call of night: beyond the dark Read online

  He would find out why sooner than Gwen had planned.

  Call of Night 47

  There was more darkness in Katya than anyone knew. It didn’t seem strange at all to Gwen that the entire vampire world gets turned upside down after Katya is turned.

  Katya had learned the real reason why her family was falling apart before her parent’s had their accident; she was very good at keeping secrets. She overheard a conversation her father was having on the phone when she was hiding on the staircase, she wasn’t exactly sure how to think or feel when her father’s late night trips were making her mother feel as though he was having an affair which was most of the cause of their arguments. Katya could never tell her mother and it made it harder for her to see what her mother was going through, the sadness in her eyes even though her mother would lie and say everything was alright. She never told Lily and didn’t feel the need to.

  She invited that vampire into her family’s home with no feeling of regret. It made her feel in control and not just of her own life. She knew she would enjoy seeing the look on her father’s face when he discovers the truth about what she did and who she really was, not the perfect daughter. She couldn’t help but wonder how he would react when he realizes it. He was the one who brought her into that life, he chose her destiny and she wasn’t at all disappointed.

  As for Lily, she didn’t mean much to Katya even after immortality kicked in. After their mother left Katya thought she stopped caring never knew there was a letter which Lily kept from her, she took that letter and when Lily confronted her she spoke no words only smiled wickedly.

  Katya wasn’t human even when she had a pulse, she had no soul.

  Katya could hear Xavier’s thoughts as he stood outside the mansion gate and ignored them. Julius arrived as soon as he could.

  “What’s the problem?” Julius asked.

  “I’m not standing out here for my pleasure. She used a spell.” Xavier replied.

  Call of Night 48

  “You can’t be certain it was her.” Julius knew his brother didn’t get along with Katya, he would say anything.

  “Do you see her out here, anywhere?” The frustration in Xavier’s voice was aggravating to Julius but he had a point.

  Julius never saw Katya as a threat as he should have, he began to question if it had been her all along that destroyed his clubs.

  “I told you not to trust her, she’d stake you herself.” His brother never listened to him, Xavier knew even now. Julius hated to admit when his brother was right it didn’t matter how the situation was from bad to worse.

  Julius had other properties in Thornton Lake, but the mansion was most dear to him.

  Katya walked the long hallways as she had done before humming a familiar tune, saved from the darkness outside but not from within.

  Any vampire could sense the trouble near them more near than they knew. Xavier kept his thoughts to himself; he learned in the past it was always the best thing although not so much before he was turned.

  Part of the luxury of being a vampire, no guilt.

  As for Julius, there was no time for revenge on Katya; her end would come.

  Call of Night 49

  Normally for Maggie, a lit fireplace and a good book would relax her from a busy day; Evan changed that. She knew in her heart he couldn’t stay, he needed to find peace although in his mind peace was with her and knowing that his mere presence was all that she needed to forget just for the moment, one single moment what she was going through and would be going through when the sun rose made him decide he wasn’t going anywhere. His place was on earth with her. He only wished he could be with her beyond the dark, beyond her dreams like they used to be.

  Every second they shared when he was alive, he remembered.

  The smell of her perfume when there was a slight breeze in the air, the warmth of her touch that left such an intense feeling he couldn’t explain. He had waited years to find her, to find a love as deep as the one she gave him.

  She would need him; he couldn’t tell her how it would devastate her.

  He had to tell her soon just what she had been chosen for because of her compassion for others and the strength he had never seen any other woman. He knew how she felt about her job, maybe it was the reason why their relationship didn’t reach the point he wished it had; many times the words almost left his lips but she was always called in. It was better that she never knew.

  Call of Night 50

  Evan slightly brushed the hair away from her eyes as she looked at him with a deep longing. Although it was only in her dreams she could see him, feel him no one else in the world existed; the outside was silent and the only sound that remained was her heart beating. The love they shared was unbreakable, something her father never understood. Her mother left her and her father at the hospital after she was born and the wedding ring he had given her. It was then he gave up on love except the love he would give to his daughter, he cherished every day with her and wasn’t angry with her mother quite the opposite, he was thankful. Everyone knew about Maggie’s mother but never mentioned it not even a whisper because they saw how happy she was and how much she was loved.

  Evan still couldn’t help, but wonder if she was really ready for what she was needed for.

  Call of Night 51

  Letting Alex go was more for Lily than him, it wasn’t knowing the life she could have taken from him and would have; it was knowing she would have had the same life. The thought of her sister entered in her mind and anger was harder to get rid of as a vampire.

  She thought by letting him go he could live his dreams not knowing that would never happen. Xavier was on a hunt, he needed to feed. The hunger was gnawing at his insides. It became more than that when he came across Alex, he could smell Lily all over him. She disappeared the night she was turned; he knew Alex would take him to her.

  It was more satisfaction than he planned on getting.

  Maggie didn’t expect to stay at work longer than usual especially when her and her father were supposed to have dinner, she didn’t even have time to call him and cancel with a new body on the table. She removed the sheet revealing Alex’s face, believing he was dead. He had no heart beat and he wasn’t breathing what else was she supposed to think?

  Her father entered the back room, his daughter never stopped even for a moment just to relax and clear her mind not at work.

  “I’m sorry Dad he came in last minute.” The Sheriff didn’t really need an apology, he understood. Before he could speak, the telephone rang and Maggie had to run out.

  Call of Night 52

  The Sheriff had his backed turned from the body even as a man it wasn’t easy to look at a corpse. If he had, he would have seen the body rise before he was bitten. Maggie tossed the phone after hearing her father’s scream, the body was gone and there was blood everywhere. As he lay on the ground, Maggie grabbed the first thing she could use to stop it.

  “He was a freaking vampire.” The Sheriff managed to say.

  “You’re going to be okay.” Maggie assured him.

  He wasn’t, he closed his eyes; never to open them again. She never thought she would be the one to bury her father and not alone. It would have been hard to explain to the residents what happened to him, it wasn’t something she wanted to do right away and when she was ready it would have been a flat out lie because that was how it had to be.

  In her home she sat by the fireplace and the record player on, she stayed that way for hours. Evan stood in silence; he knew he wouldn’t be able to console her.

  It wasn’t a night for him to be seen, he just watched her sleep. It was important for her to be filled with the energy she would need with the days coming, surely promising more death.

  The small town brought a peaceful feel which was the reason why so many who had come with thought of only a few days or even a week visit never left. For those who had spent their entire lives it was more of the comfort they knew they would never feel anywhere else and Maggie wasn
’t going to let evil take that from them. They were not going to live in fear; their children were going to grow old with a love that would show them what it meant to be really happy.

  There would be no pain. They would not have to feel the loss she was going through.

  She had healing hands and saw a future for those who didn’t see one for themselves.

  Call of Night 53

  As it was, it would never be again.

  For Dana and Christopher, their family had always been ready for the biggest threat. The minute they closed the door, the shifters surrounded the house. They were going to get in one way or another, Dana and Christopher were not afraid to face the challenge. Their grandmother had a special gun made with as many silver bullets as possible.

  It was Eve they most of all, she thought she could protect them. They shouldn’t have risked their lives for her own.

  “Why aren’t they coming in?” Christopher asked holding the gun steady.

  Dana turned and looked for Eve, “Because she’s gone.”

  Call of Night 55

  It became clear no one was going to get out of Thornton Lake, not alive. No matter how many times Frank tried to convince himself. George handed Frank a file he grabbed from Ty’s house he had already looked through it. Ty had been following Lily and Katya a lot longer than any other hunters who were looking out for their father. He had to keep it a secret; he didn’t know how long it would have taken Frank to accept the monsters his daughters truly were. There were photographs of Katya from a young age with Julius. Photographs of her going in and out of the clubs Julius had owned.

  The last photograph was of Julius’ club in flames which was all Frank needed to know why his good friend died. Frank knew it wasn’t just in Thornton Lake that had to survive this nightmare; he had seen it and he knew he wasn’t the only one who had to suffer the loss of children. His daughters did not belong to him anymore; it was in darkness they forever remained.

  The hunters did have an army and they would come together when needed.

  It was mid-afternoon when they made it into town, Frank saw through the passenger side window a mother holding her baby and her six year old son tugging at her shirt for her attention. George always kept his eyes on the road, he wasn’t going to lie to himself or anyone else and say life was normal or perfect; he could never do that.

  There was one stop Frank had to make, in his apartment he lit a fire and threw in the photo albums he and his family had created.

  Memories burned into ashes.

  Call of Night 56

  “That needed to be done.” George knew there were absolutely no words that could comfort his brother, not at that moment.

  George couldn’t do anything to heal his brother’s pain; all he could really do was remind him of the fight fast approaching, a fight the hunters intended to win and the focus they needed to keep.

  Frank didn’t need much reminding, it was all he could think about.

  For Lily, a spell wasn’t strong enough for her in her mind if none of them were meant to survive why should she? She had an amulet that could help her break through any spell and she had planned to get to Katya first.

  The amulet held within the magic of their ancestors, the strongest anyone had ever known. Their family’s history wasn’t a secret not from the immortals, Julius hadn’t just chosen Katya out of spite as his brother continued to believe.

  The amulet had too much power for Xavier and Julius had set his sights out on it for centuries with no idea it was right under his nose, only it was in the possession of the wrong sister.

  As the mansion’s gates opened and Lily stepped foot on to the grounds, a great force of wind blew; she could hear the voices of the ancestors, it wasn’t enough.

  She was determined to finish what was started; Katya ended the life Lily loved. Lily would end Katya’s world.

  Call of Night 57

  For the first time in years, Maggie had taken a vacation from work and wasn’t expecting visitors. There were three women standing before her when she opened the door.

  “Maggie Arnold?” The younger woman asked even though she didn’t need to.

  Maggie nodded, “Yes and you are?”

  The woman handed Maggie a letter that had been sent by her father before his death, explaining to her the situation and how he needed her help. Maggie reluctantly let them in and they gathered in the living room.

  “I’m Raven; your father got my name from a hunter friend of mine who once lived here. “ She began.

  “A hunter?” Maggie asked with a look of confusion on her face.

  “A vampire hunter. My brother was also a hunter unfortunately his life was taken by one of those things.” Raven hardly ever cried not even at her brother’s funeral.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, but how can you help me.” Maggie knew she should just trust them, her father did.

  Call of Night 58

  “We can help you win.” Raven answered. The two friends with her smiled.

  By Maggie’s expression she still didn’t understand.

  “We are everywhere, hunters that is for as long as vampires have been upon this earth so have we except vampires are a little sloppy.” Raven continued.

  Raven looked tough enough to handle any vampire. She wore black leather jeans, black floral top with boots to match and had long dark hair although the tattoos were what told the kind of person she really was.

  “Your father sent that letter because he trusts us and he knew we could protect you. I’m assuming the vampire that killed your father is still out there?” Raven asked.

  Maggie nodded without letting the tears fall. She blamed herself for his death, if she had been in the room sooner. If only.

  Raven never bothered with the question what would have been? Instead it was what could be? Her friends Kelly and Liz were on the same page, it wouldn’t take long for Maggie to be as well.

  Call of Night 59

  What Dana and Christopher didn’t know was that Eve didn’t leave the house without protection when she found herself being confronted by Christian she kept hidden out of sight. Eve knew more than Christian thought she did.

  “Are you going to kill me now?” Eve asked without fear, normally any woman who was facing a life threatening situation would show even a little, but not Eve.

  “You give me no choice.” Christian replied.

  He wasn’t going to waste any more time chatting, before he had the chance to attack he felt a pain in his side that made him fall to his knees. It was a sharp edged silver knife Eve had used although not to kill him. Christian’s pack would not chase her as long as one of them were wounded, all that they would see was Christian had closed in on her and they knew that once he was healed he could do it again. If he could find her, Eve knew she could take that opportunity to get as far away from Thornton Lake as possible; the pack would lose her scent.

  Call of Night 60

  Dana and Christopher knew it wasn’t over, the premonition in the forest was impossible to forget the thought of it made Dana’s skin crawl. Dana never let her childhood memories fade no matter difficult life had been then, the things she knew now she didn’t know then and she still had her brother; no matter the darkness that was coming her brother was in her life again.

  Christopher could never change his career, he loved being a doctor he knew he could do both. Dana was surprised he still went into the hospital despite what they had gone through. For Christopher that was reason enough, sleeping was the last thing he could do; his thoughts were scrambled he was able to focus on his work the minute he stepped into the hospital’s doors.

  Seeing a smile on his patients face was always worth the sleepless nights. He was doing more good. Nothing will ever be the same, not for those who knew about the darkness looming over the town which might be the one thing he regretted; for now he would live as he was meant to, a warrior. Being a doctor may have meant not going home to that apartment of his, but it also meant dealing with the undead.
When his sister showed up at the hospital, he didn’t want to accept his life was going to change the way it was. With Christian and the pack after them, working would give him a lot more to think about than what his life what was about to become after he thought he finally left if far behind, to have it hit him like that drained him.

  Eve thought of turning back not wanting to leave Christopher and Dana to fight alone, but she didn’t like the way she felt in that town. Thornton Lake had to kept out of sight, out of mind; it was the only way Christian could possibly forget her.

  There was something they had shared between them, but it could have been romantic; he was a werewolf and she was mortal. She didn’t even want to have it cross her mind any longer and brushed it off as she turned her head to the passenger side window keeping her eyes from the back of the taxi where the town could easily be seen since it was still in view, she hated leaving them but knew even if given the choice they wouldn’t have gone with her; the town was their home.

  She knew that feeling and it was being taken from her.

  Call of Night 61

  Christian could still feel the disappointment of her escape it brought out the fury in him; it brought out the wolf in him. He didn’t want to be that monster; he didn’t want to be like the pack who took the pleasure out of the pain of mortals. They might have enjoyed seeing them suffer, but not him. He tried to fight it he never thought he’d have to struggle so hard to keep his sanity. There was a darkness that filled the air, creeping up on him. The pack was close, at some point he was able to ditch them, but not for long. They were right outside his door, calling him out.