Page 66 of The Vanishing
Haruka shakes his head in disbelief at the wasted, depressing sight of them.Is this a perfect purebred society?He chooses one of the vampires at random. A female. He isn’t sure what language these creatures speak, but he defaults to English. His deep voice echoes in the cavern. “Why do you attack us when we have done nothing to provoke or harm you? We come to you in peace.”
Lifting a hand, Haruka removes his hold on her mouth. The scrawny female stares up at him, her face twisted in rage. “Intruders!Powerful monsters from the outside world! Demons!Whereis our leader?What have you done—”
With a flick of his fingers, Haruka reseals her mouth shut. He sighs. “That was pointless.”
“Tesoro, let’s ask someone about Ladislao—if he’s still here?” Nino stands at his side, his nearness causes the two bubbles to brighten then merge back into one entity.
Nodding, Haruka looks around. The vampires on either side of the female read just as hostile, their brows furrowed tightly and their eyes filled with unwarranted hate as they stare up at him. Glancing a little further back, he eyes a young male with a dark, scabby gash across his bony forehead. His eyes are much less hostile than the others’. Taking a chance, Haruka lifts his hand and removes the hold on his mouth. The male inhales a sharp gasp but doesn’t scream.
“We are not here to harm you. Can you please tell us if the vampire called Ladislao is here?”
The young male nods, his eyes wide and his raspy voice quiet. “He is.”
“If I release you, would you bring him here? Then, I promise that we will gladly leave your society and I, for one, will never return.”
“Yes,” the young vampire whispers. Haruka releases him. The male pauses, placing his hands against his half-exposed chest. Checking himself. He looks up at Haruka, then stands and nods. “One moment… my lord.” The young vampire runs off, disappearing down a dark tunnel.
Haruka turns to face his comrades, rolling his shoulders. “Your move, Detective.”
The glow of both Haruka’s and Nino’s auras lights her distraught features as Detective Cuevas steps forward. “Lookat them. Purebreds. The state of them down here. My God. This is horrific.”
“And they’re fighting us,” Marcus offers, stepping up beside the detective. “They’re defending their home. Arewein the wrong, here?”
Nino looks at Haruka. “What should we do about this?”
“We have to get them out of here, of course.” The detective gestures. “This is awful—they needfoodand sunlight and accommodations. They’re down here living and looking like ancient horror-movie vampires. It’s unbelievable that Lajos has done this to them, and for almost two hundred years!”
“You may wish to rescue them,” Haruka says, “but it is possible that they do not want to be liberated.”
“What?” Detective Cuevas balks. “You’re insane! Why on earth—”
Haruka holds a hand up, then chooses a vampire at random, removing his hold on their mouth.
The male spits, but it lands just in front of their protective sphere. “Get out! Intruders!Devils—” Haruka seals his mouth again. He does this with another vampire, who offers similar rhetoric, then another, until Haruka has tested several vampires. He turns to the detective. “Does this help you to understand?”
“I can’t believe this…” She stares. “They… they just need tosee. We can teach them.”
“Forcefully removing them from the only environment and world they have known may create more harm than good. We will become the intruders and demons they already believe us to be.”
Haruka looks to his side. Through the darkness, he senses the male who initiated the attack in the kitchen. He steps away from Nino, and again the light and strength of his mate’s aura reform independently around him.
Haru, what are you doing?
One moment.
Within a few steps, he’s standing before the male, examining him. The red-orange light surrounding Haruka brightens his features in the darkness. Strangely, he is missing an ear. He waves his hand and removes the hold on his mouth. “Are you the acting leader of this realm?”
The vampire shifts his eyes up but doesn’t speak. His stare is cold, menacing. Haruka is about to repeat himself when yellow light warms and shines in the male’s eyes. Something in it is slightly green, like jaundice or unripened bananas. In the next second, the thin vampire opens his mouth wide and the yellowish light fills the cavern of his fanged mouth. Haruka steps back in shock, but it’s too late. The beam of light rushes from his mouth, making direct impact with Haruka’s shield. The cavern booms loud in echo and confusion. The ground shakes and the distinct sound of rocks falling and sliding fills Haruka’s ears.
Dust hovers in the darkness like fog. As the dirt settles, he hears Nino calling out to him from a few feet away. Haruka examines himself and takes a breath—checking his hands, chest and limbs. He moves slowly, stepping over the rubble and across the cave floor to rejoin his mate. When he’s there, Nino grasps his hand tightly, his voice strained. “What thefuck—Are you okay?”
“I think… I am unharmed,” Haruka reassures him, his body trembling from shock. “Are you?”
Nino nods, leaning and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. Haruka glances over to where he was standing. The vampires he’s holding captive within his aura are also untouched, frozen in place among the rocks and debris. But the vampire with one ear lies on his back several feet away. No movement other than his chest barely rising and falling. The ground beneath him is scorched, concave.
“It… it ricocheted,” Marcus says calmly, but then his voice escalates. “That idiot blasted himself in the face! You guys can breathe your auras? Like—like friggin’ vampiredragons?”
“Some of us, it seems.” Haruka rolls his shoulders as Nino releases him from their embrace, but they re-link their hands. Nino frowns and pulls Haruka close.
