Moonlight Denial: Shades of Moonlight Book One

Nicoli’s entire world had just been turned upside down, shattered, and burned into cinders all at the same time. He sat on the cold floor of the basement, staring at a man that looked exactly like Ethan in every single way possible, but was different in several more ways. The man’s word’s resonated through Nicoli like a horrific echo.

“My name is Evan Meier. Regrettably, I am Ethan’s twin brother.”

Ethan had a twin brother? That couldn’t be true. Ethan never mentioned he had a brother. Never hinted to it. How could Ethan keep such a secret from him? No, he wouldn’t.

“Twin…brother?” Nicoli said weakly. Unable to say anything else.

“That’s right,” the man said, seemingly unaware of the discord he had caused within Nicoli. “Though, I would prefer it if you called me Meier. I don’t go by Evan anymore.”

Nicoli heard the words, but they didn’t process. He was too lost by the magnitude of what he had just learned. Evan. Meier. Twin brother. Ethan’s twin brother. It wasn’t possible. No, it just couldn’t.

The room began to spin. The stabbing sensation in his back grew, his head throbbed, all of his limbs ached, and every single feeling pooled into his gut and crashed and roiled within.

Nicoli was overcome by the emotions and pain. He couldn’t take it. His body acted on its own and he twisted over onto his hands as his stomach clenched violently. He gasped and coughed as he heaved; expelling what little there was in his stomach. He went on for a few minutes until there was nothing left to come up.

He stayed crouched over his mess, trying to catch his breath. He felt so drained, sick, and every inch of him was in agony. He just wanted to die. He couldn’t take anymore. A hand tentatively touched his shoulder. He recoiled and lashed out, smacking the hand away. Fire licked his back from the lashes Dimitri had given him, but he didn’t care.

“Don’t touch me!” he screamed, but his throat was so worn and raw that it came out as more of a squeal. He turned to Meier, inching away from his regurgitated puddle. “You can’t be Ethan’s twin. It’s not possible,” he said, wanting this to be a delirious side effect from his torture.

“And yet here I am before you,” Meier said, with a small shrug. He then placed his hands on his chest. “I am solid. Flesh and blood just like you. I’m sorry if this upsets you, but it is not my fault that you did not know of my existence.”

Nicoli stared into Meier’s eyes. The same teal as Ethan’s, but they did not hold any of the warmth that Nicoli was so familiar with. This Meier looked every bit like Ethan, but wasn’t anything like Ethan. He felt queasy again.

“I-I don’t understand,” he whimpered.

“That’s to be expected at this point,” Meier told him.

“It can’t – he would have told me.” He looked up at Meier and could feel his eyes misting over. “Why didn’t he tell me?”

“I suspect shame would have kept his tongue tied and his lips sealed,” Meier said. “But that is only speculation.”

Nicoli groaned and covered his eyes with a shaky hand. Meier spoke so…formally and it was beyond odd to see the words coming from Ethan’s lips. Before he could try to straighten any of his chaotic thoughts there was the sound of fabric against floor. He looked up to see that Meier had moved closer to him.

“Now, I advise you to lie down so I can finish working on your back,” Meier said and gestured for Nicoli to return to his position on his stomach.

Nicoli didn’t move. Beyond his understanding he was filled with horror at the thought of duplicates of Ethan’s hands touching him. He was struck by the desire to get as far away from Meier as humanly possible.

When Nicoli didn’t make a move to obey Meier sighed lightly and held up his hand. Nicoli gasp as an invisible force enveloped him. It felt like being wrapped in very thin cotton, or maybe even solid, foamy water. Before he could struggle against the sensation his body was being moved on its own. It twisted him over and he was lowered back onto the floor on his stomach.

He blinked when his cheek met cement and he glanced up at Meier, who now towered over him. He couldn’t understand what just happened. He tried to move to get back up, but now the force had morphed into a heavy blanket to keep him down.

“W-What did you…how?” Nicoli stuttered as Meier calmly picked up the rag and wetted it in the bowl again. “I thought – Mental abilities aren’t supposed to work…” Nicoli trailed off. He was feeling sick again. Everything he knew was being mutated and corroded.

“Mental abilities aren’t able to penetrate your mind,” Meier told him as he delicately placed the rag on Nicoli’s torn back and, once Nicoli was done tensing, began to clean again. “The mental can still affect your physical.”

Nicoli closed his eyes. He should have known that. Just because no one in the clan had tried to move him bodily with their minds didn’t mean it couldn’t be done. The mind link protected his mind, not the rest of him.

Silence descended as Meier worked. Nicoli was too lost in his revelations to even feel the pain his back radiated. Ethan had a brother. A twin brother. Why would Ethan keep that from him? It didn’t make any sense. Then Meier’s previous words came back to him.

“I suspect shame would have kept his tongue tied and his lips sealed.”

What did Meier mean by that? His eyes widened and a near, inaudible gasp escaped him when he remembered something else. Right before Meier had come down to the basement he had been speaking with Dimitri. He had called Dimitri…“Father.”

“Dimitri is your sire?” Nicoli asked. How had Conrad ended up with one brother and Dimitri the other? It didn’t make sense.

The rag on his back stilled for only a moment before continuing.

“No, unfortunately Conrad is the one that gave me this life, but I would hardly call that man father material. I can honestly and happily say that Dimitri is the only true father I have ever known.”

Nicoli’s mind raced. How was that possible? What the hell had the clan not told him?

“But how…I don’t –”

Meier sighed and let out a tsk. Nicoli flinched when fingers brushed his bangs out of his face and Meier bent down enough for Nicoli to see him better.

“It’s a shame they left you so ignorant,” he said. As Meier sat back up Nicoli couldn’t help but agree with him. “Ten years ago I met Dimitri for the first time. An actual face to face meeting. He told me he had been watching me and saw so much potential in me…and he knew how unhappy I was. From that first moment I was enthralled by him and would have gone off with him right then and there, but first I had to prove my worth to him.”

Nicoli listened intently and wasn’t aware when Meier took the rag away and grabbed a different bowl. He gasped and his muscles clenched when something thick and chilly touched his back.

“Forgive me, I should have warned you,” Meier said, stopping his story to apologize.

“What is that?” Nicoli asked, shivering at the contact of the substance.

“It’s an ointment that will help the bleeding stop. It is also mixed with a powerful pain killer. You should be able to feel the effects soon,” Meier explained.

As Meier rubbed in the ointment Nicoli found that he was right. The deep pain that was seared into his being tingled then slowly began to fade away. As his muscles loosened and a wave of relief filled him he relaxed against the floor.

“How did you prove yourself?” he asked once he was done reveling in his numbed bliss.

“It was little things at first,” Meier said. “I slipped him information here and there. Told him when we found a lead on the Hearts and warned him if the clan was making plans to ambush him in some way. It didn’t take long for the others to realize that there was a spy within their midst’s, but I was put under little speculation. No one would suspect quiet, obedient little Evan.” The last statement was spat out with great loathing and the fingers in Nicoli’s back rubbed harder.

“I admit I also carried out a few orders for Dimitri that I’m not proud of, but not to the extent that I lose sleep over it.”

“Like what?” Nicoli asked. He wanted Meier to keep talking. He wanted to know everything that the clan had refrained from telling him. What had truly happened all those years ago?

“Do you know of two clansmen named Aria and Stephen?” Meier asked.

“Yeah,” Nicoli said, remembering the names. “Stephen was one of Dimitri’s fledglings and Aria was Isaak’s.” His face darkened and he scowled. “Ethan told me Dimitri killed them.”

He was surprised when Meier chuckled and he looked up at him as best as he could.

“And again my brother tells a little white lie.”

“What do you mean?” Nicoli asked.

Meier didn’t answer right away. Instead he took another generous helping of the ointment and applied it to Nicoli’s lower back.

“Yes, Dimitri called for their deaths, but it wasn’t Dimitri who killed them. I did.”

The chill of the ointment couldn’t compare to the ice that stabbed into Nicoli’s gut. It had been Meier to do the deed? Was it really that shocking, though? He didn’t know Meier, so he couldn’t be surprised by any of his actions. It was when he thought over the time period did it really hit him.

Meier had only been with Dimitri for the last ten years, but that meant he was with Conrad’s clan much longer. He had killed two people that he had spent a greater part of his life with!

“H-How could you kill them?” Nicoli asked, and realized that the hands that were touching him belonged to a murderer. He ached to get away, but knew he wouldn’t get far. “They were your family.”

Meier hmphed, obviously not as take aback by the moral wrongness as Nicoli.

“Like I said, I’m not proud of myself, but in the end it was a simple matter of their lives or my happiness. I wasn’t about to let it slip through my fingers, so they had to die.”

“But Stephen was Dimitri’s son!” Nicoli exclaimed, and it made his throat clench and burn. “How could he have his own son murdered?” Nicoli cried out as one of the fingers on his back harshly pressed into an open wound. Meier’s eyes had gone deadly cold and sharp.

“Don’t play Stephen as the victim,” Meier snarled. “He was an ingrate. Dimitri was the one who suffered. How would you have felt if your own child turned his back on you? Shattering your heart into a million splinters. Stephen deserved what befell him and I was only too happy to carry it out on Dimitri’s behalf.”

Nicoli swallowed back his pain. If Meier felt he was in the right for his actions then Nicoli would let him have it and not bring Stephen up again.

“And what about Aria? Why did Dimitri have her killed?” he asked.

“Ah, she was a wholly different case,” Meier said, the anger slipping from his voice and his fingers once again soft. “Dimitri had her killed as a means for survival.”

“Survival?”

“Yes, Aria had been the only one out of the entire clan to come close to ending Dimitri several times. Dimitri knew it was only a matter of time before she succeeded, so he ended the threat before it was too late.”

Nicoli closed his eyes. It was all so much to take in. Ethan had a twin brother. A twin brother, who Dimitri had used in order to kill both his own son and his niece as a twisted way for Meier to prove himself.

“Sadly for Conrad and the others,” Meier continued, bringing Nicoli back. “Even after I killed the two they still couldn’t figure out it was I who was the traitor.”

Nicoli’s eyes snapped open.

“What? How could they not?”

“I sometimes think they did know, deep down, but they didn’t want to believe it. They denied what was right before their eyes until the end. Until the night I took a third life from the clan.”

Sweat tickled Nicoli’s brow and his heart pumped hard in his chest. A third life? Was there another vampire in the clan that they hadn’t told him about?

“W-Who?” Nicoli asked, afraid of the answer.

“He was Ethan’s lover. A young little thing Ethan picked up off the streets. The poor boy, I told Ethan it would have been better to leave the boy where he found him, but he wouldn’t listen.” His voice took on a hard edge, but was relaxed and smooth the next second. “Actually, you may have met the boy. I’ve heard rumors that he has been haunting Ethan to this day. His name was Felix.”

The name hit Nicoli as if all the walls had just come crashing down on top of him. Felix? No, that couldn’t be right. That would just be far too cruel. To be murdered by the brother of his lover?

That was now verified. Ethan and Felix had been lovers. Nicoli had suspected it and it turned out he was right, but that just made the whole situation so much worse, made the betrayal for Felix cut so much deeper.

He slowly looked up at Meier, his eyes wide.

“You? You killed Felix?”

“Ah, so it’s true. He is still around,” Meier said. “Yes, I am the one that killed Felix.”

The horror slowly trickled away and in its place grew boiling hot fury. All he could think about was Felix, brash and condescending Felix, who hid his pain behind his irritating attitude. Felix, who would never get to learn and experience the world like he was meant to, like he deserved to. Felix, who had life snatched away from him at such a young age. A life that was taken from him by someone he probably trusted with his whole heart.

“How could you!?” Nicoli screamed, ignoring his raw throat and throbbing back as he jolted up. “How could you kill Felix? What did he do to you?” he demanded. “What did he do that deserved for him to be killed? Why would Dimitri want him dead?”

“Dimitri had nothing to do with it,” Meier said calmly, unaffected by Nicoli’s outburst. “It was after he found me worthy of being his child and he simply wanted me to finally show the others who the traitor was. It was I who chose how best to do it.”

“Why Felix?” Nicoli asked. His rage had tempered and he was just filled with loss and confusion.

“I had nothing against the boy,” Meier told him. “A part of me even held some affection for him and wished it hadn’t come to that. Come, let me bind your back now.”

Nicoli was thrown by the last part until he saw Meier hold up a roll of bandages. But when Meier reached for him, Nicoli shrank away. He didn’t want those murdering hands anywhere near him.

Meier frowned and sighed in irritation. He held up his hand again and Nicoli’s body froze. No matter how hard he tried to move his bones refused. His arms lifted on their own and that’s when the bandages glided over to him and began wrapping around his chest and back on its own.

“Then why?” Nicoli demanded, giving up on his vain attempt at struggling and let his wounds be bound.

Meier slightly narrowed his eyes and tilted his head back. The perfect picture of someone with superiority.

“Human’s should never meddle in the affairs of vampires. The consequences are too tremendous to bear.”

Nicoli stilled and his heart skipped a beat. He had heard that saying before. He remembered it faintly, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember where he had heard it.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“Simply that Felix had unintentionally meddled in affairs that were beyond him and he paid the ultimate price. You see, it was all a matter of hurting Ethan the best way I knew how and that was by taking away the person he loved most at that time. Love can bring just as much pain as it can happiness.” Meier smiled for the first time and it sent shudders down Nicoli’s spine. It could have rivaled Seth’s vile smirk. “That night I gave Ethan such a crippling blow and for the first time I knew what pure joy was. It still gives me shivers to think back on it.”

A great sense of sadness settled over Nicoli. How could someone get so much joy out of someone else’s pain? Let alone their own brother?

“Why do you hate Ethan so much?” he asked softly. “He’s your brother.”

Instantly the sickening smile crumbled into a tight frown.

“I don’t expect someone like you to understand.”

“Someone like me?”

“Yes, someone that has been seduced and blinded by Ethan’s devilish charm. You could never understand the hell I had to endure our whole lives. Always living in that bastards shadow and how he caused moth...” Meier stopped himself and closed his eyes. A quick second rebuilt his composure and he opened his eyes. “It’s a wonder I didn’t snap years ago.”

Nicoli was sure Meier had snapped. He was frightened by the look in Meier’s eyes. It was one of pure hatred. All of that hatred and all of that loathing was meant for Ethan and Ethan alone. Meier was right, Nicoli would probably never understand.

Nicoli looked down when something ripped and saw the roll of bandages was done. His torso was completely covered and his back felt much better.

“Enough talk about my bastard of a brother,” Meier said. “I think you should be more concerned about your own state of affairs. Do you realize what will happen to you if you continue to resist Dimitri?” he asked. “I’m sure this little incident was quite an eye opener.”

Nicoli glowered at him. He had revealed so much to Nicoli and now he was going to drop it all for the same old song and dance?

“You guys just don’t know when to quit,” Nicoli said in exasperation. “If I was able to get through this without saying a word.” He jerked his thumb toward his back. “Then I can take whatever else Dimitri is planning on throwing at me.”

He filled his cracked, weary words with as much bravado as he could muster, but they were met with amused laughter.

“You are a naïve little child,” Meier said. “Do you honestly believe that’s the worst Dimitri can do to you? That was him being gentle, little one.” Meier leaned in close and his evil smile returned. “If he wanted to he could have cleaved you in two with one stroke.”

A part of Nicoli knew that was true. Dimitri must have been able to put Nicoli through hell and back with the littlest effort, but let him off with a simple whipping, though his back disagreed on the “simple” part. However, he wasn’t going to let some Ethan look alike scare him.

Nicoli leaned forward until he was a mere inch from Meier’s face.

“Then I say bring it,” he said lowly. “I’m not like you. I won’t turn on Ethan and the others for some snake.”

They were locked in a stare for several seconds. Finally Meier huffed and leaned back. He used the bloody, wet rag to wipe the ointment off his fingers.

“You’re right, you’re not like me,” Meier said as he gathered the items. “I’m not a fool.”

“No, you’re just a murderer,” Nicoli grumbled. To his surprise Meier smirked at the comeback.

“Yes, and I’m about to go murder the one that I’ve dreamed of killing since I was a boy,” he said as he stood. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have to go prepare for my reunion with my dear, older brother.”

Nicoli instantly paled and there was a foreboding stabbing in his innards.

“You’ll never beat Ethan,” he said.

Meier stared down at him, a pale brow arched.

“Oh, you think so? I know him inside and out. I know his strengths and weaknesses, including his ultimate weakness. Now, tell me, in the short time you’ve known him, do you really believe that he would be able to kill me, his only brother that he loved oh so deeply for almost his entire life?”

Nicoli could only gape at him. He tried to force words to come out. To reinforce his belief that Ethan could overcome anything, but he could say nothing.

“That’s what I thought,” Meier scoffed as he headed to the stairs and began to ascend. “If you have any good memories of Ethan I suggest you keep them close because, if you do happen to survive this, I assure you that Ethan will not.”

There were still no words as the basement door closed and Nicoli was left all alone. He tried to push Meier’s prediction away. He told himself over and over that Ethan would be all right. Ethan would come and save him and they would all leave together unharmed.

Even with such encouraging thoughts tears trailed down his face and dripped from his chin to his lap. He shook his head as the sobs came and he curled toward his chest, his arms winding around himself.

“No, no,” he murmured over and over. He didn’t want to believe it. Ethan wouldn’t die at the hands of his brother. He wouldn’t! And yet, a little demon whispered in Nicoli’s ear that everything he feared would come true.

In that moment, Nicoli leaned back and stared up at the single light bulb that hung from the ceiling and did something he thought he’d never do. He prayed.

==============================================Ch. 56 End