, my name sharp on his tongue.

Still, I kept my eyes tightly shut. I could feel him approach me, so quickly that as he stopped a small breeze hit me from his movements. My breath caught as his hands encircled my wrists over the vines, my heart beat even faster if it was possible. Surely it would burst at this rate.

“Look. Simone, look at me.” I felt the power in his voice and it called to the power within me. It was as if my eyes flew open of their own accord. As my sapphire gaze met his I felt trapped once more. How could I fight when I could barely resist his commands. Two unnaturally red flames grew from his eyes and for a moment they hovered over my own before they covered my vision and turned everything a reddish hue. The second mark. I felt his power settle over mine, circling through it like the vines trapping my wrists and ankles. Tainting my soul.

As the red cleared from my vision I took a shaky breath and watched as a grin slid across Vincent’s lips. The grin put me over the edge. Anger bubbled up from within like a growing wave. I was comfortable with anger, knew the emotion well and I wrapped myself around it. There was no room for fear, he had done what I feared. Now there was only pure anger and I used it to fuel my courage to do what had to be done. I had to take back control of this nightmare.

“Get out of my head,” I whispered dangerously low.

Vincent removed his hands from my wrists and tipped my chin up with his fingertips. Since the vines had lifted me a good nine inches off the ground I was eye level with Vincent. “What was that my dear?” he said pleasantly, as if he had not just taken one more step closer to taking my freedom.

“Get out of my head!” I shouted, this time putting power behind the command. The warmth of my power pushed against the chill of his. This was my mind he was trespassing in. My power pulsed once more, completely chasing away the cold breeze and loosening the grip of the vines. For a moment it felt like I was falling into nothingness.

With a gasp I woke up in a bed, scrambling out from under the covers I ended up falling to the floor in a mess of blankets and sheets. I was still dressed in the clothes I had been wearing, my boots sat at the end of the bed and I had a moment to appreciate the irony of the vampire who brought me here being polite enough to remove them. While I took in my surroundings I pulled them back on. The room was old and on the second story based off the view from the old fashioned window. It looked like an attic room, in one corner was an old chest and a chest of drawers along another wall. The bed I had been laying on was a large four poster bed with a white duvet and sheets. Across the room was a door.

I stood quickly and went over to it, quietly I pulled it open. It led to a hallway with stairs at one end. Why would they leave it unlocked? I went to take a step forward when a forced pushed me back, I stumbled backwards and looked back at the door with wide eyes. This time I looked closer at the door and found that drawn on the wooden floor right at the base of the door was a solid line. A spell had me trapped in here. Why would the witches help the vampires?

As if to answer my questions I heard footsteps coming down the hall. The same girl from Marguerite’s shop appeared in front of the doorway.

“What is going on, why do you have me trapped in here?” I fired off, anger rising up once more.

“We have no choice,” she said softly, glancing over to the stairs, “I’m supposed to be up here giving you this,” she added, handing me a tray of food.

I stopped myself from yelling once more and took in her expression. She was frightened. “Is Marguerite alright?” I whispered. The girl nodded, urging me to take the tray.

I took the tray from her just to get her to stop shoving it at me. “This spell prevents you from leaving, the barrier cannot be destroyed without magic more powerful than it,” the girl spoke slowly, emphasizing each word. For a moment I was confused as to why she bothered explaining it to me but then I realized she was staring at the tray and I realized there was a small lump under the lacey napkin. “The only kind of magic like that would be the blood of a stronger witch than me since I cast the spell.” I looked up at her, then moved the napkin to see a small vial of red liquid. This time my eyes shot to hers in surprise, I knew exactly what was in that vial, Marguerite’s blood. I mouthed the words ‘thank you’ and she nodded solemnly. “Sebastien is outside talking to Vincent’s third of command, he should be up here soon,” her words had a different meaning to me: leave now while you have an opening.

The young witch disappeared back down the stairs and I silently set the tray of food down on the floor and took out the small vial. Popping the cork off the top of it I tipped it over the line drawn in salt before me. The salt seemed to blow away of its own accord as the blood hit it. Those witches were crafty that’s for sure. Quietly I left the room and went down the stairs the witch had used. Once I reached the first floor I realized I was in a church, it was old and obviously no longer used but I still found it unbelievable that the vampires would use a church to lock me up. Not taking a moment longer to question the vampire’s reasoning I hurried to the door across from the stairs that had a broken exit sign above it.

I welcomed the fresh air as it washed over my face, but I did not have time to relish in my small freedom when it could so easily be taken once more. I took a moment to take in my surroundings and then headed off towards Marguerite’s shop once more. The night seemed deathly quiet to me as I did my best to stay silent as I made my way through town. While I had been unsuccessful in getting a vanishing spell I would not give up. Vincent would have to drag me back kicking and screaming if he wanted me to be his Animal to Call. When I got to Marguerite’s shop I did not bother going up to my apartment to get my belongings. Money meant nothing if I had no freedom. What I came back for was my motorcycle. It sat parked in the back ally of the shop and I hurried over to it and swung my leg over the sleek bike. Without another moment of hesitation I had the key out of the pocket of my leather jacket and the engine roared to life. I kicked it into gear and shot out of the ally.

As I neared the city limits going at least ninety miles an hour sirens sounded behind me and the road was lit up with red and blue lights. Shifting into the next gear I ignored the sirens and sped up. There was no way I was stopping when I was so close. However, my chase ended a few blocks down when another police car pulled out in front of me and blocked the road. I squeezed the brakes and the bike skidded to a halt. The officer in front of me got out of the car with his gun already drawn. Instinct took over and before I could think over my actions I had rushed towards the officer and knocked the gun out of his hand and had my forearm pressed against his throat as I pushed him back towards his police car. As more red and blue lights lit up behind me I suddenly regretted what I just did.

“Freeze!” The order was followed by the barely audible click of a gun’s safety being switched off. I froze and stepped away from the officer I had attacked. I was going to be taken in for sure now. I placed my hands over my head and heaved a sigh. “Dammit,” I muttered under my breath. I could not risk the cop getting in a lucky shot and seriously injuring me. The officer who had told me to freeze shoved me down onto my knees and handcuffed me as he read me my rights.

“Do you understand?” He asked as he finished up and jerked me to my feet.

“Yep,” was my clipped reply. Next I was shoved into the back of a police cruiser and the officer was telling the other officer to bring my bike to the impound lot.

The ride to the station seemed to take forever, bringing me deeper and deeper into the city I had been trying to escape from. How could I have been so stupid to be caught by two police officers, I had been so close and now everything the witches had done was wasted because I could not keep to the speed limit. My internal punishment ended as we reached the station and the officer pulled me out of the car and led me into the station.

“Sit,” the officer commanded, pointing to a row of chairs in front of a desk where others were being processed. I took in my surroundings as I waited for the officer to come back. “Got any ID on you?” He asked.

“Nope,” I said, looking up at him with a sarcastic grin.

“Guess you get to spend the night in the holding cell until we can process you then,” the officer said, yanking me up from my chair. Obviously he did not appreciate my attitude.

My company in the holding cell turned out to be a drunken prostitute, a very large woman asleep on the bench along one wall, and another one who immediately sized me up as I entered the cell.

“You’ll get your phone call soon,” the officer said and I fought myself not to laugh out loud. Wonderful, I had a phone call but no one to call. Another reason I was on edge was that I was a shifter locked up in a cell. With humans still oblivious to the existence of the supernatural being locked up in a cell was not the best place to be. I rested my head against the bars with a groan.

“Hey! Keep it quiet in there!,” I jumped slightly at the shout. My glare fell on a stout police woman behind a desk off to the right of the holding cell. Without even bothering to send back a retort I pushed away from the bars and began to pace the floor of the cell. As I heard another officer walk in I noticed a dark haired officer watching me, he looked to be in his mid-twenties.

“What’s she in for?” I heard him ask another officer that had just entered the room. He probably thought I would not be able to hear him.

“Speeding and assaulting a police officer, was doin’ 95 when we stopped her,” the other officer answered as he scribbled some info for another arrest down on paper. When I looked up once more I realized the officer who had asked about me was walking over to the cell. My eyes met his as he stopped in front of the cell, standing just three feet away from me.

“What were you running from?” he asked curiously, tilting his head as he watched me.

“And why would I tell you?” I questioned as I crossed my arms, ”you wouldn’t even believe me if I did,” I continued with a humorless laugh. Just imagining telling the officer I was on the run from the Master vampire of this city who was after me because I was a werelion and he wanted me as his Animal to call was enough to make me roll my eyes and look away from the officer.

“Try me,” the officer said in a rather cocky tone. I looked back to him with my eyebrows raised and just as I was about to snap at him once more to leave me alone I heard the door to the jail slam shut. Vincent’s power within me stirred to life and my eyes widened as Vincent himself stepped around the corner into the room I was in, accompanied by a police officer. He wore a very well-tailored gray suit with shiny leather shoes. On his regal features he wore an expression of success. How could he have found me so quickly? Had someone told him? But who could have told him? Suddenly I felt even more trapped. Like a rabbit stuck in its den as the wolf dug its way in.

“Simone Vicariu, where is she?” The officer escorting Vincent asked to the woman who had yelled at me. The woman pointed at me where I stood in the holding cell, clearly visible. My eyes darted back to the dark haired officer still standing in front of me.

“You can’t let him take me, he is who I’m running from,” I whispered urgently, desperate for any means to stay out of Vincent’s grasp. The officer gave me a confused look as the vampire in question approached the cell. I moved back so that I was not standing by the bars. His eyes met mine and in them I saw a mask of worry and pity. What was he playing at?

“I am very disappointed in you Simone. I would expect you to know enough to obey the law, you are lucky the officers found you before something bad happened,” he spoke the words as if he were some sweet and caring parental figure. Talk about putting on an act.

“What’s going on?” the dark haired officer asked, looking from me to Vincent suspiciously.

“This woman is off her medication. He is here to pay her bail and take her home,” the other officer replied. His words caused my mouth to fall open in surprise, off my meds? My expression shifted into a glare as I shifted my eyes to meet Vincent’s.

His black eyes shined like a sharks as a fake friendly smile spread across his lips. “Yes Simone, it’s time to go home. It’s very late and you need to rest.”

“I am not on any medication, he’s lying! I’m not crazy, he is the crazy one, he’s after me,” I rambled, my anger getting the better of me as I pointed an accusing finger at Vincent. I stopped as I realized I was starting to sound nuts and sighed out of frustration.

Instead of forcing me into compliance like he had done at the club he merely let a fraudulent disappointed breath leave his lips and looked down a bit, his facial expression playing up his little scam. “I should have known this would happen, I apologize for her behavior Officer, I was irresponsible and forgot to make sure she took her medicine. I hope she did not cause too much trouble,” he finished with a glance towards me. I could not help but stand in complete shock as he put on this act. Damn he was good, I almost believed him.

“Don’t worry Mr. Madsen, no real damage was caused, we can go finish the paper work up front. Kaswell, bring her up to the front would ya?” With that said, the officer turned back to the front desk. Vincent, however, stayed behind for a moment, his gaze catching mine with a concerned look on his face, “I am so happy to see you are alright, I was very worried Simone.” The smile that crept over his face flashed a peek of his fangs unnoticed by anyone else. A low growl bubbled from my lips and Vincent chuckled as he turned to fill out the paper work and pay my bail.

I could only hope it cost him a lot to get me out of here.