Chapter 5: I think he's the one who made me what I am.
He told me that we had to meet the council at a place that no one would expect, but I was still surprised at the location of the meeting. Apparently, the least likely place for the very mysterious council to meet was the strip club (I know ew, right). I noticed that Fino's eyes never even skimmed over the women at the club. His eyes were straight in front of him, settled on the table in a back corner where several men and a few women sat. I knew automatically; these people were the council. I felt their presence in the room. I looked at Fino and found him studying my face. He smiled knowingly.
"You can feel their presence can't you," he said. I nodded my head because I couldn't trust myself to speak.
We walked straight to the table and sat down in between a male who looked about twenty but his stance suggested he was much older, and a woman looked about 30 but gave the same impression that she was much older. it occurred to me that they all could be many centuries older than me.
I leaned over in Fino's ear and asked, "How old are they?"
He turned to me with a smile on his face and whispered back,"You noticed the way they sit, didn't you."
"It isn't that hard to notice the way they move about suggest that they no more than you and that if you mess with them you are going to get a fight but you won't win. Their eyes also give away some of their knowledge now that I look at them." His smile widened at that and he turned his full attention back to the council without answering my question. I scowled.
"Hello, I'm Bertoldo. I am the leader of the council. I was told by Fino that he had no other choice but to pull Javen off you. Do you concur," he asked in a neutral tone that was somehow threatening.
I looked down at my hands and said, "Yes."
"Can you tell us what happened in the few minutes leading up to the attack, and everything that happened after leading up until now." they all asked together.
I explained it all to them while they sat in silence. They didn't say anything until I got to the part about Fino giving me his blood and I gave him mine. I started to get nervous and started squirming.
"Do you know what it means when you exchange blood with another incubus in a short period of time? It means that you are mated, or as most mortals would say you are now married!" exclaimed Bertoldo.
Fino and I exchanged a look of shock and then turned away from each other. We had not meant for that to happen. So now I'm married to a guy who I can't even remember existed through most of my life. The more I thought about it the more I could see the cracks in my memory. I always thought I had a memory problem but now I know that it wasn't me. Now I couldn't even remember when and where I was born.
"Fino, could you please tell me when and where I was born, I seem to have forgotten," I asked very nervously hoping that he knew.
He looked at me with concern crossing his eyes and then turned back to the council and asked if he could tell me. They seemed more concerned about my marriage than me not remembering my birthday.
"You were born on September 11, 1857, in Israel," he said softly, and I started to get dizzy as another memory resurfaced.
I sat bolt upright in my old and worn bed. I had just woke up from the strangest dream. I gagged over the smell of blood. I lit a candle in the darkness and what I saw shocked me. Lying at the foot of my bed were my parents in a messy heap. They were so pale. There was blood on the ground were one of them had obviously tried to fight. I know I should look away but the blood was so fascinatingly red. All of a sudden I realized what was going on in my head and forced myself to turn away. I don't think there was a single drop of blood left in their bodies. What could have done that to them was my first thought, but that was soon washed away with the dread of knowing that I was one of them now and I had the bight on my neck to prove it. Suddenly someone rushed from a dark corner to the exit of the house. I was too scared to yell at them to stop but I got a glimpse of who had killed my parents and cursed me to live forever. To watch empires rise and fall. To watch all those I care about die.
I was suddenly back in reality. I was in Fino's arms and he looked as if it was a strain to keep me there. I relaxed every bone in my body and leaned into him suddenly exhausted. He somehow made me feel like I was safe for the first time but maybe I was just going crazy and made all of this up in my mind. I closed my eyes and laid my head on his chest forgetting that we were in a meeting. No one disturbed me while I mulled over what had just happened in my head and why Fino would have to be holding me down. When I decided that thinking wasn't going to help I looked up. We were still at the club but now everyone was looking at me.
I looked up to Fino and asked, "Why is everyone looking at me like I'm crazy?"
He looked down at me and whispered, "You just tried to attack the bartender." He pointed to a man in the corner with blood trailing down his nose.
I was so stunned that I couldn't speak. I tried to move as far away from the man as possible, which was kind of hard since Fino was right behind me. The man in the corner noticed how I reacted to seeing him and just laughed. I pressed even further back and suddenly Fino was holding me in place asking me what was wrong. He sounded like he was far away.
"He was there when they killed my parents…. I think he's the one who made me what I am. " I managed to choke out.
He pulled me around a corner and through a back exit before he asked if I was sure. I explained the flashback and the missing or perhaps replaced memories I've noticed since I got away from Javen. He walked right back into the building with me and 'confronted' the man who was at the scene of my parent's murder. Before anyone could react Fino had landed an uppercut to the man.,and faster than anyone could see he grabbed him and drug him outside. He produced rope from a bag and tied the man up.
"Did you kill Cian and Akeldama?" He yelled.
"Yes I killed them and I cursed their daughter," He motioned towards me, "to be a vampire. It was only fitting for what her parents did to me and my family." He spat.
"What did my parents do to you that was so bad that you killed them and cursed me?" I said in an angry and impatient tone.
"They killed my wife and children, they left my kingdom in ruins. I was just going to slowly torture you in front of them but she showed me that there was an even worse way for me to hurt them. It was for me to take their daughter and turn her into a monster while they died at the foot of her bed knowing that you were going to destroy the earth." He said getting louder by the second.
"Who is 'she'," asked Fino.
"The only person who can control Lilith. Her great-great-great grandmother. The queen of darkness. Layla's the one who messed with your mind." Before Fino could stop him the man yelled out, "Layla, Layla, Layla, I summon thee."
Out of nowhere, a woman appeared. She was beautiful and so young looking. She looked especially creepy when she walked across the shadows.
"You have failed and then had the stupidity to summon me. For that, you will suffer the worst death of any man on Earth. It won't last as long as my people want it to since you have brought me my descendant, Lilith, the second most powerful succubus on Earth. Don't misunderstand me though you will still be punished severely." Layla said in a very sinister voice.
She walked slowly but purposefully towards me. When she reached me she didn't stop; she walked around me three times, studying me. Then she moved on to Fino doing the same thing. When she was done she stood in front of both Fino and me.
"Well you'll both do nicely but I would've liked it better if you hadn't regained your memory. Guards! Grab them." The second she finished the words I could see Fino tense up.
At the end of the ally, three figures appeared. One looked slightly like a snake but stood like a man. It slithered closer. The second figure was almost human looking but when it walked its arms touched the ground. It also had a tail that cracked the brick walls as it moved. The third was like a mix between a plant, snake, and a human. I don't know how to explain it beyond the fact that it was hideous.
"Fino, if you fight you will regret it," She said, her voice full of sincerity.
"What makes you think that you could beat me in a fight, and take Lilith away from me," he said at the same moment an aluminum bat came out of nowhere and started sailing towards his head while Layla just stood there smiling. My arms moved so swift I was able to block the bat but only then did I realize that that was only a distraction as the second figure rushed Fino and the other two figures rushed me. My limbs seemed to move of their own accord and soon the first figure was on the ground. While I turned my attention to the other figure that attacked me someone hit me in the back of the head with the baseball bat that I had stopped from hitting Fino. One second there was pain and the next there was blackness. The last thing I remember thinking is 'who hit me in the back of the head'.
Weekly Power Status
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