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Night Vengeance

Chapter Twenty One

Salazar's fist hit the wall, making a hole. So, they'd defeated his serpent, well, they wouldn't defeat him. He turned around and marched to the door, yelling for Mr. Leeds.

Within moments his servant appeared, "Sir?" he asked. He'd never seen Salazar so agitated before he mused to himself. Things just might be looking up after all.

"Kill the prisoner," Salazar ordered as he turned back to the window.

Mr. Leeds nodded and left. He didn't immediately head for the basement, but to the kitchen, where he unlocked the kitchen door effectively breaking the spell Salazar had cast to prevent intruders from entering.

Justin, Rae and Stanley quietly approached the kitchen door. Justin held out his hand and frowned when it touched the door without passing through an energy barrier of any kind. He grabbed the knob and opened the door.

"This is too easy. Stanley, stay here until we signal you," said Justin as he let the shield around Stanley and himself drop, and cautiously stepped inside.

Once inside, they looked around. Justin stayed still, on alert for anything, as Rae walked to the swinging door and pushed it open slightly to peek, it opened on the dining room.

She turned to Justin and shook her head, then went to the closed door beside the counter, and opened it. Before her were stairs leading down, so she nodded to Justin, and he motioned to Stanley to enter.

"This leads to the basement, find Devon and get him out of here. We'll deal with Salazar," Rae whispered in Stanley's ear. Stanley nodded and shaking, he slowly descended the stairs.

Still looking out the window, Salazar raged. Where were they? Why could he no longer see them? He turned away and paced, glancing out the window every few seconds. If only he hadn't lost the link he had with her through her mother, he'd be able to sense her. As it was he was in the dark, he couldn't sense either of them.

"Maybe you should stay here, Rae," said Justin as he looked down at her.

"Are you out of you're cotton pickin' mind!" she exclaimed. "There's no way I'm going to let you face that vampire alone, he's too powerful. We have to combine our power to defeat him, you know that Justin," she finished.

Justin did know that, but he loathed putting her in danger. The look in her eyes though, stopped him from voicing his concerns, so he nodded and led the way to the living room.

Stanley reached the bottom step and trembled. It was dark, and he hated the dark. Fumbling in his breast pocket, he pulled out his penlight and switched it on. Shining the light in the dark corners, he nearly jumped out of his skin when it illuminated the head of a cougar mounted on the far wall. The teeth on that thing looked really sharp.

Stanley gulped and stepped further into the room. The light showed a door to his left and he walked towards it. Hand shaking almost uncontrollably, he reached for the knob and nearly dropped his penlight when he heard a groan from the other side of the door.

He slowly turned the knob and bit by bit, opened it. Barely breathing, he shined his light in the room, and shuddered at the sight of the skeleton in the corner. He quickly moved the light away from the skeleton and continued arching the light around the room.

Stanley gasped in horror when his light shined on Devon. "Ohmygod," he whispered, aghast at Devon's pasty complexion, and the blood coating his body. He rushed forward and immediately went to work. Yanking off his shirt, he tore it into strips, and used them to bind Devon's wounds. Grabbing the jigsaw, he began sawing the chains holding Devon to the wall.

Devon groaned as the sawing motion made his arm move and his circulation came stabbing its way back.

He lifted his head, "Stanley? Is that you? What are you doing here?" he asked. He was so confused. He ached all over and he was so weak.

"Justin and Rae are here too," Stanley whispered as he continued sawing. "They're dealing with Salazar."

"Hurry up!" growled Devon as another groan escaped his throat.

"I'm doing the best I can," replied Stanley as he looked at the chain. He sighed when he saw he hadn't made much headway.

"Maybe this would help," a voice from behind him said.

Stanley whirled, dropping the jigsaw on the floor. Devon's head came up sharply, his lips pulled back, his fangs showing.

Stanley looked at the tall gaunt man before him, his gaze swinging to the key he was holding out. "Why are you doing this?" asked Stanley.

"How old do think I am Mr. Parks?" Mr. Leeds asked.

"Fifty, sixty maybe," replied Stanley.

"I'm two hundred years old," said Mr. Leeds. "Salazar hasn't taken my blood in over a hundred years, but because he still needs me, he has made me take his. The things I've seen, the things I've done, are horrifying. I'm tired, Mr. Parks, I'm tired of bringing him victims to feed on, then disposing of the bodies. I'm tired of living. I just want my life to end, but it won't. As long as Salazar lives, I will live. That's why I'm willing to help you now," he explained.

Stanley looked at Devon who nodded. He reached out his hand and took the key from Mr. Leeds. He unlocked Devon's chains and put his arm around his waist, supporting him so Devon didn't fall. Stanley slowly lowered Devon to the ground and tipped his head to the side, exposing his neck. "Feed," he simply stated.

Devon looked sharply at him and saw the glazed look in his eyes. Justin must have compelled Stanley, he thought. He sank his teeth in the man's neck and drank just enough so he could walk out of the room under his own steam.

It was his turn now to support Stanley. He was grateful for the man's contribution to his health, so he picked Stanley up in his arms, nodded to Mr. Leeds, and left.

Leeds looked around the room, sighed and followed Devon, up the stairs and out of the house.

 

©2006 Romance at Heart Magazine.

©2000 Angel Young.

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