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CHAPTER 33
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Marked CHAPTER 34
Caleb led me.This staircase was narrow and steep, and led into real blackness. After winding and winding, deeper and deeper, I finally saw a light in the distance, and started to hear movement. As we turned the corner, we entered another room.This room was huge and brightly lit, torches everywhere. It mirrored the upstairs rooms identically, with soaring, stone, medieval ceilings, arched, covered in intricate detail. There were large tapestries on the walls, and the huge space was filled with medieval furniture.It was also filled with people. Vampires. They were all dressed in black, and they moved casually about the room. Many of them sat in various seats, some talking to each other. In the other coven, under City Hall, I had felt evil, darkness, had felt in constant danger. Here, I felt strangely relaxed.Caleb led me across the long room, right down the center. As we walked, the movement subsided, and a hush descended. I could feel all the eyes on us. As we reached the end
Marked CHAPTER 35
As if to confirm my thoughts, the judge in the middle slowly shook his head, staring at Caleb with condescension.“You have made a grave mistake,” he said. “What you fail to see is that you are the one who began this war. Your departure is what has alerted them to our presence.“Furthermore, she is not the one you think she is.”Caleb looked confused.He said, “Then how do you explain–”Another council member spoke this time, “Many centuries ago there was a case like this. A vampire was immune to weaponry. People thought he was the Messiah then, too. He was not. He was merely a half-breed.”“Half-breed?” Caleb asked. He suddenly sounded unsure.“The vampire by birth,” he continued, “one that was never turned. They are immune to some weaponry, but not to others. But that does not make them one of us. Nor does it make them immortal. I’ll show you,” he continued, and suddenly turned to me.I felt nervous with his eyes staring through me. “Tell me young one, who turned you?”I h
Marked CHAPTER 36
Caleb and I stood together on the large, open terrace outside the Cloisters, looking out at the night. Far-off, I could see the Hudson River, peeking out between the bare trees of March. In the distance, I could even see the tiny lights of cars heading over the bridge. The night was completely silent.“I need you to answer some questions for me, Caleb,” I said softly, after several seconds of silence.“I know,” Caleb answered.“What am I doing here? Who do you think I am?” I asked. It took her a few seconds more to summon the courage to ask the final question, “And why did you save me?”Caleb stared off into the horizon for several seconds. I could not tell what he was thinking, or if he would even answer.Finally, he turned to me. He stared right into my eyes, and the power of his stare was overwhelming. I couldn’t look away if I tried.“I am a vampire,” he said, flatly. “Of the White Coven. I have lived for over 3,000 years, and I have been with this coven for 800 of them.”“W
Marked CHAPTER 37
I couldn’t believe it. I had just turned 18. And my cravings had just begun.“Half-breeds are also mortal,” Caleb continued. “They can die, like regular humans. We, on the other hand, cannot. “In order to be a true vampire, one would have to be turned by a true vampire, one who fed with the intent. Vampires are not allowed to turn just anyone—it would inflate our race too greatly. They must receive permission in advance from the Master Council.”I furrowed my brow, trying to take it all in.“You have some of our qualities, but not all. And since you are not a full breed, unfortunately, the vampire race will not accept you. Every vampire belongs to a coven. It is too dangerous not to. Normally, I could petition to accept you in our ranks. But given that you are mixed…they would never allow it. No coven will.”Caleb sighed.“I doubt a werewolf pack will ever accept you, either,” he continued. “You are a rogue in every sense. But not the typical rogue. You are not evil. On the cont
Marked CHAPTER 38
I felt my heart melt as Caleb stared into my eyes.“She’s not my wife,” he said softly. “We were married once, yes, but that was 700 years ago. It only lasted a year. In the vampire race, unfortunately, they don’t forget things easily. There are no annulments.”But I still felt upset. I didn’t know whether to trust him.I tossed his hand off of me. “Well, whatever she is, she’ll be happy to have you back.”I kept walking, right for the steps.Again he stopped me, this time getting around me and standing directly in my path.“I don’t know how I’ve offended you,” he said, “but whatever I did, I am sorry.”It’s what you didn’t do, I wanted to say. It’s that you didn’t care, that you don’t really love me. That I was just an object, a means to an end. Just like every guy I’ve ever known. I had thought that this time, maybe, it was different.But I didn’t say that, instead, I just lowered my head, and did my best to suppress a tear. I couldn’t, though. I felt the hot tears streamin
Marked CHAPTER 39
{KYLE’S POV}Kyle walked straight down the stone corridor, flanked by a small entourage of vampires. They headed quickly down the hall, their footsteps echoing, one of his aides holding a torch out in front.They were heading deep into the corridor of command, a subterranean chamber which no vampire ever entered unless given permission. Kyle had never been down this deep before. But on this day, he was summoned by the supreme leader himself. It must have been serious. In 4,000 years, Kyle had never been summoned. But he had heard of otthers who had. They had gone down there, and had not come back up.Kyle swallowed hard, and walked faster. He had always believed that it was best to greet bad news quickly, and get it over with.They came to a large, open door, guarded by several vampires, who stared coldly back. Finally, they stepped aside and opened the door. But after Kyle passed, they held out their staffs, preventing his entourage from following. Kyle felt the door slam behi
Marked CHAPTER 40
{JONAH’S POV}Jonah sat in the police station, very afraid. On one side of him sat his dad, looking more nervous than Jonah had ever seen him, and on the other, his newly-hired lawyer. Across from them, in the small, bright, interrogation, sat five police detectives. Behind them stood five more, all pacing and agitated.It was the biggest news story of the day. Not only had an internationally-acclaimed vocalist been murdered, right during his debut performance, right in Carnegie Hall—not only had he been murdered in a suspicious way, but things had managed to get even worse. When the police followed up on the only lead they had, when they had visited her apartment, four policemen were killed. To say that things had escalated was to put it mildly.Now, not only were they after the “Beethoven Butcher” (or “Carnegie Hall Killer,” as some papers were calling her) but they were also after a cop killer. A four-cop killer. Every cop in the city was on the case, and no one would rest unti
Marked CHAPTER 41
{JONAH’S POV}Jonah debated with himself over how much to tell them. Of course, there was more. There was his getting beat up by those bullies. There was her journal, lying mysteriously beside him. His suspicion that she had been there. That she had helped him. That she had even beat up those guys somehow. How, he had no idea.But what was he supposed to tell these cops? That he had gotten himself beat up? That he thinks he remembered seeing her there? That he thinks he remembered seeing her beat up four guys twice her size? None of it made any sense, not even to him. It certainly wouldn’t make sense to them. They would just think he was lying, making stuff up. They were out for her. And he wasn’t going to help.Despite everything, he felt protective of her. He couldn’t really understand what had happened. A part of him didn’t believe it, didn’t want to believe it. Had she really killed that vocalist? Why? Were there really two holes in his neck, like the newspapers said? Had sh
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