Emmerson & The Guardian

Pain

        The last thing I remember as I am slowly being drug back into the world of the living was the dream muddied with Blaze’s expression just before the world went black.  I feel my heart constrict in pain at the thought of Blaze… He hates me now.  And no matter what happens I’ll never forget the look of betrayal on Blazes face before I passed out.

        The faint scent of seared flesh engulfs my nostrils.  I can hear a woman wailing in the distance.  I have no strength to open my eyes.  I tune into my senses to try to assimilate my surroundings.  I hear men arguing behind a wall to my left.  Maybe in the next room.  The voices are muffled, but I can distinctly make out two of them.  Freddie, and Blaze.                                             

“You played me you sack of shit.”

“Giles, I would never put you in immediate danger.”

“Really, Freddie?  So having me stalk your vampire wife and ride in a car with her for 2,000 miles isn’t putting me in immediate danger?!”

“I had you ride with her; I didn’t force you to sleep with her.”  Freddie snaps back.  “I’ve lived with her for seven years and haven’t been harmed.  So, with that being said I didn’t see any great risk in not telling you.  She doesn’t even know who she is!  She’s a dumb b***h, honestly”

“Don’t talk about her like that.”  Blaze says with venom in his voice.  “She’s a vampire…but.”

“Giles, this is one of the reasons I had you bring her to me.  I wanted to see if you’d even notice a vampire 1 foot away from you, and surprise you didn’t!  You’ve grown soft in your old age…” 

“Like hell I have!”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”  He says with an evil glint in his eye.  “I’ll go finish off the mother, then you can get rid of her.”

            I feel my heart constrict hearing that Freddie has my mom.  What if it’s her I hear screaming?!  I pry my eyelids open- knowing I am going to have to face this sooner or later.  I scan the room- and then notice I am in a cavernous room.  It’s dark, wet, and smells of death.  Water seeps through the cinderblock walls making me conclude we are in fact underground.  I attempt to move but find I’m tied down.  My arms are stretched straight out and bound to what appears to be a wooden cross.  They have me bound by barbed wire.  I assume my adrenaline has allowed me to not feel the pain, until now.  The teeth are gripping into my skin and making tiny puncture holes.  The sight of my blood trickling down my skin causes my fangs to fully extend and a hiss escapes as they do.  I look up to see Blaze’s horrified expression.  

        He’s changed clothes since we were in the car.  He’s in a black t-shirt, jeans, and his leather trench coat.  He’s wearing his ‘uniform’ no doubt.  He slowly enters the room- never breaking eye contact- and perches on a stool.

“What is this place?!  Who are you?”

“It’s my company, Emmerson.”  

“So what?!  You’re a vampire hunter?!”

“…Yes.”  His voice almost a whisper “Why didn’t you tell me…what you are.”

“I’m sure that’d have gone over really well, Blaze.  Looks like I’m in a great spot now that you do know.”  I hiss.  “I heard that fucker say he has my mom.  I want to see her.  Now!”

“I slept with you.  A….”

“VAMPIRE?!  A soulless wretch?!  Yes, I suppose you did.  And I suppose you are kicking yourself for not realizing what I was all along.  Your own employee duped you, and your own c**k betrayed you.”

“You hypnotized me.  Didn’t you.”  My heart constricts with agonizing pain as he speaks these words.  He might as well have stabbed me in the heart with a stake.  

“No, you f****d a vampire all on your own.”  I hiss.  “How did you know?  What gave it away?  What sick joke is lost on me with my wedding ring?!”

“Freddie has known all along, Emmerson.  It’s why he married you.  He went undercover on his own accord.”

“I fell in love with you.  I love you and you betrayed me because of what I was born to be.  I cannot help that I’m a vampire.  But you can help that you are a terrible person.  Get out of my sight.  GO!”  Blaze stands, and tears begin to stream down his cheeks as he leaves.  I hear what appears to be a heavy iron gate swing open.  They are ushering in another victim.  When my eyes adjust, I can see her.  Sybil.  My mother.  Bound with barbed wire.  She is disheveled and dirty.  How long has he had her here?  An average sized man is pulling her by a strand of barbed wire he has wrapped around her throat- as if she’s some kind of animal.  I look back to the man because he looks familiar.  Nick?

“Hi Emmerson, remember me?  Your mother sure did.”

“You sick fucker!  LET HER GO!”  I pull against my restraints and wince in pain.

“Awwwww.  Emmerson.  You pain me.  And after all those meals I fed you.”

“You were a Guardian all along?  You played my mom, and me?!”

“HAHA!  Your mother is the villain not me!  She tried to drain every dime from my bank account, and I had to get transfusions every week because of the ungodly amount of blood you two bitches took from me!  I was undercover, and as much as I despise your kind…I’d do it all again for the cause.”  

        A menacing laugh escapes the throat of another man emerging from the shadows.  “Oh Emmerson.  This is something I do pity you for.  You are naïve.  You always try to find the good in situations.  Even if they are hopeless.  All is lost for you.  You and your wretched mother.”

“Freddie, you’re a piece of s**t!  Look you can do whatever you want with me, but please she’s innocent… let her go.”

“Good to see you too.  Nice dress.  I approve.  Seems you got under ‘ole Giles’ skin in your time together.  I bet he wasn’t as accommodating after he found you out…was he sweetheart?”  A sly smile stretches from the corner of his lips.

“What have you done to my mother?!”  The closer they get the worse she looks.  He ties her up to another cross in the corner of the room.  Then he heads behind me.  I hear him rustling around with what sounds like metal objects.  Some larger than others.

“There you are.”  His excitement is tangible.  He skips around until he’s facing me- holds up a long wand.  It’s at least three feet long- and on the end it has two fangs.  He presses a button on the handle and the wand comes to life.  The object he is holding is a cattle prod.  Sybil shakes with fear as I’m sure he has used this on her multiple times fishing for information.  The look in Freddie’s eyes is disturbing- like a small child on Christmas.  His depravity is disgusting and sends a chill down my spine.

“Emmerson....  I’m sure you know what this is.  And I know you are a bright girl, so I know you know what it’s used for…Maybe if you are a good girl, I’ll make it quick for you.  But if you resist…well I’ll use this on your mommy…then I’ll use it on you.”

“If you touch another hair on her head, I swear I’ll drain you dry!”  I hiss.

“Well, well, well.  I didn’t think you would have it in you.”  He giggles “This will be fun!  SO…for starters…Why don’t you tell me where your brother is?”

“My who?  You know I’m an only child.”  What the hell is he talking about?!

“Wrong answer baby.”  He skips over to my mom and zaps her once in the ribs with the electric cattle prod. Her body writhes with pain, and I can smell her flesh as it burns.  “I’ll ask you again.  Where is your brother?”

“I t, t-told yu you…Sh..she d-doesn’t know…”. As sybil speaks it’s barely a whisper.

“I don’t believe you.  I’ve been waiting a long time for this information b***h.  And if it’ takes me hurting her to get the information out of you I will do whatever it takes.”  He trails the prod from her left ankle all the way up to the bend of her knee.  He shocks her with the prod again.  The only thing holding her up at this point is the barbed wire that is wrapped around her neck, and wrists.  Every time she writhes in pain the teeth on the wire dig further into her already fragile skin.

“STOP!  Please, Freddie you are hurting her!”  I’m begging.

“I intend to do more than just hurt her.  I’m going kill her and watch as she dusts in the wind.  I married you because I figured out who you are, Emmerson.  I knew if I played my cards right I could get the location of your brother out of one of you.  But f**k, you just put up with whatever s**t I laid down for you like a damn mutt.  It’s disgusting really!”  At this point he’s rambling.  I have no idea who he is talking about,  I don’t have a brother, but I do know if I don’t act fast I won’t have a mother either.

“Look do whatever you want with me.  Just please let her go.  I’ll do anything you ask!”  I’m desperate.  I feel completely helpless, and the scent of blood in the air is making it difficult to think.  Suddenly I hear someone.  A faint whisper.  Freddie isn’t reacting to it...is it in my head?  Am I losing it?

“Emmerson, it’s me...mom.  You are not losing it.  Do not let on that you can hear me.  I’m weak.  I don’t have much time.  You have a brother.  You were separated at birth.  Do you remember me telling you that we have a rare blood line?  You and your brother are royal.  He is your twin.  I know you’ve dreamt of him.  I’m sorry I’ve kept you in the dark all these years baby girl, but it was for your own safety.  You are stronger than you know, and more precious than anyone knows.  YOU are the key.  Dig deep within yourself.  You can find all the answers you seek from within.”

        That is what he told me in my vision.  My brother.  I have so many questions for Sybil.  So many unanswered questions.  What do they mean the answers are within me- and how was she able to talk to me?  I have to try to remain focused, because now, I have to save Sybil.  If I can get out of this wire- maybe I can distract Freddie long enough to get the two of us out of here.  Sybil is fading fast.  She has lost too much blood.  She will need a pick me up, and the only thing that can do that is...blood.  I have never tried this before, but maybe I can hypnotize Freddie.  Maybe I can hypnotize him into letting me out and giving Sybil the fuel, she needs to make a run for it.  It’s worth a try, and right now it’s the only plan I have.  

“Freddie.  I’m ready.  I’ll tell you what you want to know about my brother.  Just leave Sybil alone.”

“You’ll tell me?  Sybil told me that you didn’t know.  I was just going to play you two against each other as long as I could to get maximum torture in.”  I can feel he is serious.  Dead serious.

“She lied to protect me.  It’s her duty.  She’s, my protector.  I know who he is, and I know where to find him.”  He stalks slowly over to me.  Like he’s a predatory beast and I’m his meal.  As he gets right in front of me, and we are eye to eye.  I try my hand at hypnosis.  “Freddie.  Untie me.  Untie me and care for my wounds.  Care for me as I have cared for you for all these years.  Then I want you to untie Sybil.  Untie her and allow her to feed.  Once she’s finished you will let us go and forget we were ever here.”   He blinks 3 times and slowly raises his hands in the direction of my restraints.  Did I really do this?  That was so easy!  I’m eyeing Freddie as he keeps inching closer for the restraints- we are so close now!  Just as he reaches my right wrist- he grabs the barbed wire with his bare hand and squeezes.  I can hear the teeth rip into his flesh and mine.  I scream from the pain and know I will soon lose my voice from the already raw feeling in my throat.  

        And if things couldn’t get worse, I smell the blood.  I hear Sybil hiss as his blood drips onto the floor.  She’s coming undone- all control lost.  The scent of his blood is intoxicating.  Its aroma is invading my nostrils and singing everything in its wake and making me dizzy.  Poor Sybil looks completely demonic.  All sense of humanity is lost in her now completely black eyes.  I’m having to hone into every last ounce of strength to not allow myself to become the same demon Sybil has become.  

“Emmerson.  Oh Emmerson.  I thought you were smarter than that- Or at least that you knew better than to attempt hypnosis.  We are trained to resist all your tricks.  We are soldiers.  Soldiers of God sent here to rid our world of you.”  He pursues his lips and shakes his head back and forth with disapproval.  “Now what shall I do with you?”  He is utterly unfazed at the wounds on the palms of his hands.  He thinks for a moment to himself then with all his might strikes me hard against the cheek with his bloodied hand.  Then he back hands me from the other side making my head fly back the other direction.  If it weren’t for my restraints, I would be on the floor.  He hit me so hard that I see stars, and I can feel my fangs distend from the taste of my own blood in my mouth.  He stands back- panting- then walks behind me searching for another weapon.  I’m not yet sure which is worse the sound of clanking metal or his weapon of choice.  Both- I decide.  

“I had planned to wait for this.  But- I just can’t.  He comes to stand in front of me holding an ornate stake.  “Do you know what this is, Em?  Do you know what this is used for?”  He’s speaking slowly- enunciating each word with care.  As I shake my head a single tear escapes my eye, and trickles down my cheek past my throat and into my cleavage.  His finger traces the tail of my tear.  I quiver in disgust.  “Awe baby.  Are you scared?  Are you now frightened of me?  I can taste fear.”  He licks the full length of my cheek where the tear stained.  “And vampire or not- monster or not- you have always tasted very sweet, Em.  Don’t you remember those nights when I’d f**k you?  Do you remember me driving my c**k deep inside your sweet spot?  I do.  And vampire or not...I’m going to f**k you again.  Right here.  With this stake.  I’ll lube it up for your baby.  With the blood from your mother’s heart.”

I can’t take it anymore.  I spit blood in his face.  “YOU are the monster!  Not me!”  I hiss.

“Why do you defy me?  Even still.  You are bound.  In the dungeon of The Guardians, yet still you defy me.  Your ivory skin is bloodied and bruised, yet still you defy me.  I thought this was going to be more fun, but with each passing second, I’m growing more bored.  Have you told mommy dearest your goodbyes?”  He turns on his heels and stalks toward Sybil.

“NO!  NO!  Please, Freddie, for the love of God don’t do this!”

“It’s for the love of God that I am doing this Emmerson.”

  He raises the stake over his head- turns and gives me a ‘f**k you’ smile- and drives the stake deep into Sybil’s chest.

“In hac vita ad mortem, et sequenti.”  The words whispered as he makes the symbol of the cross on his chest

         She winces in pain once.  Ash.  Nothing left but ash.  I cry out loudly and tug on my restraints.  Blood pours as there is no longer tiny pinholes- but rather mutilated flesh that resembles hamburger meat.  I don’t care.  I don’t care about anything anymore.  The floodgates are opened, and tears pour.  I feel nothing.  I hear nothing.  I am nothing.  My world is disintegrating in front of me, and I know I’m next.  I’ll be but a pile of dust waiting for the wind to sweep me up.  I am spent, and I fall into a deep sleep hanging to the cross by my bloodied wrists. 

        I’m running in a field, and it’s a beautiful day.  My hands graze the top of the tall grass, and my hair floats wistfully around my shoulders as the wind blows it.  But this time something is different.  I’m holding someone’s hand.  Blaze is running alongside me and we are gazing at one another.  We are still running to something, though we can’t see what it is.  It’s more of a feeling drawing us near.  Then in a nanosecond everything beautiful fades away.  Blaze is gone, and I’m crawling on my hands and knees in a dark dungeon.  Something, or someone rather, still pulling me to them.  When I stop crawling I look up to see the figure of a man, only this time I can see his face.  He looks so much like me.  Blonde hair, pale skin, long fingers, glimmering blue eyes, and strong broad shoulders.  He’s beautiful.  He reaches down to touch my face and as he does, I feel a strange pain pierce my heart.  His lips part slightly, revealing a pearly set of fangs as he takes a sharp breath of air.  It is as if he can feel my pain, too.  He whispers something unintelligible.  “You’re my brother, aren’t you?  Why are we here?”  He still gazes down at me.  He reaches for my hand and pulls me up until we are standing face to face.  “Flesh of my flesh.  I am you and you are me.  Together we can end this.  Together we can be free.”  He speaks.  It’s melodic and cryptic.  “Who are you?  I don’t understand you.”  I am almost screaming at this beautiful vampire.

“Search within yourself, Emmerson.  All the answers are within.  You have to be strong now.  Strong for both of us.”

“What if I’m not strong enough?”

“You are stronger than you think, Emmerson.”

         The faint sound of classical music invades my subconscious.  Violin, cello, piano...it’s lovely.  Soothing all the pain from the journey away- allowing me to feel everything is going to be ok.  We stand there listening to the beautiful melody as if there is nothing else to worry with in the world.  My eyes close to allow my other senses to heighten- allow the music to take me away.  When I open my eyes, my brother no longer stands in front of me.  But instead, a pile of ash is next to me while I stand with a stake in my hand.  I scream a deafeningly blood curdling scream.  “What am I supposed to do?!  What do you want from me?!”