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Chapter Two: On Their Trail



“Do you think they realize we can walk during the daytime?” Dynasty asked Jade as they slowly walked down the deserted road in the same direction as the group of men. The sun was close to reaching the horizon, coloring the sky a pale orange. They were taking their time in order to fully restore their strength for the confrontation that would happen that night.

“I doubt it, or else they wouldn’t have run like they did. I still can’t believe how they acted like scared little kids!” Jade shook her head with a coarse laugh. She ran a hand through her locks, attempting to get rid of the caked in dirt. They needed to find a place to shower and dress before searching for the Chosen Ones.

“Vampires in our day weren’t scared of anything. Remember when the basilisk came and destroyed half of our kind until we came along? Slayed it like it was just a mere rat.” Dynasty recalled with a sigh, remembering their lives from so long ago. She and Jade had met during the 15th century when vampires were rampant all over Europe. They defeated many enemies single handed, creating great respect for them wherever they traveled.

“Yes, I remember. Times have changed,” Jade agreed, willing her aching legs to move faster as the sky changed from orange to gold and the morning star disappeared. “Come on, we have to reach Ruby before it becomes too light out.”

“How do you know she’s still around here? What if she lost faith that we would come back? Or maybe she’s been slayed?” Dynasty questioned, flexing her arms and legs as they walked down the lonely road.

“No, she’s still here. I can feel it--” Jade stopped in her tracks when she caught site of an object sparkling on the ground. “Well, well, well.”

“What is it?”

“Our boys left us a little present,” Jade smirked, bending down to pick up the fallen item. It was a gold ring with a blood red stone nestled in the center. She licked the band, her fangs glowing in the faint sunrise. Her sense of tracking was one of the best throughout vampire history, and she took pride in it. “This belongs to the tattooed one. We’re still on their trail.”

“Which way are they headed?” Dynasty asked as Jade handed her the ring. She placed it on her finger, obviously too big for her petite fingers. The ring trembled slightly before immediately shrinking to fit perfectly. It was definitely from a vampire.

“Straight north towards Tampa, which is where Ruby is as well. We’ll get them once they come out tonight to feast,” Jade replied as they resumed their trek into the back roads of town.

~*~*~

“Nick, it couldn’t be them! It just couldn’t be!” Kevin ranted towards the youngest as he paced the dark room where he and the other men slept during the day. However, with recent events, sleep seemed to be the last thing on their minds. “It’s not time for them to come back!”

“But it is time, if you had been paying attention these hundreds of years! We knew they would come back eventually and now it’s happened. I saw the Gems, man!” Nick retorted, standing up to Kevin and their contrasting eyes locked in a stare down. The room became deathly silent.

“Well, if they are here, we’re in deep shit,” A.J. commented, the silence making him uncomfortable. The two turned around and glared at him. He held his hands up in defense. “Okay, okay--”

“Where’s your ring?!”

“Huh?”

“Your ring! It’s gone!” Kevin strode over, anger radiating from every pore in his body as he grasped A.J.’s right hand. He twisted it around so A.J. could see the missing spot where the ring once was. “Where is it?!”

“Shit! It must have fallen off when we ran away,” A.J. cursed, ripping away his hand from Kevin. The older man began tugging at his raven locks in frustration, realizing that they would be as good as found when it came to those two women.

“How is it that out of all of us, you lose your ring the night they come back? They’ll find us for sure!”

“I thought you said it couldn’t be them,” Nick quipped sarcastically with a roll of his eyes towards their leader. Kevin looked about ready to kill him, fangs bared when Howie interrupted the potential bloodfight.

“Guys, stop! Arguing isn’t going to change the fact that they are here. We have to figure out what to do.”

“Run away and never come back?” Brian suggested, looking at his cousin with a hopeful look in his light blue eyes.

“Okay, number one; we never ran from anything before and we won’t now. Number two; that darker skinned one was the best tracker before this damn prophecy went into action. They’ll find us wherever we go,” Kevin replied sternly, feeling his fangs recede back into his jaw, which indicated it was time for rest. He walked over to his large, mahogany coffin and lifted it open. He didn’t know what the Risen wanted, but he would not leave the place they had lived in for over two hundred years.

“So what are we going to do, Cuz?” Brian asked as they all looked over at their leader. Kevin always had a plan for everything.

“Sleep. There’s nothing we can do in the daytime,” Kevin let his eyes connect with Brian’s for a moment and it seemed to soothe the man. He actually smiled before climbing into his coffin and closing the lid.

“Maybe when I wake up, this will all be a dream and my ring will be on my finger,” A.J. shuddered, walking to his own coffin along with the others. Soon the room was silent as the men fell into a deep hibernation until night came and it was time to feast on the innocent yet again.

~*~*~

Howie holds his cell phone away from his ear as A.J.’s ranting and screaming streamed from it. “Alex, relax. Chill out, it’s not a big deal. Look, we’ll get a better ring for ya. Just calm down.”

Nick smirks, biting his lower lip as Brian chuckles under his breath both watching a pacing Howie before them.

“Yeah…look I know. It’s just jewelry, take a gulp of water and shut up already. My ear is burning with all the yelling you’re making.” Howie smirks as Kevin grins: propping his legs up on the coffee table.

Nick runs a hand through his short blonde spikes while Brian yawns and stretches, checking his rolex watch.

Sighing, Howie rolls his eyes, sitting on the edge of the sofa while A.J. continued to rant before exhaling and suddenly quiets down. Raising his eyebrows, Howie whispers out: “A.J.? You still there? Alex?”

A.J. frowns, scanning his eyes over last night’s image of the two estranged women coming from the isolated graves left behind. “Howie…D…listen to me. Put Kevin on the phone for a minute.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Dude, just do it aight.” A.J. grumbles out, settling down on his unmade bed, gazing up at the ceiling fan swirling lazily above him.

Howie sighs and extends his hand out with the phone: “Kev, he wants to talk you.”

“Why?” Kevin responds curtly, holding back a yawn.

“Don’t know. Just take it.” Howie hands him the cell and plops in the sofa across from him, watching his curiously.

Exhaling, Kevin places the phone to his ear: “What?” He grumbles out, watching the others snicker and gaze at him.

“Question man. Who were those chicks last night? You and your stupid behind talked with them. What did they want?” A.J. leans over his lap, twirling his silver dog tag chain in his right hand.

Kevin gulps: “Ohhh ohh them. They’re just crazy chicks, some idiots buried them alive. I know it was a bit freaky, but nothing to worry about.”

“Cut the bull Kevin, I’m not Nick. I know there’s something more you’re not telling me.” A.J. hisses out, clutching the platinum chain tightly in his fist.

Kevin smirks at the comment and looks at the others eyeing him. Sucking his teeth, he excuses himself and closing himself in Howie’s bedroom, locking the door behind him.

Nick frowns, watching the door close and glances back at the others. “What’s Kevin hiding that he can’t say it to all of us?”

Brian shakes his head, leaning back on the sofa besides Nick: “Not sure. But last night something wasn’t right. I think Kevin is talking to Alex about those girls we saw last night.”

“So? They’re freaky that’s not normal! I mean they…they came from the ground all dead and they had that white gem!” Nick gulps, shivering at the thought.

Howie scans his eyes over to his friends, releasing a sigh: “Something isn’t right. That gem…it looks so similar but it couldn’t be them. The queens passed away long ago. Their deaths have long been recorded in our history. There is no way they could still be living.”

“Why not? I mean they are vampires right? The undead…like us. Why couldn’t they live forever?” Brian whispers out, gazing at his thumb nail nervously.

“I heard from my youth they died trying to find a soul mate to match them in royalty. Stories had it that they were never happy until the day they find their mate, their future husband which ever one comes first for them. They died during one of their hunts. One of them wanted a man in particular to share in her power and she got them both killed. Burned from the morning sun because they were too slow to hide away. ” Howie states, shrugging his shoulders.

“But that’s just a story Howie. Those queens…they seem unique. Unlike any vampires of our history.” Brian states, sitting up nervously.

Nick raises his eyebrows, “I knew something is up with those chicks, we’re gonna be in trouble. I can feel it.”