A Dark Pursuit 8

Sorry, that it's been a while. I've been on a very long camp and have had exams and tests I had to study for. I'd like to dedicate this to all people who like this story and have waited for this chapter. I've worked hard on this one, and you finally get a peep into Drake's character.

(I know I have probably missed some people out, and I’m so sorry. I'll mention you in my next chapter.)
dedication for:
carlissa
ShyGirl
Lorna Costelloe
forgottendreamr

ROCKGAL
latoya
kaia joke =P
Jackie B
Esme
koolgrl
Sally
kris
Kaci
Luna
JKYLIE
Stephanie Khan
Me

""""The pain was so strong, I couldn’t….couldn’t grasp onto my sanity anymore, it was as if it was consuming me. Becoming me.

I heard voices, but I couldn’t make sense of it.

The pain was so strong…

More burning, like the fire wouldn’t be…-couldn’t be put out. Suddenly something was on my forehead. It was cool and welcoming.

More voices.

Suddenly, I felt something else.

It was a nice feeling. The pain was becoming less strong.

It was as if something was sucking it away from me.

Everything left me.

I was me again.

My eyes were so tired and my skin sore.

Something lifted me up and carried me.

I struggled to keep my eyes open.

"You’re safe now Rose…"

Safe?

Being a guardian is and was never safe.

But being with Kier…. it isn’t safe anymore…"""""

Just as Drake charged at us, the brothers acted quickly and grabbed his arms.

He hissed.

I had never seen him like this. Quiet Drake…the most silent of the brothers, was the assassin.

Unpredictable.

"Are you really the Assassin, Drake?" Kier said quietly.

He nodded, one quick jerk of his head. I felt sick to my core. I had loved Drake like a brother. I just couldn’t believe…

"Take him to the dungeon and throw him in there."

Drake made a struggling sound and Kier narrowed his eyes at him as his brothers dragged him to the dungeon.

Kurt was the only one who stayed.

"I’ll take my fiancé now." He said.

As Kurt reached for my hand, Kier quickly grabbed it and hauled me backwards.

"Never! She didn’t say yes to you. You didn’t even propose!"

"Neither did you." He said quietly. "You simply put the ring on her finger. She gave no consent, didn’t even say the simple word, yes. Therefore, she is a consort to a KING. Not necessarily you."

Kiers eyes widened in shock as he realized the truth. I gripped his arm tightly and gently shook it, "Kier..." I whispered, "It….what he says…it’s not true is it…?"

Kurt held out his hand, "Come Rose."

"Wait." Kier said. "I wish to talk in private."

Kurt looked at Kier for a moment. Then nodded. They both walked out of the room. Leaving me here, making me wonder endlessly about what they would talk about.

I left the balcony and went inside.

As I went downstairs, I met Theo and Gabriel along the way.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"We put him in the second dungeon. Don’t go to him Rose, it is forbidden to talk to prisoners." Said Gabriel.

"Even if he is your brother?" I said quietly.

"He is no brother of ours." Theo replied. "Not after what he’s done."

They continued up the stairs.

I paused, pondering on what I should do. Deep down there was no way that Drake could be the assassin. It was a feeling I had, Drake wasn’t like that, he wasn’t a killer.

Slowly I went down to the dungeon. It felt really cold. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. I opened the door and went inside. It was cold and wet down here.

"Drake?" I whispered.

Silence greeted me.

"Drake?" I asked again as loud as I could bear.

"You shouldn’t be down here," a raspy voice said.

I walked deeper into the heart of the dungeon, I heard the sound of rats scattering about, the thought disgusted me.

"Drake? Are…" I wet my lips, "are you all right?"

A humorless laugh greeted me, "Trapped here in this cell, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else."

I saw him huddled in a corner, he was lost, like a child begging for help.

"Drake…I-"

"Save it Rose," he snapped. "I did what I had to do."

"But that’s the thing!" I said. "I know what you did, but I can’t help…can’t help but thinking that you did it…did it to protect me. All of us."

"Stop thinking I’m so damn honorable," he bared his fangs. "I’m not."

I smiled wryly, "Would a less honourable man have admitted that?"

He growled and got up, beginning to stalk around in the cage. I had never seen him like this, he used to have a lonely aura about him, but now…now he was savage. A predator."

I gripped the bars of the jail cell, ignoring the cold numbness that swept through my hand. "I believe in you Drake," I whispered, "I believe that you are still the sane person I know and love."

"Love," he spat out the word as if it were dirty. "You love me? Then how come you do not embrace me, kiss me like you do with Kier?"

My shoulders slumped with defeat, "I’m…I’m sorry Drake, I didn’t realize that you felt that-"

"It doesn’t matter," he cut me off, "When you and Kier were back together those years ago, I’d always wondered, always wanted to know, what it would be to love someone and have them love me back. That same…powerful love you and Kier share. I’ve always wanted to know what it would be like to hold, to cherish, to feel…"

He walked up to the front of the cell and reached out through the gap of the jail cells and just stroked my cheek with one finger. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, it just felt nice. It didn’t stir that feeling in me the way that Kier did…but still…
It was nice.

"Drake…I…I don’t love you…that way." I stammered.

He dropped his hand, "I know Rose, and I don’t expect you to. I’m not in love with you, but I just want to….feel." he gave a harsh laugh, "After all these years, immortal as I am, I have never felt emotions, and I ‘want’ to feel. I ‘want’ to feel what you and Kier share. I want to experience it," he touched his lips delicately with his fingers, "I haven’t even kissed anyone yet."

My eyes widened at the thought. Drake was handsome, shockingly handsome just as Kier, Theo and Gabriel was. He would have had girls crawling all over him.

He smiled gently, "I’ve always scared them away. I’ve always scared myself. I’m just so…ready. I ready to give that love I have in me, but the other girls…the women before, they’ve just been scared."

I nodded, "Love is a powerful thing."

Drake twisted his hands together, "I have one…just one favour I would like to ask you. I’m…I’m not ‘bad’ despite what you think. I just…will you be my first? Can you be the first to kiss me?"

It broke my heart to see him like this. All he had ever wanted was to love and to be loved back. It wasn’t just any love he wanted to share. He wanted to BE in love. I leaned forward so that my face touched the bars. He did the same. I brought my fingers up to touch his lips. They were soft and yet firm.

I closed my eyes then leaned in and kissed him.

When I leaned back, he opened his eyes and touched his cheek. The spot I had just kissed.

"Why-?"

I put my hands to his lips, cutting off his protests and said, "Save it for someone special."

I lowered his eyes but nodded.

"It’ll mean so much more."

As I turned to walk away he grasped my arm, "He’s coming for you Rose. I tried to stop him."

I frowned, confused, "What?"

He sighed, "I was the assassin, but I had to. I didn’t hurt you. I never meant to, I was warning you."

Images flashed back, all the arrows. The chalice. They had never really ‘hurt’ us.

"At the diner," he began, "an arrow was shot at you. The man behind you had a gun in his pocket and was going to shoot you as you left. If I hadn’t attempt to make you scared. You would have stayed there, and the killer wouldn’t have been distracted."

"A gun? But that’s imposs-"

"While you and Kier were driving bullets were shot at the car right?"

Before I could nod, he continued, "If I hadn’t done that, hadn’t made the others think that you two were dead, they would have swarmed the car and slaughtered both you, Kier and Gabriel. But I couldn’t let that happen."

"Drake," I began. "Who’s they-?"

He started pacing again, ignoring me, "Again, with the Black Chalice. You think it just showed up because Kurt had the darkness. It was never him." He looked up, "It was me. I was the one that gave you the chalice. It was all a part of my plan. I knew you. I knew you wouldn’t hurt anyone until it got too far. You were supposed to attack Kier, and you did. It was to make the others think that you’d finish the job for them. To STOP them from definitely killing him themselves."

I could feel my eyes widen.

"Then, when you got shot. After what had happened with Kier, even if I DID plan it, I was shaken up. I let my guard down. That’s when they shot you. Though Kurt may have the power of darkness, he isn’t evil, he isn’t the one that has a part of our father’s soul etched into his heart. No. It was me."
He laughed darkly, "That’s genes for you. The darkness that consumed my father, the POWER he craved, is now embedded in my skin, in my soul. I fight it Rose," he banged his fist on the wall, "I fight it every single damn day, but it’s clawing at me. Wanting to be released and I’m afraid. I’m afraid I won’t be strong enough. That when it does come out. I won’t be able to stop it. You and everyone I care about will be dead."

"Why didn’t you tell us? Who’s ‘they’. Who is the person who is truly after us? Tell me Drake! I can help you. We can all help you."

He slumped his shoulders in defeat, "I can’t."

Those two words. Two words that could create fury in me, that made me angry.

"You confess all this. But you still can’t tell me his name?!" I yelled.

"It’s not that I won’t, it’s that I can’t. I saw them. I realized who it was when I followed them. They captured me and put me on an oath binding spell. I can’t tell you the name."

"But surely you could write it down? Or I could just ask you questions, till I figured it out?"

He shook his head, "The spell is made so that I cannot directly or indirectly tell you who it is. I could give you the information only because there was no real lead for you to follow if I did so."

"Why didn’t you tell me before? Any of us before it got to this?"

"He wouldn’t let me. He’s…distracted at the moment. So he has loosened the spell on my tongue." Suddenly a blank look passed on his face, then it faded into a mask of terror. "GET OUT NOW ROSE! GET ALL OF THEM OUT! THEY"RE COMING!" he yelled

I just stood there for a second, surprised at his outburst, then quickly climbed the stairways to Kier. This was never going to end. We didn’t even know what these people wanted. Just then, an earth-shaking bomb went through out the castle. I tumbled back down into the dungeon.

I froze. I heard voices. Loud angry voices. Footsteps. I didn’t know what to do. If I remained unseen, then I could gather more information on whatever was happening. I could rescue anyone that needed it. But, I could also watch them die.

Another explosion shook the walls of the dungeon. What was happening. I looked to Drake for answers. I quickly got up.

His eyes were etched with worry, regret, loss. "I’m sorry Rose I tried my best, I tried to warn you. I thought I was strong enough."

Just then he came behind me.

Kier.

His face was pale. Drawn. Weak.

"Rose…" he said then dropped to his knees, sinking to the floor.

I rushed up to him, shaking him.

That’s when I noticed the blood that coated my fingers.

No, no no!

Tears were falling down my face.

"Kier!" I yelled. My shoulders heaved with sobs and the lump in my throat didn’t lessen.

He was looking at me. But he couldn’t see me. He tried to form words, to say them and then… and then…

He was no more.

An ugly, cruel laugh echoed in the dungeon.

"He’s gone. He’s dead. You’re mine now."

I looked up and through my tear-streaked eyes I could tell who it was.

All the coldness seeped from me.

Impossible.

It was impossible.

It couldn’t be him…

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Now... before you start saying, "YOU LET KIER DIE?" to me, just let me say this wait till the next chapter to make your decision on whether Rose will have a sad or happy ending. Trust me. Everything that happens is for a reason. Just Trust me.

I'm going to be a way for a while, unfortunately on holiday. But as soon as I get back, I'll write as fast as I can.

Happy reading. :)