Page 35 of Our Little Monster
Bastian’s hand halted, the liquid in his glass ceasing its dance. “What do you mean? There has been a balance for years. We are under no threat.” His voice was a low rumble.
The silence that followed Bastian’s question was heavy.
Nox leaned forward, the tattoos on his chest shifting with the movement. “Besides,” Nox’s voice cut through the tension. “Hunters have ensured that balance for as long as I can remember. Hell, not just them, but everyone agrees for the most part. Why disrupt something that works?”
Victor lifted his glass slowly. He took a deliberate sip—savoring it, while we sat with the sour taste of unease growing in our mouths. There was no rush in his movements, no sign that our words had disturbed the waters of his conviction.
“Yes, those things are true. But we could fight it. Go against it.” He leaned forward. “Think of the power we could have. All of us, you by my side,” he said, gesturing to us.
Bastian, ever the rock, shook his head with a finality that made my chest tighten. “Victor, no.” His voice was a soft growl. “We don’t want to be a part of this,” Bastian said, his gaze never leaving Victor’s.
The sense of betrayal that flickered in Victor’s eyes was something I felt clawing at my own insides. There was a time when telling Victor no would’ve been unthinkable, when loyalty wasn’t a word we used but something we lived, breathed, and bled for each other.
But this was something I knew none of us would tolerate.
The room felt colder then. A chill crept up my spine as Victor’s gaze locked onto us. “Well, that’s a shame, because unfortunately for you three, you don’t have a choice.You will obey me.”
It was like a knife sliding effortlessly through the fabric of my mind. I couldn’t move, couldn’t pull my thoughts together to push back against the intrusion. My wants, my desires,my choicefrayed at the edges, becoming distant echoes of themselves.
I was trapped beneath the surface of my own consciousness, clawing at the reflective barrier that kept me prisoner within my body.
Turning my head, I caught sight of Bastian and Nox, saw the struggle written plain across their faces as well. Bastian’s jaw clenched, a vein throbbing at his temple, while Nox’s eyes, usually so full of fire and defiance, were clouded over with something akin to confusion and pain.
“You see, I’ve been getting up there in age, and I realized something last week when I accidentally compelled Arthur… I’ve gained a new little ability,” Victor began, his voice like silk. “And I think I want to use it. No, Iwilluse it… to wipe out this world. Vampires will be on top.”
His eyes held a glimmer of madness, drunk off more than the bourbon in his glass. On power.
How was this possible? Vampires couldn’t compel other vampires. It went against everything we knew. But vampiresdidget stronger with age.
“And you, my dear boys, all of you are going to help me do it,” Victor continued, oblivious or indifferent to the turmoil he caused within us.
There was a time when he had been like our mentor too. When we trusted him. But that shared trust now shattered like glass.
“First, I’m going to use you as my little guinea pigs.” He slowly rose from his chair and braced his palms against the table. “I’m going to send you on a little mission. You might think hunters keep the balance, but I see them as parasites. You’re going to watch the Velikas and report all of their movements to me, while I calculate my plans for execution.”
The Velikas were hunters renowned for their skill, ruthlessness, and brutality when challenged.
“I want to take down the hunters first; that way we’ll only have to worry about other monsters after that.” Victor’s smile was a gash in the darkness, all teeth and no warmth. “Right here, boys,”—he glanced around the abandoned warehouse—“is where it will all start. A headquarters, if you will. You might think it big now, but soon, it won’t contain even a fraction of the army I will create.
“I’ll start by making changelings. Use them with my compulsion. Learn how to control more than just a few vampires at a time.” His voice was almost contemplative, as if discussing the weather instead of subjugating our wills. “Even now I can feel your resistance, and I have to clamp down on it. But I’m sure with practice I’ll conquer your minds along with the minds of others.”
There was something sickeningly intimate about having someone inside your head, feeling them rummage through your thoughts and desires like they were flipping through an old magazine in a waiting room. It made my skin crawl how easily he shifted our wants to his.
His desire took root in me, as if it were my own. I knew I didn’t want to be a part of this, but I had no control over what I wanted to do. I couldn’t get up to leave.
“It’ll just take time. And as you know, Bastian, eternity gives you a lot of time to kill.” His chuckle reverberated through the decrepit room, bouncing off broken windows and settling like dust on my soul.
It was then that I truly understood the meaning of helplessness.
11
Serina
Coldfingersdiggingintomy side startled me awake. I grabbed the old man’s throat, and his hands flew up into the air in defense.
Every heaving breath I took made pain shoot down my side.
“It's okay, Serina… You’re safe,” Thorne assured me, gripping my wrist, and my eyes shot in his direction, my breath still heaving. “You’re safe,” he said again.
