The Watcher, page 12
part #1 of Fleur de Lis Series
Gabriel wiped the blood off his sword with a handkerchief and concealed it back into his jacket.
We quickly followed Sebastian as he tracked Bari's scent and drops of blood on the floor from his wound. Sebastian and I arrived at the elevators first, and I noticed one of them closing. I ran to it and caught a glimpse of Bari deviously smiling at me. The elevator doors shut as Sebastian tried to stop it.
“He's going back down,” Christian said out of breath, holding on to his stomach with his left hand.
The blow Christian received was still hurting him.
Sebastian repeatedly stabbed the down button to the elevator. “Come on!” He yelled.
The elevator behind us opened and a woman with her young son was inside.
“Going down,” Gabriel asked politely.
“Yes,” she said.
Her bronze hair was pinned up, and she wore an expensive blue dress with high heels, and her left hand had a large diamond ring with a wedding band.
We walked inside, and the soft elevator music made me more impatient and agitated. The woman's dark curious eyes observed us. Sebastian looked like he was in a fight and lost. His expensive, black tailored jacket had a large rip on the right sleeve. The right side of his face had a large red mark, and his hair was a disaster. Gabriel had blood splattered on his tee-shirt, and he tried to cover it up by closing his jacket. The woman held on to her son tightly in front of her. She seemed nervous, and I didn't blame her. Her son's eyes stared at Christian's ashy sneakers. My brother anxiously tapped his left foot.
“Bie zhe yang,” I said to Christian. (Stop that.)
He stopped tapping his foot, and the elevator doors opened. The lobby was filled with people and some police officers questioning witnesses.
“This way,” Christian said as we avoided the lobby.
We ran towards the back of the building that led us to a passageway, into Grand Central. “He went this way,” Christian said.
We passed the pedestrians waiting for their trains, buying tickets, and saying, “goodbye,” to their loved ones. I noticed a couple kissing by the four-faced clock, above the information booth. It had to be the most recognizable icon of Grand Central Terminal. I couldn't help but glance up at the beautiful constellations painted on the ceiling. I remembered my aunt bringing me to Grand Central when I was fourteen years old. She told me the constellations were deliberately painted backward, reflecting God's view of the sky.
It's been a long time since I have entered this building. Its architecture and artwork still amazed me. “Wow,” I sighed.
Grand Central had wide passageways that led to stores and different exits. We passed a bank and made a right into a smaller passageway. Christian stopped at a door and opened it. We walked into a public car garage.
“He went upstairs,” Christian whispered and looked at us.
“I need him alive,” Sebastian said.
“Can I help you?” the valet guy asked us.
Christian and I looked at each other...not knowing what to say to him. We needed to go up into the garage without getting any more police involved.
Sebastian grabbed the valet by his shirt. “You have not seen us. Turn off your surveillance cameras, and ignore whatever you hear from upstairs,” he said to him as he glared into his brown eyes.
The man went back into his glass booth, oblivious that we were ever there and turned off the cameras.
“You can hypnotize people?” I asked Sebastian as we followed Christian up the stairs.
“Not as well as an Elder, but good enough to keep humans away. I had to tell the manager from the Graybar building to turn off their security system and cameras...made him believe they were having technical issues. They won't turn it back on until tomorrow. I also told him Cangin's death was a suicide. Fernan will be there soon to clean up Bari's mess. He knows most of the police department that I control,” Sebastian said and smiled.
“That's brilliant...you are a good man to have around,” I said and smiled.
“It only works if I am touching the person. I can't do it from far away, and I can't always do it to vampires,” he said.
We went up the stairs into the fifth floor. “He is here, waiting inside a black Mercedes,” Christian whispered.
“Let's go get him,” Sebastian said.
As we slowly approached the Mercedes, the engine turned on, and Bari sped away. Christian and Sebastian took out their handguns and begun shooting into the windshield of the car. Bari stayed low, but one of the bullets grazed the top of his head. He crashed into a red Jetta.
I saw a flash of Bari exiting the car and throwing the dagger I had stabbed into his abdomen at Christian. It penetrated his chest. My brother died instantly.
Without hesitation, I quickly ran to my brother and pushed him hard onto the ground. I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder. The dagger sank deep, underneath my collar bone.
““Mother...fu...” I squirmed in agony.
“Don't move!” Christian bellowed.
We both sat up and he looked at me with concerned eyes. He didn't know if he should touch the blade and try to take it out. He was more nervous than I was—looking at the blood dripping down my chest.
Bari took out another dagger he had strapped to his boot and started fighting with Gabriel and Sebastian. He was fast and blocked Gabriel's attempt to stab him in the heart.
Sebastian used a smaller dagger, but Bari could take the pain and wasn't going to be defeated without putting up a good fight. They kept on missing his heart.
I saw a vision of the vampire that was missing with a blonde streak on the side of his hair. He was crouching low and passing a black BMW. He came from behind me. He looked Gothic and was my height. He tried to stab me in the chest with a long knife. My brother blocked his strike but cut his left arm and hand—deep into his artery. The vision faded.
“Watch out!” I yelled and quickly pulled the dagger out of my shoulder.
The pain was excruciating, but I rose fast to my feet. I turned to block the vampire's strike with my bloody dagger.
Christian swiftly kicked him hard across his chest. He fell back into a parked car, setting off the alarm. I came toward him with my blade.
He quickly moved, holding on to his knife and did a sideways flip around me. Christian took out Bari's dagger and sliced the vampire's left arm as he came down.
The small vamp was quick, strong and skillful with the knife. Christian and I came at him hard and fast, using Monkey Kung Fu techniques. With Ape-like movements, we did acrobatic moves, using hand strikes, clawing, and attacked with horizontal slashes with our daggers, but we kept on missing his heart.
I saw the knife coming at my throat, I bent backward and felt the blade swish past my nose.
Christian kicked him on his side rib cage. He staggered to the side, balanced himself and did a flying roundhouse kick that landed across Christian's face. My brother was knocked out and fell onto the ground.
I swiftly lunged at the vampire and stabbed him in the right leg with my dagger and twisted it deep.
“Uh, Bitch!” he screamed, and he quickly pulled out the dagger, dropping it on the floor. With a tiger claw and full force, I crushed a couple of his ribs. “Ugh,” he grunted.
In a flash of a second, I saw his right elbow coming straight to my face.
I tried to block it with my hand, but he elbowed me in my nose.
I saw a quick flash of fangs, but I was disoriented from the blow to my face and the loss of blood from my wound.
I saw stars, but instead of killing me the thirsty vamp took his sharp fangs and bit into my shoulder. I felt shooting pain on my neck as he held me tight.
I couldn't move, but I noticed Christian wake up. He stabbed him in the ribs with Bari's dagger...leaving the blade deep inside, but he missed his heart.
The vamp's fangs slashed my neck. I fell to my knees, in pain, and I started to feel dizzy and nauseas from losing so much blood. The entire left side of my body was covered with it. I noticed Gabriel and Sebastian still viciously fighting Bari.
I turned to look at Christian. He put a new clip into his gun and tried shooting the vampire, but the vamp kicked the gun out of his hands, and it landed far away—underneath a car.
Christian dodged the vampire’s deadly swings of the blade by ducking, flipping, and swiftly turning.
In a quick flash, I saw the vampire do a backward flip around Christian. He grabbed him from behind and slit his throat. My brother's blood splattered on the hood of a white sports car as his dead body landed hard on the ground.
Before the vision faded I yelled in fear, “No!”
I tried to get up and run to Christian. In an instant, I saw a blur pass my brother and then another blur passed by. The vampire was decapitated and turned into ashes in front of my eyes. Christian was fine. I looked to see if Sebastian and Gabriel were still alive. They were injured and bloody, looking down at Bari's motionless body. John was standing in front of it with his sword penetrating Bari's heart.
Gabriel held his breath and looked up at me with tender eyes as he observed my injuries. My nose was broken, and I was a bloody disaster.
“Where's Zach?” I whispered, and I slowly looked around.
“I am right here,” I heard Zachary's voice to my right.
I turned and saw him standing next to me. I was disoriented, and everything started to become foggy until there was complete total darkness.
I woke up groggy, but in no more pain. “I have you...I am sorry, I was late,” he whispered into my ear as he carried me down the garage stairs.
His strong left arm wrapped underneath my knees and the other underneath my arms.
“No, you were just in time,” I murmured. He had blood stains around his mouth and chin. My wound had stopped bleeding. “Thanks for healing me,” I said.
“You have lost a lot of blood. I will take care of you back at the mansion, and I will fix your nose,” he said as he looked at me with dark blue eyes.
“You don't think I look pretty like this?” I said jokingly.
“I think you look beautiful all the time, especially after a battle with a vamp. I enjoyed cutting that son of bitch's head off,” Zachary said with pleasure in his voice.
“It was you,” I said with joy and smiled.
He looked at me with admiration. I gazed at his long sensual lips and slowly leaned forward. Without hesitation, he softly kissed my lips. Both of our mouths parted. I was surprised by my own reaction. His mouth was warm, and his saliva tasted sweet. Our tongues gently touched, and his full lips pressed firmly against mine. I slowly moved my lips from his, wanting more, and his eyes turned bright aqua blue as he gazed intently into my eyes.
“That was nice,” he said softly.
I instantly became shy and looked away. My heart pounded hard and fast. He could hear it. I knew I shouldn't have done that, but that had to be the most passionate kiss I have ever received. I didn't even care that I tasted some of my blood around the edge of his lips.
We exited the garage through a long driveway that led to the street. The place was surrounded with Guardians. Dante opened the door to a Limo. At the entrance of the garage, Fernan and Sebastian were talking to a police officer. Sebastian was touching his arm. Probably hypnotizing him to believe nothing had happened and that there wasn't a bloody girl being carried into a car. Fernan winked and smiled at me as Zachary carried me inside the Limo.
Christian and John were waiting for me inside and Zachary sat me next to my brother. Dante climbed into the driver's seat.
“Dante let's go home,” Zachary said and sat next to John in front of us.
Dante quickly drove away from Grand Central.
“How many times did you see me die tonight?” Christian asked me as he placed his right arm around me.
“A couple of times and I don't want to talk about it,” I muttered.
Those visions of my brother's death will give me nightmares for weeks.
“We definitely need a vacation,” Christian said, laughing underneath his breath, and then he kissed the side of my forehead.
“After tonight, a vacation is absolutely needed,” Zachary said.
John grinned and nodded his head in agreement. He wrinkled his nose and sniffed deeply as he stared at Christian. “I smell green tea and vomit—did you vomit?” John asked him.
“That's the least of my problems. I can't get the ashes off my favorite sneakers,” Christian said as he looked at his sneakers and rolled his eyes. “Ah, I don't want to talk about it,” he said to John with disappointment.
“Don't mind him, he is obsessive-compulsive,” I said and giggled.
“We all are—to a certain degree,” John said and smirked his lips to the side.
“Thank you, my man!” Christian bellowed.
My brother was happy to have someone defend his OCD. He tightened his arm around me.
“Ouch,” I complained.
“Oh, sorry,” he apologized and moved his arm away.
“It's okay, it's just sensitive,” I said.
“I have never seen you lose so much blood,” Christian said with concern.
“Zachary is going to fix you all up when we get back home,” John said to me.
“I know,” I said and gazed at Zachary.
Remembering his kiss made me flustered. Zachary's eyes glowed aqua blue as he smiled at me, and I knew he felt the same way I did.
Chapter 7
Being Human
I strapped a five-inch dagger inside my grey sports jacket and tightened the laces on my pink and grey running shoes. My closet was a mess. I wrinkled my nose while glancing at the room. It smelled like perspiration, coming from dirty workout clothes. I picked up the filthy clothes from the floor and put them in the wooden hamper. I found my black Chinese hair sticks that concealed pointy blades on the vanity. I brushed my straight hair back, noticing my dark roots. I needed to dye them—soon. I twisted my hair into a tight bun and placed the hair sticks in the middle.
I admired my reflection in the oval-shaped mirror. My creamy-white skin had natural coral-pink cheeks, my heart-shaped face and jawline were well-defined, and every time I used my ability, my exotic eyes changed slightly to a lighter shade and then back to normal—like vampire eyes, but much subtler. My brother's eye color also changed when he used his ability. Not enough for anyone to notice, unless they were staring directly into our eyes.
I opened up the chap-stick and rubbed it several times on my lips. “I can't live without cherry chap-stick,” I murmured to myself and rubbed my full lips together.
My broken, small nose had fully healed. There remained some light bruising underneath my eyes, but it was fading. I didn't want anyone to think I came from an abusive relationship. I put on my Ray-Ban sunglasses and walked to the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and headed out the door.
I walked inside the gold elevator and pressed the ground floor button. Zachary was waiting for me in the foyer. His dark leather pants and long, grey leather jacket concealed sharp weapons. He looked like a rock star with his long dark hair, silver jewelry, and a grey scarf that wrapped around his neck. We had not spoken about the kiss that took place in the garage. I felt awkward and had avoided the subject...like it never happened.
“You have an hour; then you need to get ready and pack. We are leaving at nine,” Zachary said.
I was excited. We are going to visit Elder Salazar in Spain and bringing Bari with us. The Elder is going to hypnotize Bari and get all the information he has on Aaron.
“I will be back in less than an hour. I am just running around the Reservoir,” I said.
“I'll watch you on the surveillance cameras,” he said.
“You worry too much. I'll be back, and I am prepared for anything.”
The sun was setting in a half hour, and I enjoyed jogging during this time. I opened the front door and passed the security area in the lobby. The Guardian sitting at the front desk opened the entrance metal door with a touch of a button.
I exited down the front steps and jogged toward the entrance of the park on 86th Street. The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir track encircled the 106-acre body of water. It was my favorite place to jog. It had the best view of the city skyline, especially during twilight.
I didn't bring my iPod. It distracted me and interfered with any visions of danger, so I cleared my mind and focused on my breathing. I passed joggers and people speed walking on the track. A few people on bicycles passed me by. The energy around the park and the cold breezy wind felt exhilarating.
I was halfway around the Reservoir when I heard my name. “Skye...hey Skye!” The man yelled.
I stopped and turned around. The man I passed jogging was Chris Tanner, my ex-boyfriend. He approached me with a big smile. “I thought that was you,” he said, removing the earbuds from his ears.
“Wow, Chris Tanner,” I said and smiled.
He turned off his iPod and looked at me like he just found his lost puppy. I twisted open the bottle of water and took a sip.
“The one and only,” he said and kissed me on the lips.
His mouth slightly parted, and I tasted his saliva from his bottom lip. I almost dropped the bottle of water as he held me tightly. My body tensed up. I was stunned, but he couldn't see the expression on my eyes through my dark sunglasses. I gently pushed him off.
“Yeah, the one and only, who broke my heart,” I griped and licked my lips.
He looked good and smelled fantastic. His wavy, dark brown hair was shorter than he usually kept it, and his green eyes were gorgeous. His sweat dripped down past his temples, and his tight shirt and sweat pants showed off his fit and muscular body.
“What are you talking about...you broke up with me for no apparent reason,” he said. “And in a text—I might add.” He burst into a chortle of amusement, surprised that anyone would ever break up with him.
“I gave you my reason,” I said with a stern tone.
“Working too hard is not a reason to break up with someone, especially me. We had the best chemistry, and I miss holding you—kissing you—and smelling you,” he said, undressing me with his eyes.
