Darkmyth University 2021

Chapter Eleven

Stephanie felt as if she was waking up from a fog the morning following completing the mating process with Zander. Stephanie remembered everything including Zander using his powers on her to force her to go with him. Zander had finally brought Stephanie into to town for a night out. The bar that Zander had brought Stephanie too was a vampire owned bar but, the man that owned it was a follower of Zander’s. When Marissa started speaking to Stephanie, she desperately wanted to talk to her but, Zander had compelled Stephanie not to speak to anyone while they were outside of the compound. Zander did not know that his ability no longer work on Stephanie, and she wanted it to stay that way.

Stephanie was bottling up a lot of anger and resentment toward Zander but, it was something that she would have to deal with later. Stephanie had asked for a journal in the few days after being allowed to leave the room that she shared with Zander. Zander agreed to it and present Stephanie the journal the very next day. Stephanie had been writing everything down including the abilities of Zander’s followers, and she also printed every name that Zander mentioned. The journal was Stephanie’s way of hopefully providing information to Quinten. Stephanie would not let Zander defeat his family to obtain power and hopefully the journal would help Quinten and his family defeat Zander.

Marissa went down to the lobby at 1:00 PM to see if Zander had arrived to show her to his compound. Marissa was surprised at how quickly she was able to contact Zander but, this was going to be an in and out operation. Zander was walking into the hotel when Marissa walked out of the elevator. Zander waved to Marissa and asked, “Are you ready?”

“Yes, I am ready.”

“Then, let’s be on our way.” Zander said motioning Marissa to walk out of the hotel first. Marissa walked out of the hotel and headed for the vehicle that was parked in front of the doors. Zander unlocked the doors and said as he got behind the wheel, “It will be about forty minutes before we arrive.” Marissa nodded not needing to say anything. Zander asked after a while, “What is it that you are looking for here Marissa?”

“I was ready for a change of scenery, and I heard some things about this area.”

“What have you heard?”

“That the vampire population here runs the whole town. The few humans that live here are under the control of the vampires. I thought it would be nice to live in an area that our kind did not live in the shadows or must pretend to be human.”

“Are you happy with the way with the way that we have to live?”

Marissa raised her eyebrow in an inquiring manner and said, “Even if I were not happy with the way we live there is not much that I can do to change it.” Marissa had a feeling that Zander had done some research on her trying to see if she would be a suitable candidate to join his ranks. Zander was feeling Marissa out.

“You can speak freely here Marissa. I am not a spy for King Nicholas I swear.”

“I think that we could easily overtake the world with our numbers but, King Nicholas refuses to provide us with the tools we need to do so.”

“I agree with you. I will explain more once we arrive at my compound.” Zander and Marissa lulled into a companionable silence. When they arrived outside, of what looked like the mountain face, Marissa cringed a bit as Zander did not slow down but, drove straight through it as if there was nothing there. Zander said, “We have several members that have the capability to camouflage an area to look like its surroundings.”

“Very cleaver.” Marissa said as she settled back into her seat. “Do you bring potential members in this way?”

“No, I only bring the potential members that I trust in this way.” Zander parks the vehicle, turns off the engine and gets out. Marissa follows close behind Zander as he winds his way through the tunnels that lead to the interior of the compound. Zander briefly shows Marissa where things are located as they passed by. When they reached the meeting area Marissa was surprised at how well Zander was set up. Zander had maps hanging off peg boards with areas circled and notes of vital information about each place. Zander was organized and preparing for something but, Marissa was not sure what that something was yet. Zander said as he stopped in front of one map and said, “I have been trying to find out where my family is celebrating Thanksgiving. I was thinking of attacking them then.”

Even though Marissa was not with Zander she had to play along until Quinten and his family could defeat Zander. Marissa said, “I am not sure that plan is the best course of action Zander. Do you know what abilities your family has?”

“I know what my mother’s abilities are but, I have no idea what my father and brother are capable of.”

Marissa looked straight at Zander and said, “You cannot attack an enemy without knowing what their weaknesses are or how to sway them to give into what your demands are. Have you any idea what would sway your father to give you what it is you want?”

“I know that for every vampire their soulmate is their greatest weakness but, exposure may be my father’s next greatest weakness. If our world were exposed to humans that would not, please my father.”

Marissa asked, “How would you expose our kind to the humans?”

“Set my followers free on a human city.” Zander was starting to understand where Marissa was going with this, and it was a start to trying to get my father off the throne. Zander and Marissa talked for several hours going over scenarios and planned several attacks over the next few weeks. When Stephanie wondered over to Zander, he looked at her and said, “You remember Marissa do you not.” Stephanie nodded her head and Zander continued, “As long as you are with you may talk to her. You need a friend here and Marissa seems like the perfect fit.”

“Thank you, my love.” Stephanie said blinking slowly after Zander finished speaking. “May I show Marissa to a room?”

Zander turned to Marissa and asked, “Will you join our cause, Marissa?”

“If it helps bring the royal family down then yes, I will join your cause.” Marissa said with a mischievous smile.

“Then let me show you to your room.” Stephanie said gesturing toward a different tunnel that Marissa and Zander entered from.

Zander said before Marissa and Stephanie left him, “Stephanie please show Marissa to one of the nicer rooms.”

“Of course, my love.” Stephanie said walking toward the tunnel she had indicated. Stephanie talked about how things worked around the compound and that she would supply Marissa with a schedule before nightfall.

When Marissa was sure that they had walked far enough away from Zander she said, “Stephanie, Quinten called me a few days ago and told me what Zander is trying to accomplish.”

Stephanie let a sigh of relief and said, “Thank goodness I have someone to help me. Zander is unaware that I have regained my memories or that I am no longer affected by his powers.”

Marissa paused as they passed by several other vampires on the way to what she assumed would be her room. When Stephanie walked into a large room and shut the door Marissa said, “Crystal and Quinten are so worried about you. Can you tell me what happened?” Stephanie told Marissa everything that happened since Stephanie had been with Zander and told her about the journal that she was keeping. Marissa asked, “Do you think that you can let me borrow your journal so that I can take photos of the pages?”

“I will bring it with me this evening when I come to bring you your schedule. Now, come on I need to be seen showing you around before Zander catches on to my rouse.”

Marissa processed the information that Stephanie shared with her and was trying to figure out how to rescue her. Marissa could reevaluate the situation once more time had passed. This mission was becoming more complicated by the minute but, this was one of the things that Marissa was good at. Once the tour was over Marissa returned to Zander and said, “I need to go back to the hotel and retrieve my things.”

“Sure, no problem. Do you remember the way from where we parked?” Marissa nodded and Zander continued, “There is a key box on the wall to the right when you enter the parking area, just grab a set a key and use the vehicle to go where you need to go.”

“Thank you, Zander. Do we need anything since I am going back into town?”

Zander pondered on the question for a moment before saying, “If you could grab some magazines that would be great. Stephanie likes reading them.”

“I can take care of that. See you in a bit.” Marissa said heading toward the tunnel that she and Zander entered from earlier.

Zander went off to find Stephanie once Marissa left. Zander wanted Stephanie to be involved in some way with things around the compound and he had thought of a way for Stephanie to be involved. Zander found Stephanie in the library, looking at the books on the shelves, and asked, “Looking for something in particular?”

Stephanie smiled at Zander and said, “No, I am not looking for anything. I just wanted to see if I could find anything that I found interesting.”

“How would you like to help me around the compound?”

“That would be amazing.”

“I was thinking about how well you did with Marissa and thought that you could be responsible for the new occupants of the compound. Giving them tours, setting up their schedules and I was also thinking that you like cooking so much that you could be responsible for the food and supplies we order.”

“That would be perfect Zander.” Stephanie said with a sparkle of excitement in her eyes.

“When Marissa returns, I will see if she can keep an eye on things around here for me while I go visit the other compounds.” Zander said as he looked back at the plans that he and Marissa had made.

“There are other compounds?” Stephanie asked.

“Yes, sweetheart there are more compounds. But you and Marissa will be the only ones that know about them. There is one compound close by and another one located toward the base of the mountain in Pennsylvania. Once we have settled the rest of the new arrivals, we can have diver together.” Zander said squeezing Stephanie’s hand.

“That sounds perfect.” Stephanie said smiling. Once Zander greeted everyone and told them to follow Stephanie to their rooms, he went off to prepare a picnic. Stephanie showed the new arrivals around the compound, showed them to their rooms, and then set up schedules for their workouts, meals, and down time. Once Stephanie had finished everything, she felt unusually tired. As Stephanie approached the door to her room, she saw a folded piece of paper taped to it. Stephanie took the paper off the door, opened it, and read:

My darling Stephanie,

Please meet me in our secret spot for a picnic dinner.

Zander

Stephanie smiled, it was nice that Zander was doing something special for her but, she was still not thrilled about being here with him but, she would play along until Quinten and Crystal could figure out how to get her out of here safely. Now that Marissa was here maybe Stephanie would have an easier time keeping up the charade.