Dark Waters

I awoke to the sound of voices, a wheezing, sinister tone that I’d heard before and a second less familiar tone. I cracked my eyes open and found that I was still curled against the bars separating my cell from his skeletal-ness. It should have scared me, but it didn’t. Not even a little. If he’d wanted to kill me or drain me he would have done so already. Yesterday was proof of that. Or was it still today? I didn’t know…and really, I didn’t care. I just wanted out of this place and away from the humiliation I’d already suffered at their hands. The Queen of Diamonds had promised more and I honestly didn’t think I could handle it. My body might not mind the treatment…but my mind and ego would never survive another blow like that.

I struggled to a sitting position, cringing at the dampness of the stone floor that clung to my entire right side. The voice stopped abruptly. I had to turn slowly to face the front of my cell before I could see the source of either voice.

One was cloaked in black like always, though there wasn’t anything physical to distinguish him from the others, I would know that voice anywhere. But the second figure made my heart stop for one terrifying moment before it slammed painfully against my ribs and started a tempo that was too fast and too erratic to follow. He was wearing a white robe and turned as he was I could only see a red diamond on his chest. I immediately assumed it was the Queen of Diamonds, back to finish what he started but after a moment they turned and a bright red K was displayed on their chest.

“The King of Diamonds…” I breathed. Relief flooded me in a warm, tingling wave and I had to pause to catch my breath simply because my heart was racing so terribly fast.

The figure eyed me curiously and I began to feel very nervous under that gaze. There were more murmured words exchanged between the two cloaked figures before the one in white raised a pale, slender hand (one that looked way too familiar) and dropped the hood of his cloak. My heart stuttered and I swear it almost died at the sight before me. The face was unmistakable. It was too beautiful for words. A pointed chin, thin lips, wide cold blue eyes and a halo of soft white hair.

“You bastard!” I snarled and his vaguely curious expression became one of soft confusion. So the monster was trying to play with me? This couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“What on earth is he going on about, Vandeline?” the white haired man murmured, what appeared to be honest confusion twisting his pretty features.

The smaller man wheezed and cackled, nearly bent double in his amusement. “Your lovely Highness, our scared little mousey here thinks you are someone you are not. Scared out of his mind he is and veeeery angry. Can’t blame him though. His other lovely Highness gave him a sound spanking.”

I felt heat flood my cheeks and I jumped to my feet. I immediately wished I hadn’t. The world swam and I lost my balance before falling against the bars of my cell. “Stop playing with me!” I growled when I could finally see straight and I met those cold, puzzled blue eyes. They softened somewhat around the edges before a small smile tugged at the corner of that pretty mouth.

“My twin has spoken with you already? I did not realize he had arrived so early.” The look was genuine, but I still didn’t want to believe it.

“Stay away from me…” Even to me it sounded lame but I held my ground and glared daggers at the insane monster that had forced me to enjoy his torture only the day before.

That puzzled look turned into a slightly displeased frown. “You have nothing to fear from me Drake Vaughn. At least not yet.” The name caught me off guard and I froze where I stood. I couldn’t even breath for a moment or two. How did they know my name? “What do you want?” I snarled when I could breath again. “You’ve already tortured me!” I would not cry, I would not cry. A single tear slid down my cheek despite my inner protests and I cursed my weakness.

“That was hardly torture my little rabbit. You enjoyed it, did you not?” That sultry tone slid down my spine like silk and I wanted to weep at the effect he still had over me. But when I looked up there was not one but two beautiful men standing before me. They were identical save for an inch or two difference between them.

My blood ran cold and I had to grip the bars of my cell to keep from sliding to the floor. “Two of them…” All the better to torture you with.

Great, and now I was mocking myself.

“He is none of your concern Dez.” came a deep, clear tone that didn’t cease to amaze me. I turned to see his skeletal-ness standing over me, so tall and intimidating and yet still handsome as ever. But just seeing him made my stomach twist into knots, guilt knowing at my insides. He had been right. Forcing him to bite me hadn’t helped at all. It only made me feel like some dirty little slut, begging to be taken after I’d already let these bastards humiliate me.

His dark eyes held a little bit of sympathy in them and just seeing it there nearly undid me. I didn’t want sympathy, I wanted out of here. Away from this madness.

“Kraven, my dear boy. It has everything to do with me.” That sultry tone made me shiver and I lowered my head in shame, not wanting to see the sympathy in those glittering black eyes. “No Dez, it has nothing to do with you. Or you Cain. If they wished to give me a message they should have sent the messengers. Greed and Jealousy have no business here.” The words made no sense to me at all, but one thing was clear. Somehow they were using me to get something from my dark prince in the next cell. I didn’t understand it but at least they weren’t making it a point to hide anything from me.

The other twin, Cain I guess he’d called him, gave an impatient sigh and I could hear him shift a little bit. “As you wish, Kraven. But you know they will not stop until they have you and their white rabbit. The Ace of Spades and our Heir is too important to this plan to let you slip through their fingers. You know this. I will take Dezirius and leave, but they will send others. They mean to break him…and you.”

There was silence for a moment and then Kraven spoke. “Leave us, Cain. And I will think on what you have said.”

There was a soft sigh and someone, I’m pretty sure it was Dez, made a small displeased sound but there was a shuffling of feet and then the door to the left of my cell slammed shut.

I stayed pressed against the bars of my cell, confused as all hell and scared of what was going on. I was too ashamed to lift my gaze and meet those handsome black eyes but I could feel them watching me as if he could see every little sin I’d ever been guilty of.

“There is no shame in finding pleasure where you can. That you enjoyed it instead of letting it break you means you are stronger and not so easily bent to their will.” His deep voice loosened some knot at the center of my chest and the tears began to pour steady and hot down my cheeks.

“What do they want with me? Why am I here?” The words were soft but I was certain he could hear them. There was a soft rustling sound and when I opened my eyes, Kraven was seated on the cold stone floor, his back to the cell bars and his arms folded around his long legs. “It is a long story, Drake. One that you would not understand unless I explained a few things.”

I slid to the floor and leaned against the bars as well, watching him as he watched the opposite wall. “I’m listening.” I murmured. I just wanted some answers.

His chest swelled slightly with a deep breath before he turned and gave me the full weight of those glittering black eyes. “You must have guessed already. We’re not human, at least not entirely. You could call us vampires except sunlight does not harm us but blood is essential to our survival. Most of us have been alive for centuries, building this country and working to become a leading world power. We are so intimately involved with every little government job in the country that we can run it without ever letting on that there is a whole organization running the country under the humans noses. We have been in control…for as long as any of us can remember.”

He paused and let those glittering black eyes show me the guilt he felt and the remorse that gave his dark eyes a sad weight to them. But guilt and remorse for what? “But we have existed too long without involving human help and we are running into road blocks, barriers that prevent us from taking a further hold on this country. Technology is moving too fast for us to keep up with and too many of us are old and unwilling to accept such changes. This plan, this grand solution…is falling apart at the seams simply because we cannot keep up with the times.” he finished quietly and I stared at him blankly.

There were still so many questions left unanswered. “Then why are you here…if you’re supposed to be part of this plan?” I asked quietly. I’d start with simple questions first.

He sighed softly and let his head fall back against the bars. “I was the Ace of Spades, leader of my division. It was my job to make sure that the others were kept in place and did not get too ambitious. I was there to enforce our law and keep us on track. But I was also an assassin. I led an army so strong that the United States Military would tremble in fear.” He paused and I saw his expression shift subtly into pain. “They wanted me to assassinate the president so that our Ace of Hearts could take full control of the country. He is Vice President so it would only make sense to put him in office, to give him some real power. I mean, we already control congress…we just need a figurehead who will be sympathetic to our plans. I might have done it…but they didn’t want to stop with the country, Drake. They want the world. Using US recourses, they would take the world and not think twice. But I refused. I denied them their chance to rule. And until I give up my title as Ace of Spades they cannot replace me or force the task on someone else. They think if they can torture and break me, that I will give in to their plans. But I can’t let them go through with this. I won’t.” He sounded determined and I couldn’t really blame him. I didn’t really want these maniacs running the world either.

“So what do I have to do with all of this?” I asked quietly. He shifted slightly and finally turned to face me. He didn’t look so intimidating when he had his knees tucked to his chest and sadness softening the handsome lines of his face.

“You are the last living, blood relative of our Father.” He said father as if it were a truly sacred title to him, something to be whispered by humble lips alone and in only honest reverence. I didn’t know who this Father was, but as if anticipating my questions, he moved on. “Our Father is the one who created us all, he is the first and will probably be the last of his kind. We are a race of beings too powerful and ambitious to last much longer. Without my express permission, they cannot carry out their plans to rule the world. They sought to use you to get what they want.”

I didn’t understand it. How could I be so important? I didn’t even know what was going on or how it all worked. I mean I got the basic idea…but that was about it. The rest was just too confusing. “I still don’t understand, Kraven.” I murmured softly and found those glittering black eyes to hold soft understanding instead of biting impatience.

“Let me start with our power structure, perhaps it will make more sense as I go along, for you need to know now before they truly try and break you.” The words made me shiver, and not in a good way.

I nod slowly and I watch as some form of tension flows away from his shoulders and he slumps against the bars.

“We are separated into four main groups, like a deck of cards. Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades. The Hearts are the self appointed leaders of our people. They all come from families with natural born talents in almost every leadership role imaginable. They are the ones we have integrated into the government. The Diamonds take care of the finances, they make sure we have the funding we need to survive in the human world unnoticed. The Clubs are messengers. They are our information network and they are very good at what they do. And the Spades are the law enforcers. We are the army and the soldiers that are called upon to carry out plans and missions that cannot be completed with politics or money. These tasks usually involved a death of some kind.

Each division is divided into levels of power. Aces being the leaders of a specific group. Kings and Queens generally organize the lower levels where Aces are mostly to give orders and direct. Jacks tend to be wild cards. They can be anything from an Ace to a lower level subordinate, depending on the whims of their Ace, King, or Queen. Anything lower than a Jack, is simply a pawn to be moved and placed where we see fit. But each position is not simply assigned, we are born into it. You inherit a title by blood and only someone higher than you can make you give up your title. Even then the title is given to someone else of your bloodline. If there is no one else in your bloodline to pass this title on to, our Father hand selects a new bloodline to begin anew.

This is where you come in Blake. For centuries our Father has kept his human family safe from being used as pawns. He has let them live a sheltered life, entirely unaware of the vast conspiracy around them so that they may grow with human hearts and minds. He did not wish to taint them with our darker ambitions. But our Father is dying, Drake. We do not know how to stop it or reverse it and we do not know what will happen when he passes. Our original plan was to conquer the United States and simply reinstate our Father’s power by taking a young heir from his family and bringing him over as one of us. This young heir would have the power that our Father still retains and we could begin working on a slow integration into the minds of humans. We wanted peace. But something went terribly wrong.

The Hearts decided that the United States weren’t enough. They wanted the world. And with our Father bed-ridden and unable to make decisions any longer they could take it. They only needed the last few details to be set into place. I was given the responsibility of putting the Ace of Hearts into a position to lead the country while the King and Queen of Diamonds were given the task of acquiring you, the last living relative of our Father. They knew you were human and you thought too much like a human to convince you to join our cause in time…So Dez was given full discretion on how to win your total obedience to our great solution.

If they break you, they could push you into forcing me to give up my title as Ace of Spades and they could then pass the task they had assigned to me, on to the new Ace. Because until I have given up my title and my place as an equal leader beside them, my blood ties will not allow them to give my task to another. They need you to force my hand in this plan. If the Hearts have you, they have control of us all. They cannot be allowed to break you.”

It was too much, too much to take in and way too much to digest at the moment, but at least now I understood somewhat. I wasn’t really that important, I was just related to the head honcho and my blood relation to him could be used as a tool. I understood that much and even agreed that it was probably the best way to get things moving. But what I didn’t understand was why they could imprison us both if we were so damn important to this great plan.

“So…why are we here then? Couldn’t they just give us the royal treatment and pamper us into giving them what they want? Why the torture and humiliation?”

He gave me that soft look again, as if he could truly feel the pain my humiliation had caused me. “If you were treated as royalty you would have become corrupt and power hungry as they are. You would have a mind of your own and a will of your own to use your power the way you see fit. If they break you now they can control you entirely.”

Okay…now it made sense. But I still didn’t like it.

“So…is there a way out of this? I mean, couldn’t we just pretend to go along with their plans and then screw everything up along the way?”

He was silent for a moment before those dark eyes became way too solemn for my liking. “There is only one way to make this plan fail,” he began quietly and turned that gaze from my own, as if he couldn’t bear to look at me when he said the last part. “To come into your full power as Heir and to force their hand into negotiation…you would have to become one of us.”

It sounded simple enough but it sounded like there was a catch. “Okay…so besides needing to drink blood, what else is there that you’re not telling me?”

He gave me the full weight of those solemn eyes once more and I had to fight to meet that gaze this time. “You are blood of our Father’s blood. The only one who can bring you over is him. If anyone else were to attempt such a thing you would become like Vandeline, a mindless puppet to be ordered about and used.”

“So we’re pretty much screwed unless we can get to your Father?” I asked and he nodded.

“He is not just my Father, he is your Father as well. The first of your line and the creator of us all.”

It was not a responsibility I wanted. My heart raced at even the idea of holding so much power. I’ve seen what a position of power could do to a person and I didn’t want that much power in my hands. But I did want out of here alive and I wanted Kraven safe. But how was I supposed to do that and still manage to keep my humanity intact?

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the one-hundred million dollar question.

___________________


Okay, so no Yaoi in this chapter, but a little too much information^^ Ah well, it needed to be explained and this story is going to move a little faster than you’d think.

I would like to apologize for taking so long to update but the information in this chapter is really important to the rest of the story so I had to take my time on it and get it right. Thanks for being patient and I hope you enjoy this latest installment^^