Opulent (The Opalescent Collection Book 1) (21 page)

F
itzray pressed his nose to the hot glass, trying to get a good look at the diamond rings and necklaces displayed behind it. A jeweler was examining the old round statue Tetchra had inherited years ago.

“Ms. Brown can we
go
yet,” he whined impatiently.

“Just a little while longer child,” she replied quietly.

“I see it is mostly silver…but I see flecks of gold and a bit of platinum.” The jeweler said as he ran his hands over its surface. “It will go for quite a bit of money.”

              Ms. Brown smiled. “Oh Tetchra will be pleased. Thank you.” She turned and held tight to Fitzray’s wrist.  

“Come along now, let’s go home.”

              The walk was short from town to the house, but Fitzray could not stop staring at the egg-shaped statue that refracted every glint of light in its facets.

“Oh your mama is going to be so happy, Fitzray.”

“She’s not my mama,” he mumbled.

              They had no resemblance, he knew. She was hardly ever home. And he had no father.

“Go upstairs and wait for dinner, I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

              Ms. Brown put the statue on its stand, a bronze eagle claw base, and walked off to the kitchen. Fitzray walked over to the statue and picked it up. He sunk to his knees from the weight and it hit the floor. Quickly, he put it back on its stand and found pieces were falling off from the new crack. More and more pieces fell, revealing a thin white inner layer. The white layer cracked and Fitzray held it in his hands again. There was a small hole in the layer and peering from it was a bright orange eye.

“A monster,” Fitzray said quietly.

              He rushed into his room and placed the statue on his bed while he rushed around to find his new book. A scaly head popped up from the top of the statue, covered in silver scales. Gold lined its orange eyes. The sides of the statue broke and two thin wings stretched out. Its claws raked at the shell before its chest and it scrambled onto the bed.

              Fitzray looked from the pages to the creature. “A dragon,” he read, “is in the serpent family. It has wings and similar characteristics of a snake, but with legs. When it is a year old, it can breathe fire.” He stopped reading to look at the creature again and noticed the shell scattered on his bed.

“Uh oh…I’ll be back.
Stay.”

              He gathered the shell remains and put it on the eagle claw stand as though nothing had happened and returned to the dragon. 

“What am I going to name you?” 

              The dragon climbed onto his lap and blinked its orange eyes. “Serpentine,” it hissed.

“You can talk!”

“Yes.” It said.

“Are you a boy or a girl dragon?”

“Boy,” it said.

“Fitzray!”

“Stay here Serpentine. No one can find out about you.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Tetchra’s words echoed through the house. “Why did you do this Fitzray? This is my priceless statue, ruined!”

              The boy cast his green eyes down to the floor and said nothing.

“Did you hear me? What do you have to say for yourself?”

              He stayed silent and ignored her.

“What am I going to do with you Fitzray?” She paused. “Oh, you selfish boy!”

              He scrambled up the stairs away from Tetchra as she raged after him, but she stopped. Her vampire held her wrist.

“Let the boy go.”

“Unhand me you fool!”

              He disobeyed and in doing so, Tetchra lashed out, her fists pounded against him. Fitzray could hear her rage from his bedroom and her vampire tolerated it.

“I can’t stay here Serpentine. We have to go somewhere else.” He looked out his window to the orange dot in the distance. “I don’t know where I will go, but I can’t stay here. I have to find my real parents. Will you come with me?”

“Yes,” Serpentine hissed, “I will.”

“How dare you disobey me? You are a foolish vampire, you are.”

“What do you have against the boy?”

“He destroyed my statue. Do you know what I had to do to get it?”

“I don’t want to know.”

              She hit him and he stepped back unharmed, forced to redeem himself because his eyes were glazed. He was bound by lock and key.

* * * * *

“A
re you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“You know the plan?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Good. Let’s go. We are more than halfway across. It won’t be a long stretch.”

              All I could hear was the hard pounding of the horses’ hooves on the bridge. I held onto Versailles’s mane as she ran faster. We approached the end of the bridge. Her nostrils began to flare and sweat formed over her body.

“We’re almost there. You wait until you get to the edge. Then you pull her up and she’ll jump it.” Pete yelled to me.

              I looked ahead and waited for the gap. I felt one of her hooves slip against the edge and she hesitated for a fraction of a second to jump at all, but she needed the force to push her forward to make it all the way over. I looked over to see Pete holding onto his black stallion’s mane, bent forward, nearly leaning against the horse’s neck.  I realized the gap was closing, and the ground rose up from under us. The horses landed half-running, slipping against the mud. They slowed to keep their balance. I loosened my grip from Versailles’s mane and stroked her neck softly.

“How are we going to disguise Versailles?”

“We’re not. She is going to have to jump back over. My stallion can stay. He will jump back over tomorrow evening.”

“Can she rest a while?”

“That’s too risky. Just let her catch her breath.”

              I dismounted and stood by her side, waiting for her breathing to slow.  Pete led his stallion away and I followed him, looking back every now and again to watch as Versailles made her way back over the bridge. 

              The sun was rising, an orange halo glowing around it, the sky once gray turning blue. I walked the busy streets with Pete. There was a frenzy of people around every corner. I did not know where we were going. The people crowded even closer and I lost track of where Pete was and stood on my toes to look for the stallion, but did not see him either.

             
Pete where are you?
I thought.

              People stopped, eyed me wearily and spoke hushed to each other. I kept looking, searching desperately for a hint that he was near, but heard nothing.

“Vampire! Loose Vampire!” Someone shouted.

              I looked around hopefully, but I did not even see Pete. Someone grabbed my hands and people screamed.

“Where is your mortal?” The person demanded.

“
I’m
the mortal you fool!”

“Is that so? Where is your vampire then?”

“I lost him in the crowd.”

“
Sure
you did. Clear the way! Loose vampire coming through!”

             
Pete where are you? I need you. I’m in trouble!
I thought, but there was no reply, as I expected.

              Someone tied my hands together and pulled me onto a high platform.

“Vampire bidding starts at twenty-five dollars. Twenty-five dollars for this fine vampire,” a man chimed, gesturing to me. “Do I hear twenty-five dollars?”

“Twenty-five!”

“Twenty-seven!”

“Thirty-seven! Do I hear forty? Forty! Do I hear forty-five?”

“One hundred and ten dollars!” someone cried.

“One twenty!”

“One fifty.”

              There was a long pause. “One fifty. Do I hear one sixty? One sixty? Once, twice? Sold!”

              The mortal came to the man, gave him the money and pulled me from the platform. He was only a teenager.

“What’s your name?”

“Chenille. What is your name?”

“My name is Jeff.”

“Where are we going Jeff?”

“To my house,” he said.

              He put me in his car, and drove away from the town. I watched the trees pass in silence until it made me feel sick and I closed my eyes. He pulled up to a small house, smartly decorated with a nice plot of land. He opened the door but I refused to move. I was feeling sicker than ever.

“You feel all right?”

              I shook my head. “I feel awful.”

“Come inside. That car ride was probably long for you.”

              He led me inside the quiet house. “Is anyone else here?”

“Yeah, the nanny who takes care of the kids.”

              I moaned, feeling sicker still.

“This is my room. Sit down, relax.”

“Jeff? Are you home? Come here, come quickly!”

“Don’t go anywhere.” He closed the door behind him.

              I plopped down on the bed and listened to the conversation on the other side of the bedroom door.

“How am I supposed to know where he is?”

“I thought you might have seen him.”

“The pony is gone.” A girl’s voice cut in. “And Mom is going to be home any minute.”

              I felt myself begin to nod off, the voices dying out as I tried to focus my energy on retracing my steps, wondering where Pete had gone.

              I heard a door open and a flurry of voices, one rising above the rest. “He’s gone? What do you mean
gone
?”

              The voice slowly died away like the others. After a few minutes, I began to wake from sleep from the voices again. They were close, but it was hard to hear them. They were still muffled from behind the door.

“Look, I got a vampire.”

“Will you look at that? Who would have known?”

“Known what?”

“I like your taste in vampires.”

“Can I have the lock and key Mom?”

“No, not yet Jeff. You can have patience. I need my vampire to become acquainted with yours, but I will need that to be done in the basement. Keep her away from him for a while, ok?”

“All right, I’ll try my best.”

“Now vampire, there is something I need you to do for me. It is a serious task that only you can perform.” Tetchra said to her vampire.

“What does it involve?”

“Let’s just say...things are going to get interesting around here.”

              The door clicked shut and my eyes opened slowly. Jeff sat on the floor, his eyes closed.

              I reached for my Dragon’s Soul around my neck, held it in one of my hands and felt its warmth, lulling me to sleep again. When I woke, my wrists were cold from the chains that bound them. I was in darkness, my back to the hardness of a wall. I called for anyone that could hear, but no one, nothing responded. I pulled on the chains confused, until I heard footsteps. Afraid to speak now that someone had heard me, I settled down. The figure stopped to light candles scattered around in the darkness. Each one had a different aroma, making it hard to breathe in, surfacing a lingering headache and dizziness to cloud my head. The figure came close, taking slow, loud steps and stopped just before me.

“You will be mortal again.”

“No! No, you can’t make me mortal!”

“No? Not even a mortal with fangs?”

              The figure smiled and looked at me, the dim light shining on his face. “Lucian?”

              He smiled and held me in an embrace that nearly crushed me. I looked at him and smiled as he went to kiss me, but Pete’s voice filled my head.

             
What are you doing?

             
Lucian is alive. The bond between us is broken just as you promised years ago.

“No.” Pete appeared from behind Lucian and let out a growl, as if materializing out of nowhere. “He works for Tetchra. He’s under control, I know he is.”

“That’s not for you to conclude. He might not be under control at all,” I cried.

              Tetchra was there, grabbed hold of Pete and the darkness swallowed them up before I could warn him.

“Pete! Lucian, help him!”

“Why would I do that?”

              A low laugh echoed through the basement and he held up a small bottle filled with black liquid. It glowed slightly where the dim light did not reflect over it.

“What is that?”

“If you take an Eternal Mate’s blood and poison, bring it to a boil and feed it to his vampress, she will become a mortal. Temporarily, of course. It doesn’t really turn you into a mortal, but it does prevent reincarnation for a while.”

              He dangled the bottle in front of my face, the liquid swaying from side to side.

“Being temporary, it may last only a couple of minutes, making a quick death vital.”

“And if you aren’t killed by the end of the couple of minutes?”

“Well, you would become immortal again, in the sense that you will have the ability to reincarnate. I will assure that impossibility to you though, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

              He put the bottle to his mouth, pulling off the cork with his teeth and tilted my chin up.

“This should hurt you more than it hurts me.”

“What are you doing to my vampire?” Jeff came running over. Lucian turned, knocked him to the ground in one swift movement and looked back at me. He pressed the small bottle to my lips, held my chin and forced it down.

“Step two,” he mumbled taking the sword from under his cape.

              I pulled my legs off the ground, tucking my knees beneath my chin and kicked out toward his hands, sending the sword across the room.

              He dove after it, but Jeff was already on his feet, the sword in his hands. He forced it upward, slicing across Lucian’s chest but not deep enough to do any damage. I slid down against the wall and screamed.

* * * * *

“How much longer Serpentine? I am so tired of walking.”

“Just a little longer…there!”

“What? What is it?”

“Well, you want information about vampires, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well this is a library. It has all sorts of information. I am sure you can find a book on vampires there.”

“Will you watch Hickory for me while I’m gone?”

“I will.”

              Fitzray walked into the library. It was quiet inside, with only a few people searching for books. There were shelves filled with old books from the carpet to the ceiling. A ladder was on a track to access the high books. He browsed through the shelves looking over Greek Mythology to fantasy stories and then found a big book with detailed pictures and descriptions of all kinds of creatures. Although vampires were not mythical or fantasized creatures, that subject was still close by. He read about different phoenixes and dragons and several stories about vampires, but found another creature that caught his eye. It was a glass swan, the species type was unknown, and the only one on record was called Phantilla.

“She was known for being allies with the vampires and aided in several wars. She was last seen helping dragons escape from Earth before they were slaughtered for their scales. Some say that she holds great power over the stars and many suspect that she is a star herself. No one can say for sure where she has gone or if she will ever appear again,” Fitzray read to himself.

              He did not know how fast the time passed while reading in the library and he rushed out to find Serpentine and Hickory just where he had left them.

“I found out there is a swan made of glass. Her name is Phantilla. People think she is a star, like an
actual
star.”

“Did you find anything about vampires in there?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Did you find out who your parents are?”

“No. There weren’t any family trees in those books.”

“We will just have to find that information elsewhere.”

“Where are we going to go now Serpentine?”

“Wherever the road leads.”

              They stopped walking at the sight of a wolf in their path. It was big and snarled at them; its hairs on its back stood on end.

“Nice wolf. I…I am Fitzray.”

“Fitzray?” The wolf inquired, surprised.

              The boy nodded nervously. The wolf began to change into a figure – a girl.

“Werewolf,” Serpentine said uneasily.

“My name is Prusaious. Do not be afraid, I can get you to your mother and father. I know who they are.”

“How can we trust you?”

“What if I brought another vampire with me? Would that make you feel better?”

“Maybe.”

“Calvin!” The werewolf girl cried.

              A vampire with striking orange eyes came over in a hurry. He opened his mouth in astonishment.

“Fitzray.” He smiled. “I am Calvin. I bet you don’t remember me. I knew you in your past life.”

“Past life?” Fitzray asked with confusion.