Princess of Apocalypse Page 9

  “They’re dead, aren’t they?” I brought out after a few awkward minutes. “My friends, I mean.”

  “I regret telling you, yes, but not all. We believe the Buchannan boys and Miss Duval have been abducted. Nevertheless, their fate is not yet decided.”

  “Oh God, this wasn’t a dream?”

  “I most wholeheartedly wished I could affirm this, but unfortunately, no, Miss Parker, it wasn’t a dream.”

  “Where am I? This isn’t a hospital, is it?” Panic was coming back. The old man must have noticed and patted the back of my hand reassuringly, which didn’t do any good as he clearly reminded me of Count Dracula.

  “You’re my guest at Deerpark Manor. And no, Deerpark Manor is no hospital. Nevertheless, my niece and I took the liberty and attended to your injuries.”

  My right hand moved instinctively to the back of my head. It didn’t hurt much anymore, but I was still feeling light-headed.

  “You had a concussion and lost a fair amount of blood, but rest assured, there won’t be any permanent damage.”

  “Who are you and what…” I tried to stand up, but the man pushed me softly back into the cushions.

  “How inhospitable of me, not to introduce myself. My name is Victor Ivanov, I’m the proprietor of Deerpark Estate. You’re most welcome to call me Victor.”

  “Ivanov? As Dimitri and Tatiana Ivanov?”

  “My nephew and niece. I trust you three are acquainted. After all, they rescued you from this diabolic mob and brought you here.”

  “Why?”

  “Why they rescued you? Hmm, I believe this is a question I would like to seek an answer to as well.”

  I shook my head in confusion, which conjured some nausea and made my head spin.

  “Easy, Miss Parker. I need you to rest a few more hours in order to speed up the healing process.”

  “Why not bringing me into a hospital?”

  Victor giggled under his breath. “And telling them what? That you have been attacked by demons.”

  “Nazis”, I corrected him. “An entire gang.”

  “They were no Nazis, Miss Parker. They were Berserker demons, very effective and utterly strong. Luckily, also very simple-minded.”

  His last comment made me remind how the one Nazi, demon, whatever, had opened the door to the warehouse without even checking who was behind.

  “Demons?” My voice sounded as if I was questioning the old man’s sanity. Well, actually I was.

  “Yes, my dear, demons. Humans, and Nazis can still be classified as such, do not tend to dissolve into stinking tar and going up in black smoke when killed.”

  “Humans also don’t rip off people’s heads.” A tear was back in my eyes.

  “Ah, you noticed their supernatural strength.”

  “I need to call my parents. Where is my phone?” I grabbed my bum, noticing that under the blanket I was still dressed in my bikini and the long T-shirt. Embarrassed, I pulled the blanket back to my neck.

  “Your communication device is right here on the nightstand.” Victor lifted it up, but then placed it back. “However, I must insist on a promise not to call your parents.”

  “But they’ll be worried to death!”

  “And they’ll be that and worse, if you call them. Miss Parker, you’ve to be aware of the severance of what you’ve witnessed. Not many commoners, humans I mean, can call themselves lucky enough to escape alive an encounter with Berserker demons. It’s imperative, we gain knowledge first why they picked you and not simply killed you as they did with your classmates. At the moment, the missing information about your whereabouts is keeping you and your parents alive. Can I grant this promise from you not to contact your parents, at least until we can elaborate on the situation?”

  “And when will this elaboration happening?” I snapped back.

  He picked up a glass with a clear fluid that looked like water from the nightstand. “Have a drink.”

  “I don’t want to take any drugs.”

  “It’s not a drug. It will help you to sleep for a few more hours. I will ask Tatiana to surrender one of her garments to you for dinner. Dinner is served at 8pm. We can discuss all your questions then and I’ll answer them as best as I can. Do we have a covenant?”

  I gave a sigh from me and reached for the glass, pretending to have a sip. The liquid tasted very sweet, but I spit it back into the glass.

  “Please, Miss Parker. Give me at least that much credit. If I intended you any harm — and I can put your concerns to rest, I most definitely have no aspiration to inflict any pain on you — I most certainly couldn’t have been bothered attending to your injuries.”

  “Alright, I drink it.” And not recognising how thirsty I had been before, I emptied the glass in one gulp. “Sorry, I didn’t want to appear rude. I’m very grateful for what you did.”

  “You’re most welcome, Miss Parker.”

  “Elizabeth, please, or Izzy.” All of a sudden my eyes felt horrendously heavy and I sunk, exhausted, back into the pile of cushions under my head. The world has started spinning again. “Oh Gosh, this stuff is strong.”

  “Don’t worry, Miss Elizabeth. You’ll feel much better, when you’re waking up.”

  “Victor?” I called in a last glimpse of panic.

  “Yes, Miss Elizabeth.”

  “Why is this happening to me?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ll promise, we’ll find out.” He squeezed my left hand reassuringly. All turned pink in front of my eyes and forced them shut.

  “Wow, this drug is… is this even legal here in California?”

  “I don’t know about California, but you’re in good, old Slovakia now.”

  SLOVAKIA But it was too late. The blackness of a deep painless sleep had already engulfed me.

  ***

  It was dead silent when I found my way out of my dreamless sleep. The only source of light was a petroleum lamp burning on low flame. A ticking noise I didn’t notice earlier distracted me. It belonged to an antique clock, standing on top of the fireplace’s mantelpiece. It was just 6pm, enough time to figure out where I really was. Slovakia? Ha, great joke. Was there a Slovakia in the USA? Surely, I can’t have switched continents. I had not even a passport. Which airline would accept an unconscious young lady in bikini and without a valid passport? Logic dictated, I was still in good old California. On the other hand, all looked so terribly real. I went out of my bed and pulled the blue and heavy curtain away from the window, revealing a glimpse of the large and meticulously maintained lawn. Behind the lawn started a pine forest, pines I haven’t seen in California. And that’s it. No other landmark. “Hmm, you can’t be serious, Slovakia? Izzy, this is all a bad dream.” Dream like in being rescued by a mysterious boy. “Freak”, I corrected myself, but wondered, why there was a smirk on my face. “If that is Slovakia, Dimitri is in for a massive explanation.” And I had no intentions to wait for this till dinner. I wanted answers now. With that, I walked out of the room and found myself standing in a long corridor. The splendid palace design was continuing here as well. A red carpet was leading in both directions away from my room. In comparison to my bedroom, the hallway was generously lit by petroleum wall lamps. God, are those actually allowed in California? Fire hazard and regulation-wise, I mean. Alright, two to zero in favour of Slovakia. I hope Dimitri is having a better explanation than he threw me over his shoulder when we boarded the plane. Once more, the idea summoned a smirk upon my lips.

  Both sides of the hallway were guarded by old knight armour. I opened one helmet, half expecting someone in there, but all there was, was a gaping hole. “Alright, they must be kidding.” This can’t be real. Otherwise, the Herald would have already found out about Dimitri’s and Tatiana’s uncle being a millionaire, making them the richest kids in Beacon Hills. They certainly do not look rich. Tatiana and her gothic outfit, Dimitri in this fashion nightmare... Someone was playing a big prank on me.

  There were doors on both sides and just when I wanted to peek into
one of the rooms; my attention was drawn to a room further down the hallway. The door was slightly ajar and voices drifted towards me. As noiseless as possible I stole closer. One of the voices was definitely Tatiana’s, the other was unmistakably the calm one of her uncle. What was Dracula’s name again? Victor. Carefully, not making any noise I positioned myself at the doorframe and peeked with one eye in the room.

  Dracula, or Victor as he went by nowadays, was sitting in a rocking chair with the back to me. Tatiana was sitting next to him on a sofa, her barefoot feet rested on a cushion on top of a low table. Dimitri was leaning casually against a fireplace. Despite being summer, there was a fire burning in the grate, no gas fake one as I noticed when I heard the crackling of the wood. That was it. I completely freaked out. So far I thought it was all a prank, but this prank was too authentic. Slovakia?

  “I told you, target had changed”, Dimitri said in a matter of fact voice.

  “Really, just like that?” Tatiana snapped with her fingers, her voice was dripping with sarcasm. “And of course, it had nothing to do with a certain lady you clearly developing a crush on because she reminds—“

  “I told you two before!” His voice was now agitated, which tells a woman that she is right, someone should breach this secret to him. I couldn’t help myself and blushed.

  “Really, military tactics?”

  “I didn’t say anything about military tactics. But can any of you explain me, why would you hijack four individuals and not just the target?”

  Tatiana took off her legs from the cushion and leaned forward. “Because the Guild might have not been sure about who is the right one either. Most likely they were as indecisive as we were. Should I remind you it was our task to protect the target? The Council, if they’ll find out, won’t see to it lightly.”

  “Oh common Tat, don’t pretend you don’t hate those two morons as well.”

  Hey, one of those morons is my boyfriend, you Ning-Nong.

  “That’s not the point. We had a mission and you blew it.”

  “Alright, I take the blame. But answer me this, why would you kidnap the girls?”

  Tatiana shook her head in uncertainty. “Diversion, I guess. That’s your area of expertise. Likely, they wanted to appeal to the gallantry of a super-idiot and, ta-ta, it worked. Knight Dimitri was coming to the rescue. All what was missing was your shining armour.”

  “That’s my point! The boys were only minor protected. They left signs without end. They wanted that we followed them. But not the girls, especially not her.” Dimitri’s index finger pointed energetically in the general direction, where I should be sleeping now, although his glance was still focused on Tatiana.

  “Is that right.” It was Victor speaking, addressing Tatiana. His calm voice took some fire out of the discussion.

  “Well, it wasn’t exactly easy getting to her.”

  “Easy, Tat? We had to kill no less than three Berserkers blocking our way and another three were guarding her.” His fingers counted her the number six.

  “Stick to the facts, please. The accords—“

  “Stuff the accords.”

  “How convenient, but no. They’ve never been wrong and they were very precise when it came to the gender of the offspring.”

  “She has a valid point there, Dimitri!” Victor said in the same calm voice as before.

  “You were not there. I had to follow my instincts. They wanted us to follow the boys. I don’t like to be the playing ball. Maybe I was wrong, but by doing the opposite what they obviously wanted me to do, I thought I could cross their plan.”

  “Follow your instincts or blindly her”, Tatiana mumbled, but Dimitri didn’t react. He was only looking at Victor as if to seek his approval.

  “What now?” Dimitri said finally.

  “We kill her, no question.” Tatiana’s prompt response startled me up. I was petrified. Why does she always want to kill me?

  “No one is killing here anybody”, Victor said and patted Tatiana’s right arm.

  “She’s a commoner, if your old eyes missed this fact.”

  “She has the sight”, Dimitri corrected, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “You saw it on the bus.”

  “Having the sight doesn’t make her one of us.”

  “Sight or not”, Victor breathed out, “I gave her my word, no harm will come to her under my roof.”

  “I wished, the commoners would have granted my mother the same courtesy.”

  Victor leaned over to his niece and caressed her right cheek. “One evil doing can’t be corrected by another, my dear.”

  A sigh came off her lips. “So what are you suggesting, hiring a warlock who erases her memory? Informing the Council to put her under permanent surveillance?”

  “Maybe. We’ll see how things unfold.”

  “She can’t be trusted.” Tatiana gave her uncle a stern look. “She’ll risk our existence. We’ll be hunted down, if she talks. This isn’t a risk we should consider lightly. It happened throughout history often enough.”

  He stole closer to her and pressed a kiss on top of her head. “We won’t take it lightly. Nevertheless, we might at first prevent her from eavesdropping.”

  I swung around and pressed my back against the wall. How could he have known? He didn’t turn in my direction once.

  “Tat, I thought you fixed this problem?” Dimitri argued annoyed.

  “Do I look as if my sole purpose in life is knitting dream-catchers for her? Also, I thought the medicine would send her to rest.” Tatiana was clearly frustrated and I, avoiding the soon erupting volcano, decided to turn on my heels and ran back to my room.

  Chapter X

  Dinner

  Sluggishly I rushed out of bed, shaking my still dizzy head in a desperate attempt to clear my mind. At least, the headache was gone; also I was still feeling wobbly on my legs. Whatever the drug was, it must have gotten me another round of dreamless sleep. The clock on the mantelpiece showed 7.30pm. Maybe I would feel better once I had something in my stomach. It felt as if I hadn’t eaten for days. I reached for my cell phone, which was still on the bedside table.

  Beep. “Attach to charger”, I read the message on the display. Damn the battery life of smart phones. I’ve hardly used it. I did my pattern and unlocked my phone, when my eyes caught the date. “Wednesday!” I was gone for a full day! Even worse, the time didn’t agree with the clock in the room either. “Three to zero for Slovakia.” Oh, Dimitri was so much in for an explanation.

  “No reception. Gosh, where am I?” Not that I was believing the crap about Slovakia, nevertheless, I turned on roaming and waited a minute. Nothing. My phone died in that moment. In frustration, I tossed it onto my bed — four poster bed that is, and from one of the posts tangled a spider web I didn’t notice earlier. Then I realised, it wasn’t a spider web at all, but a dreamcatcher. “Well, it worked”, I admitted. I didn’t dream a thing, which was remarkable considering what I went through.

  “Have a shower first, Izzy!” There were two doors in my room and I was right, the second led to a bathroom with a bathtub, no shower. The taps made a squeaking sound when I turned them on as if they haven’t been used in a long time. “This is creepy.” While the water was filling the tub, I had a look into the giant golden framed mirror over the sink. The reflection almost shocked me. There were dark rings under my eyes, the hair was fuzzy and stood in all directions, the lips cracked and my pale skin could have done with some moisturiser. Where was Vicky, when you needed her most? The thought convoked a smile onto my rough lips, which disappeared a second later with my memory kicking in. Right, she was abducted. They all were, just not me. All because Dimitri messed up. Target had changed. The scene in the warehouse still brought up goose bumps on my forearms. A shiver ran down my spine and my eyes filled with tears.

  The hot bath was nice and did its magic rejuvenating my spirits. Even some colour was brought back into my face.

  When I stepped out of the bathroom, I found a dress laid
out over the dressing chair. “Oh my Gosh!” Is this some repayment for all of Vicky’s comments about Tatiana’s outfit over the last months? I picked it up. This was the dress of a princess. When Count Dracula said something about Tatiana’s garments earlier, I thought about some moth-eaten gothic outfit that she’d been grown out of or wanted to surrender to the Salvation Army. To be honest, I couldn’t imagine Tatiana in that at all. Wearing it would make me appear overdressed. This was unmistakably a dinner dress of champaign colour, sitting on the shoulders and reaching right to the bottom. On the other hand, I couldn’t go to dinner in bikini. So I grabbed the garment and slipped into it. It was slightly tight at the hips, but I reckon that’s how it was meant to be. Otherwise, it was just fitting perfect. The dress came with a pair of silver heels. Also, those fitted perfectly. “Who had thought, Tatiana and I had something in common after all?” So far, there was only a huge disposition, when it came to us. She wanted to kill me; I wanted to keep my life. What more disposition could there be?

  Of course, the dress was gorgeous and most certainly would turn me into the biggest laughingstock in Slovakia. While I would be at dinner in an evening gown, they would be dressed in hoodie and jeans. Humiliation pure. So let’s go with the prank. Dad would’ve wanted it this way. For the next ten minutes I managed to turn my hair into something acceptable and parted it to one shoulder. There were no makeup or other beauty accessories available, then again, considering the circumstances, I didn’t do a bad job. It has been just five minutes after 8pm when I left my room and strode down the hallway. Of course, I had no idea where dinner was to be served, but how big can the house be? Very big as I found out a few minutes later. Luckily I heard some voices, which I followed to a landing with a majestic staircase downwards… and almost ran into Tatiana. Did I mention I felt overdressed only minutes before? Well, I contemplated the opposite now. While I was only a girl stuffed into a beautiful dress, Tatiana looked like a princess and, yeah, she knew how to wear her dress. Hers was crimson red and one-shouldered sexy, her hair pushed over her naked shoulder, white long gloves adored her slim fingers and the dress had a long gash on the side, which just added to the obvious seductive intention of her outfit. “You look… beautiful”, I breathed out finally. And I meant it. She was… wow. The most beautiful girl alive. Danny had been right after all.