46: To Hell and Back - Pt. 1

Derrick stood as Loretta entered the den where he sat with his head lowered into his hands thinking about the woman laid up in the back bedroom. His eyes moved to hers solemnly and took in the grim expression of her stare as she pinned him in place in the middle of the room. Slowly he forced his legs to move forward coming to stop just in front of his old friend as he glanced up the stairs in a gesturing motion. “How is she?” he asked and tucked his hands into his pockets, removing them and anxiously folding them in front of him.

“How do you think?” she responded tersely never once taking her gaze off of the man standing in front of her. “She’s still out and has a triple digit fever. Her body is cold to the touch; she’s sitting at death’s door right now. You really did a number on her. I put some enchanted gray moss on the bite and spoke a few words of healing over her. Hopefully they’ll help and she awakens soon. But I did all I could, the rest is up to her.”

“Loretta…”

“What exactly happened out there, Derrick?”

“It was bad. We went into the Jack House, she was just a foot behind me; I told her to stick close. I didn’t know what we would find inside but I knew there was a nest, 8 or 9 of them at least. She had her gun loaded with wooden bullets and shadowed my steps. We cleared the first floor, moved to the second…I was hit by a board of some kind; knocked me on my ass. Next thing I know I heard Victoria scream and I saw two on her but I couldn’t move,” Derrick shook his head in shock as he detailed the last few hours that brought Victoria to the brink of death.

“She fired a few rounds, one went down. I saw her kick the second off, circle around him and snap his neck. I was losing it. Passing out from whatever they hit me with. The next moments are a little hazy but what I remember is feeling blinding pain as Victoria removed the stake from my chest. She…she fed me. She gave me her blood! She saved my life, Loretta, and I nearly took hers!” He growled and dropped onto the couch as more flashes of Victoria passing out in his arms replayed in his mind. “I promised to protect her and now she’s dying because of me.”

“She’s not dead yet. You did what you could for her, got her here quickly. I just hope it wasn’t all in vain,” Loretta sighed and did her best to comfort him.

“I took too much. I couldn’t make myself stop and I took too much,” he kicked himself again as more feelings of guilt rose up in the pit of his stomach like a bad taste burning in the back of his throat.

“It was the magic, Derrick, her blood. And being who she is; you were drawn to her for a reason. Tasting her blood only caused that bond to strengthen. But you almost killed her!”

“I know. I didn’t mean to.” The pain of watching her fade against his chest, feeling her body slowly begin to weaken as her life slipped through his lips was unbearable. Now she rested, clinging to slivers and trying to fight her way out of the darkness. “What about my blood?”

“No. You know just as well as I do that if you gave her your blood right now you’ll turn her, not heal her and it’s possible she’d die from the transition in this state. We just have to wait for your venom to leave her system and hope the magic is enough.”

“Can I see her?”

“She won’t know you’re in the room, Derrick.”

“Please? I have to see her.”

Loretta sighed and took a step away from the staircase. “Make it brief. She needs her rest.”

 The door made a light squeak as it opened and shut behind him. He watched from where he stood as Victoria rested in the queen sized bed up against the wall and sighed. She looked at peace but he knew it was anything but a peaceful rest. She was here because of him. The anxious feeling in his gut returned as he moved closer towards her and he shut his eyes as images of the attack replayed in his mind.

A fearful expression had crossed her face as the three vampires charged for her but she managed to keep her cool and get the upper hand on them. She managed to not only kill them but save Derrick’s life in the process; he owed her. 

If not for her he would have been a goner and that made the fact that she now lay helpless in bed that much worse for him. He took a seat on the foot of the bed and glanced towards her; eyes hung low, he hated seeing her like this. “It should have been me,” he sighed and took her hand in his. “You shouldn’t have let me drink, Victoria! We shouldn’t have been in that house in the first place! But no, you’re so goddamned stubborn you wouldn’t listen to reason. And now this…damn it! You don’t deserve this.”  

“Fuck! Why didn’t you just listen to me?” he yelled and jumped from the bed. “I told you it wasn’t safe going in that building! I told you that you weren’t ready for it, Victoria! You can be so goddamned frustrating sometimes! You should have just listened! You should have…” Derrick turned to face her, watching as her eyes jerked violently behind her shut lids and he sighed.

“It’s been so long. You once asked me why I stopped feeding from veins and I couldn’t answer. But the reason is because of how it made me feel like a monster. I never wanted you to know that; to see that side of me. I didn’t want to look at you and fear seeing my true nature reflected in your eyes,” he sank back to the bed beside her, dropping his head in his hands as he listened to the very low beating of her heart. “But I know what I am. I am a monster. A soulless demon like all the others harvesting human lives just to live another century longer. And yet you’ve always treated me like a man and never like the creature that lurks inside me. I needed that, Victoria, more than you could ever know.”

“You need to wake up, Victoria. You can’t come into my life like you did and think I’d let you go so easily, you can’t. Not like this,” he whispered, watching her face unchanging as she rested atop the cotton sheets. The warmth of her grandma’s knitted blanket wrapped around her snugly and she looked so serene laying there. 

“Something happened to me, when I fed from you. I can’t really explain it but it felt so strange…so human. It was some bizarre sensation of humanity. I don’t know. Maybe I’m going crazy. But…fuck! I felt alive! For those brief moments I drank from you, I was human again! It was different because you are different. You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever known.  And for a 400 year old creature, that’s saying something. I need you to pull through this. I need that stubborn, hardheaded detective who shoved her gun in my face first time we met to come to her senses because she’s a fighter.” Leaning forward, he placed a tender kiss on her forehead and backed away from the bed. “Please, fight for us, Victoria.”

Loretta stood at the door of her sanctuary as Derrick exited the guest bedroom. His head hung low as he regarded her and she inhaled deeply, gauging his demeanor before walking slowly towards him. She felt him shudder when her arms closed around his shoulders and she held him tighter. There were no words needed. Pulling away she held his face gently between her hands and looked at him before tenderly kissing his cheek.

Derrick squeezed her arm and slid away from her before stalking off towards the stairs. Loretta stood motionlessly as she heard her front door slam shut and the engine of Victoria’s jeep roar to life. She shook her head solemnly and entered the guest bedroom. Loretta busied herself straightening the immediate area beside Victoria’s bed. She knew Derrick would be back and was very happy to have the moment of solace to look over her granddaughter alone. 

 Victoria lay peacefully in the bed against the wall. Pressing a hand to her forehead, she checked in hopes the fever ravaging her body had reduced. “Still burning up,” she sighed and closed her eyes as she began chanting over and over, “Sana in corpore, sana mens.” The spell cast a light purple hue over Victoria’s body. It was a shade below red, the critical zone. And while she wasn’t in as much peril as the moment Derrick first brought her in, she wasn’t completely out of the woods yet either. They were skirting unknown territory which left both Derrick and Loretta grasping at straws.

This was always a risk; letting Victoria learn the ropes of her magic from a vampire instead of her familial connections. But at the time Victoria was not on speaking terms with her grandmother and her own mother was not in the mood to entertain the idea of their craft. And as Loretta gazed down at the now calm and pallid face of the only grandchild that bothered to look her up, she was beginning to regret keeping such a passive role in her life.

The sound of a car pulling into the gravel drive drew her to the window and she watched as Derrick hopped out of the jeep. He slung a large duffel bag over one shoulder and carried a box under his arm as he made his way to the front door. His heavy footsteps thundered up the stairs and seconds later the door opened behind Loretta. “What’s all this?” she asked as he sat the items to the floor beside the dresser.

“I went to grab some of her stuff so she’d be a little more comfortable when she awoke.” Hades popped his head from the box and a series of muffled cries were coupled with light scratches as he tried to pull himself out of the top of the cardboard.

“She has a dog?”

“Yeah, Hades; he was a birthday gift,” Derrick smiled stiffly before helping the pup to the floor.

“Well is he potty trained? I can’t have him messing around my house.”

The words made Derrick laugh out loud and Loretta looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he tipped over in merriment. “Sorry,” he smiled and placed Hades’ bed near the door. “Victoria asked the exact same thing when she unwrapped him. He’s trained; don’t worry.”

“And if not, you’re gonna be the one scrubbing my floors! Oh and you’re not sleeping in the same room as her.” Loretta mumbled something else that brought a smile to Derrick’s face as she exited the room and shut the door behind her. He lingered a moment to take in Victoria’s face before taking his spot in the chair in the corner once more. 

Hades followed closely behind him, nipping merrily at the cuff of his jeans until he gave him some attention. Once the pup was satisfied, he trotted back towards the bed and left Derrick to himself. Derrick rested back against the chair watching as Hades tried his best to hop up on the bed with Victoria and sighed. Standing, he moved towards the pup and picked him up to lay beside her. Hades circled a few times before finally coming to rest beside her head and falling asleep. It had been twenty-six hours and there were no visible signs that she was getting any better. In fact, there were times when Derrick could see the effects of his poison brutally attacking Victoria’s immune system.

He sat on the bed beside her, his weight depressing the mattress and it groaned in protest beneath him as he adjusted. Derrick’s venom slowly ravaged her body, coursing through her veins and causing her temperature to spike once again. Cold sweat dotted her forehead and she trembled, shaking violently as he held her hand, speaking soothingly to her as he tried to comfort her through.

“Oh no,” Derrick uttered to himself. Instantly he knew what was taking place with Victoria. 

Hades was up, licking Victoria’s face as he watched her moan and jerk. He whimpered and moved closer, resting his small, furry head on her shoulder. Derrick squeezed her hand tighter and as he did, he was hit by a cacophony of sounds and images. Victoria moaned louder and he closed his eyes before sinking into her thoughts. 

 For months she complained of the restless nightmares that plagued her. Somewhere in the dark recesses of her mind her subconscious whispered warnings of things it could not identify. And now, knocked out from the toxins in her blood stream, Victoria was rendered defenseless against the terror she had been avoiding during her waking hours. “I’m sorry,” Derrick whispered as he held her tighter. Before he knew it, he was watching the same dream on repeat as the images flowed from her mind to his.

“What are you doing?” Loretta asked, interrupting his connection as she brought in a warm towel for her granddaughter. Noticing his grip on her hand she too immediately realized what was happening and whispered a few words to calm Victoria and give her a decent night’s rest. “Downstairs, now.”

After placing the towel over Victoria’s forehead, Derrick followed behind Loretta to the living room and she sat in an armchair while he paced in front of the couch. “This is the part where you tell me what you saw.”

“Her nightmare; the one we tried to fix before. It’s worse than I thought, Loretta. The dream was too frighteningly real.”

“Well? Come on, Derrick, don’t leave me in suspense.”

He dropped to the sofa finally and leaned forward as he began recalling the details of Victoria’s nightmare. “It started off as a nice dream; flowers, sunshine, smiles the whole nine. But then everything went black and I saw a man standing in front of her. He was tall, taller than any regular man should be; I’d say somewhere around fourteen feet at least. This…thing seemed to consume every shadow and form himself from within the darkness.” 

Victoria found herself in a dark hallway. The menacing growls of dogs rumbled through her ears as she slowly moved down the passageway. Narrower and narrower the walls became until it felt like they were closing in on her. Still she pressed forward. Afraid and unsure of what lied ahead, she took each turn of the winding maze. 

But her hurried trek through the dark tunnels soon caught up with her. And she found herself staring down the rabid muzzles of two hell hounds. The ravenous canines glared at her, snarling and chomping as they crept forward. Slowly she moved backwards towards the previous hallway; her fingers guiding her along the walls as she felt for the turn. Swiftly she spun on her heels. Dashing and darting down one corridor after the next. The vicious creatures barreled after her; the sounds of their voracious need to feed falling heavy on her nerves.

“The fear was so palpable. I could feel her heart pounding rapidly in her chest. I could see the sweat on her skin. And I could hear every sound; every creaking floorboard, every wind rustled shutter banging against the walls. She was quickly losing her nerve. But somehow she got away. There was a door at the end of the next hallway and she slipped inside. Throwing herself into a corner; she cried.”

Derrick swallowed hard and quickly peeked over at Loretta from the corner of his eye. She had stopped breathing sometime during his recollection. Her heart was mimicking that of Victoria’s from the dream and he gave her a moment to catch her breath before continuing. “What happened next?”

Victoria was not safe for long. Beneath the crack of the door, a cool breeze seeped in and with it, a gust of blood red smoke. The curly tendrils undulated in front of her face, beckoning her forward. She jumped to her feet before it could reach out and grab her and was off and running again.

But she didn’t get far. Outside the door the fog returned, blocking the only exit out of the hall. She was trapped! From the eerie red haze a figure began to form. He was dressed in all black clothing, keeping himself blended into the dark around her. His eyes were a deep, piercing red; they matched the color of the smoke that seemed to form a barrier around him. He laughed and said her name, summoning for her to come towards him but she couldn’t; she seemed frozen in fear.

His intoxicating eyes held her and he floated through the air until he was standing a foot in front of her. Victoria opened her mouth to speak but the shadow man gripped her by the neck and she couldn’t escape. He seemed angry. Somehow through the veil of tension she was able to determine the anger stemmed from a feeling of betrayal. It was obvious his madness needed a release. Victoria was running out of air and in a desperate attempt to get away, she conjured up an energy ball and hit him in the face.

The shadow man threw her hard against the wall. Victoria’s back cringed at the pain from the impact but she was free from him…for the moment. The darkening skin from his pressure around her throat became bruised with throbbing pain.

Rushing to her feet, she started to run. Fear welled up inside her as she hurried faster through the dark tunnels with no apparent way out. But for every turn she took, the shadow was there. Smoke filtered through the walls, touching on every corner of every room. Desperate and alone, her heart plummeted at the sight of silhouettes wildly swaying mercilessly in the wind, creeping towards her like hands trying to grab her.

No matter how far she ran or how many corners she turned there was malevolence in the air; lurking increasingly closer. Goosebumps rippled over her skin, she knew he was close. She reached a dead-end and turned to head back but was met with the smoky image of the man once more.

Biting down her fear, she darted through him and found herself falling through a chasm. Victoria landed on her back in a garden outside. With no time to think, she quickly pulled herself up and headed as far away from the building as possible. Panting and gasping for breath, mouth wide-open, gulping for air that seemed unable to calm her senses, she ran. But the smoke was invasive. It found her, chilling her to the bones as she stumbled through it.

“There was no voice or whisper; the figure never uttered a sound. And yet, somehow, she knew there was a familiar presence about him. His aggressiveness vanished into peaceful resolve but his eyes still held a menacing glare. It was as if this shadow demon was not of this physical realm and she FELT it. It was almost like it was a part of her.”

“Something manifested from within to destroy her? No. If it had anything to do with her magic I would be able to sense it as well. There must be something else.”

“I don’t get it either, Loretta. Victoria said her dream was about some dark ritual being cast by witches. But that’s not what I saw.”

“Then she’s having more than one episode. You may have gone deeper into her psyche and witnessed another of her terrors. Or it could be that her real nightmares were not reflected to your thoughts.”

“Either way, she’s stuck! Victoria is stuck in this round robin of nightmares because of me, because of what I did. She already had to deal with the poison I put into her bloodstream but now on top of that these dreams she’s been trying to avoid are catching up to her! And it’s all my fault. If anything happens to her…”

“Derrick, you can’t blame yourself for this. Victoria’s a grown woman who’s very capable of making her own decisions. She was unfortunately blessed with the Coleman trait of stubbornness. I honestly believe you did everything you could for my granddaughter in there and you shouldn’t shoulder full responsibility for her choice,” Loretta reasoned, gently massaging Derrick’s back as she spoke.

“There’s one other thing,” Derrick paused as he considered the gravity of the words he was about to speak. “When she started to run and looked behind her the shadow was no longer standing like a person but rather shaped like a dragon.”

Loretta’s eyes opened wide at Derrick’s revelation and he saw her visibly begin to shake. “A dragon? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’m positive,” he responded and watched the color drain from Loretta’s face and she quickly looked away. “You know what it is don’t you?”

“Yes. Yes, I know him. And I’m afraid that if Victoria’s premonition meets reality, we’re all doomed.”

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*Author's note: The original chapter, including comments, was somehow deleted. This is the redone version. My apologies for any inconvenience! Here, you will find an image of the previous comments.*

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