A Moonlit Night - The Complete Saga (9 page)

“They attacked your house?” inquired Samuel,
his interest piqued. “How did you survive? Forgive my boldness, but
these particular monsters rarely leave their victims alive.”

“We…had help,” said Emily, thinking back to
the gallant vampire, Alexander Franson, whom had almost given his
life to rescue them. “A vampire saved our lives.”

“A vampire, you say?” Samuel asked, taken
aback. “…Just who are
you
?”

Emily paused for a moment, deciding it best
to conceal the true nature of the matter. Emily felt like she could
trust him, but had been burned once before, and was not about to
make that mistake again.

She sat down on the couch beside her brother,
and gently wiped the blood from his face. Emily looked back to
Samuel, and said, “I’m no one special. I saw something I wasn’t
supposed to, and it almost destroyed my entire family. If it wasn’t
for Xander’s help, none of us would be here right now.”

“Well I guess there’s always time for a
first,” Samuel said. “I’ve never heard of a vampire saving anyone,
out of the goodness of their heart.”

“Xander is different,” said Emily, still
unsure if she could trust the handsome vampire. “He has a heart,
I’ve seen it.”

“Well…sometimes our hearts can lead us to
terrible choices,” said Samuel, with a grim look on his face.

“I don’t understand,” Emily said. “What do
you mean?”

“You’ve heard the reports about the dead
bodies?” Samuel asked. “I believe that your vampire, Xander, is the
reason behind the attacks.”

Emily listened, in shock, as Samuel described
the manner in which the bodies had been displayed.

“You can’t possibly believe that he is
responsible for this?” Emily asked, rising to her feet in
protest.

“Vampires are a race led by passion and
emotion,” Samuel said. “If Xander had any reason to be upset, it is
possible that he could rip apart an entire village overnight.”

This caught Emily off guard, and for the
first time, believed that Samuel may have been telling her the
truth.

Xander had left under less than ideal
circumstances, and Emily tried her best to put the thoughts out of
her mind, but everything seemed to always to come back to her. She
had been the one to send Xander away, alone and angry. If people
were dead, most likely she was to blame.

“I know it may be hard to believe,” Samuel
said, pausing to collect his thoughts. “…But Xander is a cancer on
this small town, and needs to be put down.”

Samuel turned, and walked to the front
window. Looking out to the night sky, he asked, “Emily, could I be
so bold, as to ask you for a favor?”

Chapter Six

“Emily!” shouted Xander, banging on the front
door. “It is urgent, please open up!”

Xander continued to bang on the door, shaking
the very foundation of the house.

The door swung open, and Emily stepped
outside, visibly upset that Xander had returned.

“What do you want?” Emily asked. “I thought
that I made it clear. I don’t want you around anymore. I can’t
trust you.”

A tear streamed down Emily’s face as she
pushed Xander away. She had only met him a week ago, but already
she could feel herself yearning for him. That’s what scared her so
much; that she could possibly care for someone that had been
involved in her mother’s death.

“This is more important than any of that,”
said Xander, grabbing her by the hand. “We don’t have much time.
Trouble is coming, and it is coming fast. I can explain more when
we’re far away from here—.”

“Get your hands off me!” yelled Emily,
pulling herself away. “Are you trying to make up for killing my
mother? Is this only to alleviate some monster’s guilt?”

“I never killed your mother,” stated Xander,
looking around, and becoming more agitated by the minute. “I tried
to—.”

“So then you watched, while the rest of your
filthy kind devoured her?” Emily asked, interrupting her once
valiant hero. “How is that any better?”

“The situation is more complicated than you
could ever imagine,” said Xander, his eyes darting around the
forest nearby.

“So then explain it to me!” yelled Emily,
raising her hands in frustration. “I’m right here!”

“Your mother was a wonderful woman,” said
Xander, still searching the area for any signs of danger. “She was
over four thousand years old, and she’s spent over two thousand of
those years running, before you came along.”

“Four…thousand…years?” asked Emily, slowly
trying to wrap her head around that information. “She was in her
early forties when she left us; it’s not possible!”

“It is very possible,” Xander said. “And if
we leave, right now, I will explain everything.

“Not good enough,” stated Emily, crossing her
arms in defiance. “I’m not going anywhere, until you tell me
exactly what happened that night.”

Xander looked down, weighing over his
options. Deciding it was best not to steal her away in the night;
he looked at her, and said, “All right, I will tell you what you
wish to know.”

Chapter Seven

The vampire crushed the hood of the vehicle,
as he torn the windshield away from the car.

“Stay back!” warned Amanda, her hands
trembling in fear. “Come any closer and it will be the last thing
you do!”

The vampire snarled, as he attempted to leap
into the car.

A bright white stream of energy sent him
flying back into the blackness, as Amanda desperately tried to
crawl out the front of the car.

“C’mon, Jason, we don’t have much time!”
shouted Amanda, offering her husband a hand. “You have to
hurry!”

She grabbed hold of Jason, and the two of
them hopped out of the windshield, and down to the mucky forest
ground.

The pouring rain made it difficult for them
to see, but a bolt of lightning lit up the night sky, revealing
dozens more vampires, all licking their lips in anticipation.

“I said, stay back!” yelled Amanda, holding
Jason’s hand tightly. “You know what I am capable of—!”

“My dear summoner,” interrupted Simeon,
stepping out from the shadows. “We’re all prepared to die for our
cause. Are you?”

“I have lived for over four thousand years,
vampire,” stated Amanda, as a white light engulfed her eyes. “I’ve
been prepared to die for longer then you’ve been dead.”

“Fair enough,” Simeon smirked, as he signaled
for the others to advance.

“I want you to know, that I love you very
much,” said Jason, tightening his grip on his wife’s hand.

“In four thousand years, I never imagined I
would love someone as much as I love you,” Amanda replied. “You
gave me our children, and my only hope is that they grow up,
healthy and happy. Maybe now…they will have that chance.”

“No!” shouted Xander, dropping down from the
trees in front of the couple. “You shall not harm them!”

The vampires stopped there advance, uncertain
what to make of the situation. They paused, looking up towards
their leader for guidance.

“What are you doing, Xander?” asked Simeon,
motioning for the vampires to check the area. “You’ve never openly
defied the council before. What game are you playing?”

Amanda knew she had little time, and used
this time to channel as much energy as she could manage. The power
was nearly tearing her apart, as she tried to conceal the energy
from the surrounding vampires. She would be lucky to get one
chance, and needed to take advantage of the situation.

“I’m playing no games, my old master,” said
Xander, strolling towards Simeon. “You have no idea what this woman
means to the world; you never did. You seek to destroy what you do
not understand. I pity you.”

“You pity me?
You
pity
me
?”
Simeon asked, bellowing in laughter. “If you stand in my way, I
will have your head—!”

Amanda threw her hands into the air, as a
swirling white light enveloped her from above. The light lit up the
forest, revealing a hundred more vampires, hidden in the
shadows.

She shook violently as the light burned
through her entire body; the power overwhelmed her as she collapsed
to the ground.

“Amanda!” screamed Jason, dropping to his
knees. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Jason ran his fingers through her hair, as he
looked down upon his fallen wife. She was still alive, but barely.
Whatever she did, it consumed almost all the energy she had
left.

“It’s okay, Jason,” Amanda said softly,
slowly drifting away. “It needed to be done.”

“What needed to be done?” asked Jason,
desperately trying to awaken Amanda. “I don’t understand!”

It was no use, as Amanda was now unconscious
on the ground. Jason sobbed, his tears mixing with the rain as it
continued to pour down on them.

“It’s just you against an army,” said Simeon,
staring Xander down. “Do you really want to risk everything, for
this
woman?”

Xander growled, remembering the last time
Simeon had taken someone in front of him. This time, he was going
to make a stand, however feeble it may be.

Simeon charged towards Xander, knocking him
back with a blow to the chest.

Xander flew back, smashing into a large pine
tree. He hit the ground, but before he could pick himself up,
several vampires jumped him.

He struggled against their combined might, as
they held him in place.

“I am doing this for your own wellbeing,”
said Simeon, looking down upon Xander. “You will thank me for this,
one day.”

The vampires continued to subdue Xander’s
rage as the others swarmed the couple. All he could hear was the
sound of Jason screaming as they stripped him of his flesh, as they
consumed the summoner and her husband.

“After two thousand years,” Simeon smirked.
“We are finally the true gods of this world! There is no one that
can stop us now!”

The rest of the vampires cackled under the
moonlit night. Believing they had killed the last summoner, they
looked up into the sky as the blood ran down their monstrous
faces.

Chapter Eight

“I’m sorry…I never knew,” said Emily, tearing
up at Xander’s story. “I was so willing to believe the worst in
you.”

Xander’s lips may have smiled, but his eyes
were filled with sorrow. He looked at Emily, and said, “Your
parents left you that night, so that the vampires searching for her
would not harm your brother and you. She left you that night to
save your life.”

“Why didn’t they come after me?” Emily asked,
crossing her arms. “If my mother was a summoner, shouldn’t they
know I would be one as well? What about my brother?”

Xander slowly walked up the porch steps, and
said, “Summoners do not breed. She gave up her powers, so that you
may one day finish what she started.”

“What do you mean?” Emily asked. “What was
she involved in?”

“We don’t have any time to discuss the
matter,” said Xander, reaching for Emily’s hand. “They are almost
here, we don’t have much time.”

“Who is almost here?” Emily asked, slowly
reaching towards Xander. “You’re not making sense—.”

“I’ve got you now!” shouted Samuel, leaping
out from the side of the house.

Before Xander had any time to react, Samuel
threw a silver net in his direction, sending him to the floor,
burning and in agony.

“No!” screamed Emily, pleading for Samuel to
stop. “I’m sorry! I’ve made a terrible mistake!”

Xander gazed up towards Emily with a look
both sadness and regret. His skin burned underneath the silver net,
which he was unable to lift.

“You’ve killed a lot of people, Alexander
Franson,” said Samuel, drawing his sword. “I’m here to bring you to
justice.”

Xander growled in rage as the silver melted
down to his bones. His ferocity shook the floorboards as Samuel
closed in on him.

“Please don’t kill him,” said Emily,
clutching at Samuel’s coat. “I made an awful mistake; I don’t want
to help you anymore!”

“Don’t worry, Emily, he’s not going to be
killing anyone,” said Xander, franticly trying to escape from the
silver deathtrap.

“Oh, you’re sure of that, are you?” inquired
Samuel, dragging the tip of his blade along the porch. “I’ve killed
several vampires; I don’t see why you’re any different.”

“…And I’ve killed hundreds of vampire
hunters,” Xander snarled. “But that’s not what I meant.”

“Please!” Emily shrieked, running over to
stand between them. “You can’t do this!”

Emily held out his hands in defiance, trying
her best to hold up Samuel’s advance. She pressed her hands against
his rock-hard chest, as she begged him to stop.

“How can you say that, after seeing the torn
up bodies left in his wake?” asked Samuel, pausing his advance.

“I didn’t kill those people, you fool!”
yelled Xander, writhing in pain.

“If you didn’t, do you want to tell me who
did?” asked Samuel, pushing Emily aside.

Xander looked back towards the driveway, and
said, “Them.”

Samuel tried to look through the shadowed
driveway, but the blackness overcame the area, and he found himself
unable to see what Xander was talking about.

Suddenly, the sounds of several monstrous
beasts snarling could be heard; and they were rapidly getting
louder.

Through the darkness, he could see three
demonesque wolves dart towards them, their large fangs glistening
under the moonlight as they came closer and closer.

“Let me free!” shouted Xander, clawing at the
net in a frenzy of blood and sweat. “Let me go… or we’re all going
to die!”

The End

Council of
Elders

Chapter One

She walked down the alleyway, under the mask
of the night sky. Her long brown hair blew in the cold breeze as
she continued down the dark corridor.

She passed by a homeless man, coughing up
blood as he tried to nestle into his damp cardboard. She stopped,
turning towards the sickly old man as she licked her lips.