Out of Time Chapter 18-- Gordon Tries to Eat Me

I stood in the dimly lit room again. As before, the blonde woman perched in her throne-like chair. She was inspecting her fingernails. The zombie leader from the fight in the warehouse stood before her, trembling.

“You are telling me that fifty of you failed to capture the boy and managed to let Tyren escape?”

“The boy is more powerful than we had imagined, my lady, and he had a dragon.”

“I do not care if he had an army of dragons! I gave you the simple task of capturing the mage heir and you failed! How many did he kill?”

“Ten, at least, my lady. His dragon killed five.”

I had not killed that many. Five, at the very most. He was clearly adding five of Tyren’s to my count to make himself look better.

She pressed her finger tips together. “What of our inside man?”

Relieved to be out of her thought process, the zombie answered, “He is well established. However, he says to make your move soon, as the mage heir has a dragon. He thinks the dragon could blow his cover.”

“Hm.” She smiled. “When you are next in contact with him, tell him not to worry. Soon the mage heir will be in our hands.”

I woke with a jerk. Once again, I was in the infirmary, however, this time, I was a patient. After we had returned, Sai sent Tyren and me there. He sent Gordon to get something to eat.

I found my shoes and set off to find Gordon. I had a bone to pick with him. Or maybe a fight. Either way, he was not getting out of this scot-free.

I found him flirting with a couple of vampire females. Politely, I excused him from them, and dragged him into the training room. Removing my hand from his coat, he asked, “What is the meaning of this, human?”

I got in his face. “You are a traitor. You betrayed us to the zombies.”

“The what?”

“The accursed ones.”

He laughed. “Betrayed you? And what proof do you have?”

Ah, yes. The hole in my brilliant accusation.

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, do not tell me. Intuition? A feeling? Your pet dragon? A nightmare, maybe?”

Uh, try “e” all of the above. Instead, I responded, “You cut that rope. You hid while we were fighting for our lives. You, Tyren, and I are the only ones who knew about the mission that didn’t die.”

“Maybe Tyren told them.”

“Oh, please. She was nearly killed. If I hadn’t saved her, she would be dead, and we’d be out a leader!”

He didn’t seem very concerned. “I could lead this rabble far better than that silly nobody. Her death would have been a blessing.”

I tackled him. Surprised, he, fell to the ground. We tumbled on the ground of the training room. For a whole thirty seconds, I kept him from pinning me. Eventually, though, he pinned my arms above my head in his vice grip. Without even really thinking to carefully about it, I ignited myself with white-hot light. Hissing, he jerked back. Quickly, I scooted out of his reach.

Looking into his eyes, I became very scared. What had been a fight between two men suddenly became something much worse. I often forgot that my friends were not human. Gordon was a vampire. He stood, his eyes gleaming wickedly in the strange light. His lips were pulled back, his fangs glinting dangerously.

Something wet ran down my face. I reached up to touch my cheek, which was now stinging. As I looked down at my red fingers, I came to a horrible realization.

I was bleeding.

As he leapt at me, I suddenly knew that there was no escape. I was a goner. However, he collided with something that had taken a step between us. Tyren. She pushed him to the ground. They struggled on the ground for a minute before Tyren managed to gain the upper hand. Pushing his shoulders into the floor, she growled, “Gordon, gain control of yourself!”

After several seconds of continued flailing, the vampire quieted, panting.

Standing, she pulled him to his feet. “Go to the kitchen and get some blood before you try to kill anyone else.”

He left without question.

Groaning, Tyren sank to the floor next to me. I sat in silence, still a little shaken up. Vampires were scary things. I had never seen something like that before. Now, one sat cheerfully next to me.

“Why?” Tyren asked.

“He said it would have been a blessing if you had died.”

“So you tackled a bloodthirsty vampire?”

“It’s a guy thing,” I explained.]

She rolled her eyes. “A word of advice. If you ever take on a vampire in hand-to-hand, never start bleeding. A vampire—especially a hungry vampire—can go into a state called bloodlust, where he loses control of himself until his thirst is satisfied.”

She handed me a handkerchief, and I dabbed at the cut on my face.

“You are more controlled than him.” I paused. “Right?”

She sighed. “Bloodlust happens to the best of us. It is more likely to occur when a vampire’s passion is high—such as during a fight, or when he is angry.”

“So, in other words, pushing Gordon is not a good idea?”

Tyren smiled. “Next time, call me in. I will push him for you.”

I grinned back. “So you’re not mad at me?”

She shook her head. “You reacted as anyone would have. Males get into fights. It is something I have just had to learn. You know Gordon is just goading you, though, right?”

“Well, yeah, but, why?”

“It is in a vampire’s nature to goad people into reacting. It gives us a sense of power over them. Do not let Gordon get what he wants out of you.”

I was slightly defensive. “But you and Tatiana go at it all the time.”

“Yes, but neither of us really mean it. We are just joking around. It keeps us sane.”

I nodded. “With all the pressure you two are under.”

She put her hand on my shoulder. “You are one of us, you know. Feel free to join in with us at anytime, and remember not to take us seriously.” She stood. “Remember just to ignore Gordon. It will annoy him more than anything else you could do.”

~~~~~

Sai leaned back once I was done describing my dream. “Do you think what I’m dreaming about is really happening?”

Pouring me another cup of tea, Sai nodded. “I do.”

“So there really is a traitor in our midst?”

He nodded again.

“It’s Gordon,” I said with certainty.

Sai shrugged. “You have no proof of that, M.C. Gordon is the vampire heir. You cannot simply accuse him of a crime as heinous as betraying his own.”

I groaned and banged my head on the table of Sai’s personal kitchen. “Then what am I supposed to do?” I grumbled from the table.

Perhaps Sai did understand that, but I think it’s more likely that he anticipated the question. “Be patient. The true perpetrator will show his hand eventually.”

I groaned again. I knew he was going to say that.

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So, M.C. dreams about the bad guys, again. And then picks a fight with a hungry vampire.
This kid is a genius, ya'll.
Well, this is a quick post from work.
I hope you all are having a good week!