***(If you missed last Sunday’s special Marradith update,
you can still read it here.)***
The Marradith Ryder Series Part 25
With a gun being held against his back, Will climbed into the taxi.
“I do know you. You’re one of Bruce’s friends, aren’t you?” Will said once his captor climbed in beside him.
Scott smiled dryly. “I prefer the word associate. No one in…our circle,” he said carefully, “can really be called a friend.” He glanced at the taxi cab driver, trying to see if he was listening. “Except you though, Will. I hear you’ve been running around with my sister.”
He blinked. He realized that he could see the resemblance, the shape of his eyes and the stance of his mouth. Marradith’s brother….
“Not like that , it was nothing suspect. I was trying to help her out.”
“Yeah, well I am sure all of us appreciate you being helpful.”
“You used a different name with Bruce .”
“Yeah, see, you are sharp,” he said. “Of course I did. I have been in Japan the last five years, taking care of some things. You used to see me call in on Bruce’s video conference line.”
Will felt something creeping up at the back of his throat.
Will straightened his back. “Bruce called you Kaemin.”
He smiled. “Yes. If you know that name, you know why I am here.”
***
Justin felt something, a chill touch his skin, and he thought of Marradith.
A burst of humid air swept across the porch, setting off a set of chimes.
He was standing at the doorway of Leighton’s house. Syd came down to let him in without comment. The beautiful Spanish style house with its tile floors and white stone walls was probably worth millions of dollars.
He followed Syd into a dark room at the very back of the house, rimmed by glass doors and a vast garden.
Leighton leaned over a glass table with a syringe of blood in his hands.
Despite Syd’s warnings, Justin was surprised at how bad off Leighton was.
Leighton hadn’t washed, or shaved, and his eyes were feral, almost silver. His hair fell around his face like a yellow veil. His body shook, like a junkie going into withdrawals.
“He’s been Changing again?” Justin asked Syd.
“Yes.”
“There’s no use in whispering when I CAN HEAR YOU!” Leighton screamed.
“That is Justin’s blood,” Syd told Leighton. “Take it.”
“This is what happens,” Justin said coldly. “Too many years of feasting upon humans.”
“I’ll take nothing from him!” Leighton groaned. Justin took a step back. He realized that the man was half phased into a wolf. His snout was visible beneath his long hair. There was no fur on him. He looked like an embryonic creature, a science experiment gone askew. When he spoke again his words were partially in the primal language, and part German.
“I have wanted…nothing…to do,” his mouth foamed. He paused. “Nothing from Justin. Caroline saved you that night. I wanted to kill you. I wanted to be done with you,” he said, his speech lapsing into another language again. And then, in English: “I want finished.”
“You want to die? I can finish you. Or, you take this blood. And if you take it, no more Marradith. Ever. No meddling with her or her family, ever again. You’re a coward,” Justin spat. “And you‘ll have to come through me first to get to her.”
“I want HER.”
Syd pleaded with Leighton. “Give me the syringe.”
“No!”
Syd pulled it from his hands. And then he injected him.
“It’s done, Leighton. The Circle will not stand for this. No more foolishness.”
Leighton closed his eyes, groaning in pain. When he opened his eyes again, they were fastened to Justin. “Why do you want Marradith? She is mine,” Leighton told him. “You can’t have her.”
Syd shook his head. He touched Leighton’s brow with a trembling hand.
“What makes you think you are entitled to her life?” Justin demanded.
“I am her forebear. She is my great-granddaughter. Her blood will fix me. And when I have taken that, I will make her mine. The original blood link is stronger, than even that between a Wolf and his Father.” Leighton spat.
Blood pulsed in Justin’s temples. He felt it, his heart pounding. For a moment, he couldn’t hear anything but Leighton’s words, and the implication behind them.
And when I have taken that, I will make her mine.
Sacrifice.
The only Ryder female in generations. The only one who would hold the genetic code of all the Mothers before her. Witch. Wolf. Vampire.
Justin visualized it in his mind. It was a flash, like a vulture spreading its wings. It was vile. Heat raged through his body. The Change tore through him, so quick that he didn’t feel it.
Syd turned.
As he moved, Leighton reared up.
It was so fast, Syd didn’t have time to move. Leighton tore into his flesh.
In the primal language, Justin screamed. “You will not touch her!”
They fought, sire against son.
***
It was almost sundown when Marradith reached Leighton’s house.
The door stood open.
Inside, there was a trail of blood on the tiles.
Justin’s blood.
—
© 2009 Lori Titus
Lori Titus’s The Marradith Ryder Series appears each Wednesday on Flashes in the Dark. She is the short story editor for Sonar4 ezine. Many of her stories have appeared on MicroHorror and Shadeworks, and her first anthology of horror stories, Tales for the Dark, is scheduled for release in 2010.
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July 14th, 2009 at 8:23 am
Nice reveal Lori…and a great cliffhanger!
July 15th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Wow - intense!
July 15th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Went back and read Sunday’s epidode…sooooooo good. Uh-oh, Justin is in trouble. Kick-ass dialogue, Lori.
July 15th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Thanks!
Yeah, poor Justin. He is the perpetual Wolf poster child of trouble.
June 16th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Oh that’s messy, I hope that Justin is ok. If not then Marradith is in trouble.