Unraveling Soren by Marisa Maichel (books under 200 pages txt) 📕

you’re not going to die today,” Samuel said, sitting up. “What about Faolan? Alana, release him.”

A door opened in the wall, and a cage slid out, a cage containing Faolan in werewolf form. The mouth on his stomach was gone, but he was still terrifying. He snapped, roared, howled, and snarled, until he saw Father and his ears went back.

“Let him go!” Father shouted.

The lock on the cage door slid open, and a strange force pulled Faolan onto the table and bound him with chains. Father cried out and leaped forward, but Alana put chains around Father as well.

The book flipped open to a page scrawled in Latin. I recognized the words as a spell for bringing back the dead.

“Hold on,” I said, standing up. “This isn’t right-“

Chains wrapped around me next. I fell backwards, then my chair righted itself.

“Wait!” I shouted. “How did you bring Sarah’s parents and Nales back to life?”

“Yes, I want to know that as well,” said Aphrodite, speaking up for the first time. Her voice was beautiful, it had a musical quality.

Samuel sighed, but didn’t close the book. “I knew about Nales and Sarah’s parents from my source,” he said. “I knew about Mathias because I had known him for years. And his family.”

I turned and realized I didn’t see Mathias anywhere.

“Where is Mathias?”

“At this moment, he is carrying out a task for me, one that will ensure the future of all vampires.”

“Samuel, what is he doing?” Uncle Soren growled.

“He is planning to destroy the humans of North Hampton.”

This was not good. I struggled to get out of my chains.

“Don’t bother, boy, they’re titanium,” Samuel said.

“He can’t break them, but I can,” Odin said. His voice was deep and gruff. He stood up and walked over to Father first, grabbing the chains and pulling, breaking them in seconds. Then he walked over to me.

I’m being touched by Odin!

He pulled, and they broke. Then he walked around to his seat. Father stood up, and started pulling at the chains around Faolan.

Samuel looked at Alana, but she didn’t react. He produced a knife, and then my father leaped at him and they started fighting.

Alana began surging, pulling in power from all over the room. Odin got up and left, but Aphrodite stayed. Suddenly, the cabin blew up.

Alicia and Beckett grabbed Sarah and Sabine and ran like hell, and I noticed that the Nales had also slipped away. A pair of pale pink wings sprouted from Aphrodite’s back and she flew away.

Samuel and Father were fighting so fast, I couldn’t see what they were doing. But then, Faolan was free. He roared, and then swiped at Louis, who was sent back twenty feet and landed hard. I winced as I heard his neck snap.

Uncle Soren roared and pounced on Faolan’s back. Faolan tried to swipe at him, but missed him every time. I leapt out of the way and ran over to Louis, who was now being checked by Grandfather. It had gotten chaotic in seconds. Mother snatched me up and started to run, but I shouted for her to stop, and she stopped.

I ran over to Faolan and shouted for him to recognize me.

“Come on, Faolan, control yourself!”

“Reese! You stupid boy!” Father yelled.

Alana hit a surge of power at Faolan, who fell over, unconscious.

And then Samuel and Uncle Soren made eye contact, and glared at each other before circling like two male lions. Uncle Soren reacted first. He pounced on Samuel, who bit into his neck, causing blood to squirt out. Uncle Soren’s fangs retracted, and he bit down on Samuel’s carotid artery.

Samuel grabbed the knife he’d dropped and plunged it into my uncle’s side. Uncle Soren roared in pain and tore the knife out of Samuel’s hand, cutting both their palms.

Father was leaning over Faolan, and Grandfather was still distracted by Louis’ distress, so I found my chance. I moved through the crowd and found Alana. She was floating two inches off the ground, and she turned to glare at me.

“Why are you doing this? You know it’s wrong,” I said.

“He killed my brother,” she said in her dry, unusually childlike tones.

“Yes, but still…you killed innocent people. Verity didn’t deserve to die. Neither did the mermaid, or the old woman. The cat didn’t deserve death, and neither did James.”

If it was possible, her face would have turned whiter than possible, but she didn’t say anything. She landed on the floor and took off the hood of her cloak. I noticed that patches of her hair were missing, as if she’d pulled them out. She undid the clasp on her cloak, and it fell away to reveal a white minidress and white knee-high boots.

“Alana! Destroy them!” Samuel shouted.

Alana froze.

“Now, Alana!”

“No.”

We all froze, even Uncle Soren, and stared at her.

“I’m not killing more people to fulfill your self-centered desires, Father.”

“Insolent witch! Woman was made to serve man!”

“You have been using my powers for evil means. I no longer want to live!”

“What…Alana, no!”

Alana picked up the knife, and plunged it into her chest. She froze, then fell down to the ground.

“Not my daughter!”

Samuel ran to her and cradled her, muttering softly. “Forgive me, Alana, forgive me.”

Mason came up to me. I hadn’t realized he and Krauvas had been watching from a distance.

“It looks like you were wrong, Reese,” he said. “I take my apologies in writing.”

“I’m not apologizing, though,” I said. “Go shit in a ditch, Godfrey.”

“Thanks, Emerson,” he said sarcastically.

A low whistling caught my attention. Something was happening to Samuel. He had his mouth over Alana’s, and it looked like he was absorbing her magic. It had a blueish color, and smelled like electricity and rotten eggs.

Mason cursed, and Krauvas approached cautiously. A crackling filled the air, and Samuel rose into the air. Gulping, I stood still, and Samuel aimed the first bolt at me. I jumped out of the way just in time, and it landed centimeters from where I’d been standing seconds before. He aimed the next bolt at Mason, who also jumped, but his foot had been shot. He screamed, and then crawled on his belly over to me.

Samuel prepared another bolt. He gathered up a ball of magic that crackled and sizzled, and then he tossed it at both of us.

Krauvas jumped in front of us, and then he held up his hands and mutterd something in Latin. The bolt hit an invisible force field, and Krauvas turned to us.

“Go, Mason! Leave!”

Mason stood up and started running. My vision!

I yelled for him to stop, but he ignored me, and seconds later, a bolt hit him.

Mason fell over, dead.

No. No, no, no, no, no, no! He couldn’t be dead!

“My son! My son! You killed him!”

Krauvas lifted himself into the air and magic grew between his fingers. He clapped his hands together once, and pulled them apart, creating a line of yellow energy. He rolled it into a ball, and then threw it at Samuel, who was hit full force, but quickly recovered and they both flew even higher into the air.

I ran over to my friend, and put my ear against his chest. Nothing. I pressed down hard on his chest and breathed into his mouth.

“There’s nothing you can do, Reese,” Father said, trying to pull me away. “He’s gone.”

“There’s one thing.”

“What are you-Reese, don’t!”

I ignored him and bit into Mason’s wrist, and then bit into my own. I’ve only turned one vampire, and that was Evan. I had reacted out of fear for Evan’s life, and now I was reacting out of love for my friend.

I mixed our blood together, then licked Mason’s cheek. I licked the wound on his wrist, and then I bit into my arm. I dripped blood into his mouth. I tipped his head and throat so the blood would flow into his stomach, starting the change.

Krauvas and Samuel continued to throw bolts at each other. One of Samuel’s bolts hit a tree, setting it on fire.

“Mordecai! We need to put the fire out!” Uncle Soren shouted. Krauvas turned around and shot water out of his palms, putting the fire out in seconds. Samuel took the opportunity to throw a bolt at Uncle Soren, who flew back about fifty feet. I heard a sickening crack as he landed against a tree, toppling it.

Krauvas turned around and got a bolt straight to the gut, and he landed beside his son. He sat up, groaning, and looked down at Mason. He looked almost ashamed. Then he got up and faced Samuel.

“You killed my son. You got your revenge,” Krauvas said.

“My fight is not with you, Krauvas. My fight is with the Emersons,” Samuel said. “The boy was merely in the way. His life means nothing to me.”

Krauvas fell to his knees, and he pulled Mason into his lap. He nuzzled Mason, muttering words I didn’t understand.

But we were suddenly distracted by a forlorn figure. Faolan was standing in the copse of trees, fully human and completely naked. He was covered in blood and dirt.

Father let out a cry and embraced Faolan. When Faolan didn’t hug him back, Father gave him a hurt look and pulled away.

“My love?”

Faolan grabbed Father by the throat, and then threw him. Father crashed into Uncle Soren, and Faolan turned toward me.

“You!”

Terrified, I turned to run, but Faolan still reached me in seconds, spun me around, and slashed at my face. I dodged, and he hit my chest instead. I noticed that his claws were now a foot long, and razor-sharp. He aimed for my gut next, and I jumped back again, and he slashed my private area.

I doubled over and hissed, clutching myself, and then I saw that Father was on Faolan now, trying to control him.

“Calm down! Calm down!”

Faolan turned and slashed at Father, who jumped back. Uncle Soren ran over to me and picked me up.

“Can you walk?” he asked.

I shook my head.

And then a bolt of magic hit Faolan, and he fell over.

“Samuel, you asshole!” Father said, tears running down his face. “Oh, gods, Faolan! Baby, please! Please, look at me!”

Faolan’s eyes were open, but they were still and glassy. He was dead.

“Maybe I can-“

“No, Reese. Faolan had to die. He was out of control.”

Father glared at my uncle. “This is all your fault!”

“My fault, my fault, why is everything always my fault?” Uncle Soren whined like a teenager.

Uncle Soren jumped up and leapt onto Samuel. He grabbed his head and pulled.

Samuel slowly floated to the ground. Then he hit Uncle Soren with a bolt of magic and scooped up Alana, then ran off into the woods. Uncle Soren chased after him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grandfather carried both me and Louis home by carrying us over his shoulders. Father carried Faolan, and Krauvas carried Mason.

When we reached the house, Shadowfang was outside, sniffing at the lavender plants in our garden.

When he saw us, his pupils widened. “What happened? You’ve been gone for hours! And why do I smell dog?”

Father glared at him, and Shadowfang quickly turned tail and ran back into the house through the cat door.

Grandfather set me on my bed, and Louis in his bedroom. We were both given O positive, a great injury reducer.

Krauvas set Mason down in an extra bedroom that our housekeeper, Augusta, sometimes used, and kissed him.

“It’s my fault you’re dead,” he muttered. “I’m so sorry, Mason. I’ve been a terrible father. I don’t deserve a son as great as you. Please, please survive the change.”

I knew my penis would heal faster than either Louis’ broken neck or Mason’s complete change into a vampire, but damn, was it painful.

After some sleep and some more blood, I felt refreshed. It was the middle of the night, and Mason was getting ready to finish the change. His heart slowly began to harden and constrict, his lungs stopped moving, and his hair became shinier and healthier, and so did his skin, teeth, nails, and everything else. He became stronger, faster, smarter.

He was turning into a vampire.

His eyes shot open. He groaned as he slowly sat up. He saw me, and he