A Dark Pursuit (5)

Sorry it took so long. I had exams. Well here's the long awaited chapter 5. I really hope you enjoy it!

Happy reading!

""" I sat gazing longingly outside the window. We were in hiding again in their stone mansion. Kier and Gabriel had gone out to gather food. Kier’s father was raging again, trying to hunt us down. Every day, every hour, every minute, he was getting stronger. We would have to attack soon. Or else all would be lost.

Drake came over to sit by me. He too gazed outside the window.

"What are you thinking about Guardian?" he asked me. Like Kier, he was shockingly handsome, with light brown hair and striking blue eyes but there was a bit of his past…. A curse that he was born with that made him distant from everyone else.

I looked at him and sighed, "It’s Kier…. He’s been acting strange lately…. I don’t know why or how he got this way….. does it have anything to do with the fight between him and Gabriel?"

Drake’s lips quirked, "I should have known you too would have seen the distance. He loves you Rose that I can assure you of. For many years I have been very perceptive of the body languages of those around me, and Kier…. He loves you, do not doubt that. What he is troubling him will go away, for if he loves you as I think he does. The argument between him and Gabriel will not matter."

I twisted my hands together, unable to ask him.

"There was something you wished to ask me? Perhaps it is more of a personal matter?"

I let a smile play my lips, "You ARE perceptive, I was wondering if you could tell me what the fight was about."

He chuckled, " If only it was that easy… Kier like all of us are private people, trust him Rose…. If it is something you need to be concern about he will tell you," he looked out the window again, rain was falling now, "I know he loves you Gaurdian, I only hope that one day…. No matter where or how, I too will find my beloved, a woman I could be with for all eternity. You do not know how much I envy what you and Kier share. And perhaps I will never know…"

Being bold I reached out to touch his hand.

I looked him straight in the eye, "You will know Drake…everyone has someone that was made just perfectly for them. Have faith, because love will find you when you least expect it…"

Just then, the door opened and Kier and Gabriel walked in, their hair wet.

Kier dropped the food on the table and came to me. Drake and Gabriel left to give us privacy.

"Have you missed me little flower?"

I snorted, "It was only 3 hours,"

"But even so…" he whispered against my neck, "it seemed like an eternity to me…"

He captured my lips with his…

For now I could forget his passionate fight with his brother… for now I could be happy…. For now….."""

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Kier lunged at Kurt who was caught off guard. They tumbled to the ground. Kiers fire roared up around him. I shielded my eyes from the brightness.

He hauled Kurt and he went sailing into the opposite direction. Kurt fell to the marble floor and grunted but got up. Giving no time for his opponent to think, Kier once again tackled him. But this time brought his fire up with him. Kurt roared at the pain.

Fists flew kicks were thrown and grunts were heard. I had had enough of this. I ran straight forward into the wrestling match. The two men struggled against each other. Although Kier didn’t spare me a glance, but he knew I was approaching.

"Do not interfere Rose!" He lashed out at Kurt, "this mortal needs to learn his place," he hissed.

"Who are you calling mortal?" with that Kurt punched Kier in the face. Kier yelled at the pain.

"STOP IT!" I shrieked as I charged in between them, "You two will cease fighting or God so help me I will kill you both!"

Both men stopped, but neither spared me a glance they were drawing in ragged breaths.

"Come Rose, we shall leave this place at once," Kurt chided.

"The only person who will be leaving is you!" Kier hissed.

They both started at each other again. I placed both hands on their chests to pull them apart.

"Rose is right, darling, why are you here? I thought… I thought we had something special…"

Kier started objecting before Kurt was even finished.

I glared at Kier, "Shut-up,"

I went towards Kurt but before I could Kiers strong hand clamped down on my shoulder, "You will be not leaving with him. You are my beloved you not only have a duty to me, but to our people and this world. Would you be so foolish as to seek the protection of a mortal?"

"Let her go!" Kurt hissed, "she wants to be with me."

I stiffened at his words, "I am not leaving, and neither is Kurt, we will both stay in this castle, and until this ‘assassin’ problem has sorted itself out, you two will just have to get over your male egos got it?"

They weren’t looking at me, just at each other.

"Understood."

"Very well."

"Good," I said. "Now if you’ll excuse me I will go back to my room. MY room. You hear me? Not yours Kier and no Kurt, you shall not accompany me."

With that last line I stormed off.

I stayed in my room for some time pacing. I wanted to collect my thoughts before I confronted Kurt about this… situation and I was dying to know how he managed to come here. If he really was mortal he wouldn’t have had access. Where did this leave us? Were we still…..together?

An hour later there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said. Istle entered the room.

"My lady, dinner is ready."

I nodded, "I will be down there in a minute, is… is Kurt there?"

"Yes he is my lady, him and lord Kier is waiting for you downstairs."

"Ok then, thank you Istle."

He bowed once again before leaving my room.

I sighed and dug into the wardrobe. For an arrogant vampire, Kier certainly did have taste. I chose a simple gown it was blue with simple patterns on it. Brushing my hair, I made my way down stairs.
The big dining room was lit with magnificent candles. Kier and his brothers were already seated. I saw all of them Drake, Gabriel and Theo.

They all watched me when I entered. I fought not to squirm under their gaze. I sat.

Kier nodded towards me.

"Rose."

I smiled timidly.

"There is the matter of the assassin. We do not have any leads. But before we pursue the topic. I think you owe us all an explanation….Kurt."

Kurt stood up instantly at his accusation, "I don’t owe you anything, " he hissed.

"Kurt.." I started.

"Save it Rose, it is obvious who your loyalties lie with."

I flinched, stung by his accusation.

Kier rose as well, "Indeed. I take it you will stop your foolish fantasy of trying to take her away from me?"

"Never, she doesn’t belong to you."

I stood up as well, "Damn straight I don’t."

Kier narrowed his eyes at me and opened his mouth to speak. But before I allowed him to. I whirled so that I faced Kurt, "And I sure as hell don’t belong to you either!" I stalked over to him, "You DO owe us an explanation Kurt if you want to continue to stay here."

He looked at me. I could see hundreds of different emotions flickering across his face. Then sighed, "Fine. Yes. I am a vampire. I didn’t want to tell you because I thought that you’d run away from me."

"You sure do know how to pick’em Rose." Gabriel muttered. I shot him a glare. He raised his hands as if in defeat.

We ate in silence for a moment. If you could really call it eating, I mostly just toyed with my food.

Finally Kier sighed and said, "I gather that we aren’t hungry anymore?"
We all nodded in unison. "I have something to show you. We came across it today. Not long after our… guest arrived." Kurt growled.
Kier extended his hand towards me, "Come."

I took it, but couldn’t do so without Kurt taking my other hand. I was tense as I was aware of their protectiveness. I looked behind me and silently pleaded for help. The three brothers all mouthed a "sorry" at the same time. I glared at them.

Kier lead us along the corridor. It was colder now at night. I remembered these walls, where I laughed, where me and Kier had shared so many memories before…before he betrayed me…

Kier stopped at a door. It was one I hadn’t seen before. Carved flowers carved it and a huge metal lock secured it closed. Kier dug into his pockets and pulled out a key and began to unlock it.

We entered a small room. Nothing about it was spectacular but it felt very cold inside. At the center of the room lay a box. Kier went towards it and opened it. I gasped, inside the box laid a golden chalice. Rubies adorned the lips of it while strange symbols were carved at the base.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"It is the black chalice. You pour water in here, and it instantly changes into something…unholy. If a person drinks this, they will become insane. Dark spirits will invade the body making it drive on its compulsions such as anger, a grudge they may hold against anyone may trigger it, making the person kill them. It enhances your ability, gives you more strength than an ordinary being would have. It would wear off in a while it is to be said. But we do not know how much damage a person with this type of power would cause by that time."

I lightly touched it with my finger tips. It was warm to the touch. It felt….alive. "Where did you find this?"

Kier shrugged, "It’s complicated. Our sources tell us that this chalice is linked with the darkness so that…. Wherever the darkness goes it follows. Whether the darkness knows of its presence or not, we do not know yet. We are keeping this under strict surveillance because the assassin may try to take it. That is if he knows that we have it and if it exists. For this has been hidden from us for countless centuries."

"But then, how did you know what it does?"

Kier chuckled, "There are… the Elders, of course. Only one of them have truly lived since the dawn of time." He sighed, "I think it is time you returned to bed. It is getting late, and we have a lot of work to do tomorrow." He turned to me, "Are you sure I cannot persuade you to sleep in my chambers?"

"Back off," Kurt snarled.

Shooting Kurt a look, "Thank you, but no thank you Kier, I prefer to sleep alone nowadays."

He nodded tightly, "Good night then."

"Good night."

I headed up to my chambers. I fell onto the bed and rubbed my face with my hands and sighed. I fell asleep in minutes. I dreamed….

"""" "Look out!"
I turned just as the south wall exploded. Pain crippled my whole body. I could feel my warm slippery blood oozing down my lip.

"Flower! Are you okay?" Kier raced towards me. And put his hands on either side of my face.

I wanted to nod, but it hurt my head too much. Kiers hands warmed. I knew he was performing the ‘healing fire’ a warm blanket of safety engulfed my body. I could still here the shouts of his brothers above me. But at that moment, I felt cherished…. I felt safe….

I struggled to get up. "You must be more careful flower….. If you harm yourself I will not forgive you… or myself for that matter."

I smiled weakly at him and got up. Rubble covered the room. We didn’t say a word. Kier, Theo, Gabriel and Drake were all poised to fight. We heard it. A soft hiss came from the opening in the wall. Mist filled the room. I held my breath. Suddenly, fire roared around us.

"GO!" Kier shouted. The five of us ran out the door. We heard the heavy footsteps. I looked behind me. My breath hitched in my throat.
A Dragon.

It was huge. It’s whole body seemed to fill the room and as it stalked us, bits of the stone wall came off.

We ran faster and faster.

More fire was breathed. Kier threw open every door in our path, deafening cracks hurt my ears. But still we ran.

"He’s catching up on us!" Gabriel shouted.

"We need to trap him! Go to the lake!" Theo shouted.

I looked at each of them and nodded, my blonde hair whipping around my face.

I stopped abruptly.

"ROSE!" someone shouted.

"KEEP GOING! I KNOW WHAT I’m DOING!" I yelled back.

We had led the dragon into the hall now. The lake was just beyond the glass doors. The hall was made of marble and stone pillars were at the sides, something we thought could protect us from an attack. We were wrong. The dragon came closer and closer, roaring with each step it took.

I looked at the stone pillars. I felt the power inside me, the power of my mother and grandmother, I felt a door in my mind open and energy blasted through my mind into the pillars. It wobbled. The dragon looked. One by one, the pillars fell down, creating the domino effect. One of them fell on the dragon’s head. It roared and breathed it’s fire at me. I threw a shield up to protect me and started running again.

I could see the others at the lake already. Just a few more meters….
All of them were poised around the lake. Ready to fight.

"GET READY!" Kier shouted.

We all braced. The dragon came through the glass doors. Smashing all of the glass in our direction.

I put a shield around us. It strained my mind. Once all the glass floated harmlessly past us. I dropped it.

My mind was weary now from exhaustion.

We could all hear the dragon’s heavy breathing. It started laughing. A throaty laugh. The clouds were darkening above us. But we all stood our ground, and as always in a tense situation, it began to rain. First, tiny droplets then hard, fast rain.

As the dragon laughed it changed. It grew smaller, it was no longer red, but it turned black.

I saw a face forming in the change. Smaller and smaller until it stopped.

A hooded figure with a black robe around it faced us. We were tense now. Still, the rain continued to pour down. It didn’t stop. The figure raised its hand and lifted its hood away from its faced. I suppressed a gasp. He had finally shown himself.

Kier's father.

"Well lookie here. The bastards have found a Guardian for themselves. How much are they paying you Guardian? I will pay you triple."

Kier went to stand protectively in front of me. "We are not paying her anything father. But she is here for her own free will."

His father’s face screwed his face in disgust, "You were always ungrateful vermin, after all I had done for you. The food I gave you, the SHELTER I gave you! AND HOW DID YOU REPAY ME? You wanted to run off with that filthy little mother of yours."

"DO NOT SPEAK OF OUR MOTHER THAT WAY!" Gabriel shouted, "She ALWAYS put us first, before herself. THAT’S Called LOVE, something that you never once showed us!"

"Love," their father spat. "and look where this world is now by living on love."

He chuckled and disappeared into a black mist. I saw to coming towards me, but I held my ground.

"I can pay you guardian," the he whispered, "riches you never dreamed of…I never forget those who aid me…just one spell…"

"GO AWAY!" I shrieked while throwing a spell at him. He was blasted away from me and disappeared into the lake. We waited for a few minutes for him to resurface. Hesitantly, we all stepped towards the water. It was silent now, except for the beating of the rain. More rain fell, if that was possible.

Suddenly, the waters rose above us. High and intimidating in the form of snakes. The water snakes were on the outside of the lake snapping at us.

Kier threw his fire at them, but all it did was evaporate the snakes’ head. It was useless. Their father rose up above in the middle of the lake.

"Disgusting wench! If it is a fight you want, best be awares, I have NEVER lost a battle." Kier father hissed. "Kier, my son."

"I AM NOT YOUR SON!"

His father cackled, "Whether you like it or not, my blood runs through your veins. You have no soul do you? Lost it by protecting your worthless mother. You have a chance. Join me… I’ll spare your life. I’ll give you back your soul, just say the word…."

Kier grimaced, "Go to hell!"

Their father shrieked and brought down all the water snakes on us. At that last moment, Kier lunged for me and held me tight in his arms. Water flooded the land. I couldn’t see, just water….so much water… I struggled to breath but something held my arms. I was drowning…I couldn’t breathe….couldn’t breathe….""""

I woke up gasping. My hair full of sweat. It was the middle of the night and I struggled to get up. But something pressed down on me. It wasn’t a body, it felt too cold for that….

"Not so fast beauty…." A voice whispered.

"You are so beautiful….." another said.

"Join us… and we’ll give you your parents back…"

I flash memory flooded my mind, my mother and father, laughing.

"Do it little flower…" was the Kier?

"You’ll be safe….you’ll be alive…." The dark voice whispered.

"Drink…."

Something clanged against my lips. It was a cup.

I felt so tired…. The voices sounded so sweet…

"Drink little flower…drink…" Kier is that you?

My mind was in a haze, the voices sounded so hypnotic….

I opened my mouth…. But snapped out of the illusion when the cup felt warm against my lips. That wasn’t Kier.

"NO!" I shouted. I opened my eyes to see dark shapes up above near my bed. At once they vanished. But not before, a drop of the liquid was tasted on my tongue.

I gasped, "No…" I clutched my throat at the horror of what just
happened. The black chalice rolled on the floor.

I got up and tried to open my door but something slammed it back into place. I whipped around.

Darkness breathed on me. I felt tired again.

"Don’t fight it….." the dark voice whispered.

I slept.

But as I slept I heard voices. It was the darkness.

"What has Kier ever done for you? He betrayed you…betrayed your trust….You can’t trust him. He’s dangerous. Kill him…. Kill Kier….. and all your troubles will be over Kill him…Guardian…Kill him."

I don’t know how long the dark voice spoke to me. But when I woke up, sun was shining through the windows. I lay on the floor of my chambers still in my night gown. I felt different. I felt…ALIVE.

I felt Powerful.

The dark voice whispered in my head…, "What are you going to do?"

"Kill Kier," I said without a second thought.

"Make it painful for him….make him SUFFER!" the voice hissed.

It was right.

I will punish him.

I said the only thing I could say. The only thing I WANTED to say.

"Yes master…."

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So please tell me what you think of this chapter. I'm really glad people enjoyed my last one because I enjoyed writing it too! People are wondering what Kier did to betray Rose. I will give you ONE clue only. The clue lies within the 3rd chapter. Feel free to tell me what you think it is. The past will be revealed in the next one or two chapters!

As for To Love you would be to Kill you, I’m not sure if I should continue it. I have my doubts and I will probably not continue the series. But I am still thinking. If I don't continue the series I will work on another one called. Rich Girl + Bodyguard = Love.

So tell me what you think of this chapter. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

Happy Reading!