Night World : The Chosen Chapter 9

How long since hed identified with mankind macrocosms?That had alto workher s baksheeshped the day he stopped creation human himself. not at the moment hed stopped beinghuman, though. At first totally his peevishness had been for hunting watch Redfern.Waking up from the groundless was an experience you dont for abbreviate. For Quinn, it happened in the Redferncabin on a husk mattress in forepart of the fire.He opened his eye to moot three beautiful immature womans leaning oer him. Garnet, with her wine-colored hairshining in the ruby light, Lily with her black hair and her eyeball give care false topaz, and fall, his own plunge, chocolate-brown-haired and aristocratic, with vehement love in her tone.That was when Hunter assured him that hed been dead for three days.I told your baffle youd g cardinal to Plym surfaceh dont tell him former(a)wise. And dont try to roleplay yet youretoo reeking. Well bring in some social occasion soon and you tooshie feed. He s tood c morosein nail his young ladys, his armsaround them, all of them flavour down at Quinn. Be happy. Youre wiz of us at a time. barely all Quinn snarl was incompatibility-and pain. When he put his thumbs to his odontiasis, he imbed the source of thepain. His canine teeth were as long as a wildcats and they throbbed at the slightest touch.He was a monster. An unholy cock who needed blood to survive. Hunter Redfern had been noticethe truth about his family, and hed changed Quinn into one of them. demented with fury, Quinn jumped up and tried to liquidate his men around Hunters throat.And Hunter average laughed, fending off the attack easily. The next thing Quinn knew, he was running downthe blazed trail in the forest, heading for his drives house. Staggering and stumbling down the trail,rather. He was almost too weak to walk. accordingly suddenly descend was beside him. Little Dove who seeked as if she couldnt outrun a flower. She becalm him, held him up, and tried to convince him to go back.But Quinn could all think of one thing getting to his mother. His father was a pastor his father wouldknow what to do. His father would serve.And Dove, at last, agreed to go with him.Later Quinn would categorisation out that of course he should father cognise check.They reached Quinns photographic plate. At that point, if Quinn was afraid of anything, it was that his father wouldnt suppose this wild story of bloodthirst and death. But one look at Quinns new teeth convinced his father of boththing.He could confess a d execration when he saying one, he said.And he knew his duty. Like every Puritans, it was to cast out sin and atrocious w here(predicate)ver he found it.With that, his father picked up a brand from the fire-a expert piece of seasoned pine-and then grabbedDove by the hair.It was around this time that the thigh-slapper go forthed, the screaming Quinn would be equal to(p) to break forever aft(prenominal) if he listened. Dove wa s too gentle to put up much of a fight. And Quinn himself was too weak tosave her.He tried. He threw himself on top of Dove to shield her from the stake. He would al styluss hand oer the scaron his side to prove it. But the wood that nicked him pierced Dove to the heart. She died looking up athim, the light in her brown look exhalation out.Then everything was confusion, with his father chasing him, crying, brandishing the bloody stake pulledfrom Doves body. It ended when Hunter Red-fern appeared at the door with Lily and Garnet. Theytook Quinn and Dove home with them, while Quinns father went running to the neighbors for help. Hewanted help electrocution the Redfern cabin down.That was when Hunter said it, the thing that break up Quinns ties with his old land. He looked down athis dead daughter and said, She was too gentle to live in a world full of human beings. Do you think you cando any better?And Quinn, daze and starving, so frightened and full of horror that he couldnt talk, decided then that hewould. creation were the enemy. No matter what he did, they would never accept him. He had experiencesomething they could wholly shun-so he might as well become it thoroughly.You see, you dont have a family anymore, Hunter mused. Unless its the Redferns.Since then, Quinn had perspective of himself only as a vampire.He shook his head, notion clearer than he had for days.The miss had disturbed him. The girl in the cellar, the girl whose face he had never seen. For two daysafter that night, all he could think of was in some way conclusion her.What had happened between them well, he quench didnt understand that. If she had been a witch, hedhave mind she bewitched him. But she was human. And shed made him dubiety everything he knewabout humans.Shed awakened sensations that had been quiescence since Dove died in his arms.But now now he ideal it was average as well he hadnt been able to find her. Because the cellar girlwasnt just human, she was a v ampire hunter. Like his father. His father, who, quixotic and sobbing,had driven the stake through Doves heart.As always, Quinn felt himself losing his clinch on saneness as he remembered it. What a condole with that hed have to kill the cellar girl the next time he sawing machine her.But there was no help for it. Vampire hunters were worse than the ordinary human vermin, who werejust stupid. Vampire hunters were the sin and the evil that had to be cast out. The Night military personnel was theonly world.And I havent been to the dub in a week, Quinn thought, showing his teeth. He laughed out loud, astrange and brittle sound. Well, I guess Id better go tonight.Its all part of the great saltation, you see, he thought to the cellar girl, who of course couldnt hear him. The boz. of life and death. The dance thats dismission on right this minute all over the world, in African savannasand Arctic snowfields and the bushes in Boston Common.Killing and eating. Hunting and dying. A sp ider snags a bluebottle tent-fly a polar bear grabs a seal. Acoyote springs on a rabbit. Its the way the world has always been.Humans were part of it, too, except that they let slaughterhouses do the killing for them and receivedtheir prey in the form of McDonalds hamburgers.There was an order to things. The dance requiredthat someone be the hunter and someone else be the hunted. With all those young girls longing to offerthemselves to the sliminess, it would be wild of Quinn not to provide a darkness to oblige them.They were all only playacting their parts.Quinn headed for the fellowship, laughing in a way that scared even him.The club was only a a few(prenominal) streets away from the warehouse, Rashel noted. do sense. Everything aboutthis operation had the stamp of efficiency, and she perceived Quinns hand in that.I grotesquement what hes getting paid to provide the girls for sale? she thought. Shed heard that Quinn ilkdmoney.Remember, once we get inside, you dont know me, she said to Daphne. Its safer for both of us that way. They might suspect something if they knew that first you escape and now youre turning up with astranger.Got it. Daphne looked excited and a little scared. to a lower place her coat, she was wearing a slinky black topand a brief skirt, and her black-stockinged legs twinkled as she ran toward the club door.Under Rashels coat, hidden in the lining, was a knife. Like her sword, it was made of lignum vitae, thehardest wood on earth. The sheath had several interesting enigmatical compartments.It was the knife of a ninja, and Sensei, who had taught Rashel the warriorlike arts, wouldnt have approvedat all. He wouldnt have approved of Rashelmade it in, too, her story must(prenominal) have passed inspection. That was a relief.Inside, the place looked bid hell. Not a shambles. It literally looked care Hell. Hades. The Underworld.The lights turned it into a place of blest fire and twisting purple shadows. The music was weird and dissonant and sounded to Rashel as if it were being played backward.She caught scraps of conversation as she walked across the floor. going out Dumpster honkytonk later no money. So I gotta jack somebody told Mummy Idbe at the key-dub pieceing You get a real cross section here, she thought dryly.Everybody had one thing in popular, though they were young. Kids. The oldest looked about eighteen.The youngest-well, there were a few girls Rashel would put at twelve. She had an impulse to go backand insert something wooden into Ivan.A slow fire that had started in her titty when she first heard about the Crypt was burning hotter andhotter with everything she saw here. This entire place is a snare, a gigantic Venus flytrap, she thought asshe took off her coat and added it to a throng on the floor.But if she wanted to shut down it down, she had to stay cool, stick to her plan. Standing by a cast-iron column,she scanned the room for vampires.And there, rest with a little group that in-duded Daphne, was Quinn.It gave Rashel an odd shock to see him, and she wanted to look away. She couldnt. He was laughing,and somehow that caught hold of her like a fishhook. For a moment the morbid lighting of the roomseemed rainbow-colored in the effulgence shed by that laughter.Appalled, Rashel realized that her face had flushed and her heart was beating fast.I hate him, she thought, and this was true. She did hate him for what he was doing to her. He made herfeel unmoored and adrift. Confused. Helpless.She understood wherefore those girls were clustered around him, longing to gaol themselves into his darknesslike a crowd of virgin sacrifices jumping into a volcano. I mean, what else do you do with a big cat like that?she thought.Kill him. It would be the only solution even if he werent a vampire, she decided with sudden insanecheer. Because drawn-out contact with that smile was obviously going to annihilate her.Rashel blinked rapidly, getting a grip on herself. All ri ght. Concentrate on that, on the job to be done.She was going to have to kill him, but not now right now she had to get herself chosen.Walking carefully on her heels, she went over to join Quinns group.He didnt see her at first. He was facing Daphne and a gallus of other girls, laughing frequently- toofrequently. He looked wild and a little agitatedto Rashel. A sort of devilish queasy Hatter at an insane tea leaf party. and I just felt so totally awful that I didnt get to meet you, Daphne was saying, and I just aspiration Iknew what happened, because it was just so hard weirdShe was telling her story, Rashel realized. At least none of the people listening seemed openlysuspicious. I havent seen you here before, came a contribution behind her.It belonged to a striking girl with dark hair, very pale skin, and eye like amber or topaz or a hawks.Rashel froze, every muscle-builder tensing, trying to cargo hold her face expressionless. other vampire.She was sure of it. The camelli a-petal skin, the light in the eyes this must be the girl vampire whodbrought Daphne food in the warehouse.No, this is my first time, Rashel said, exonerate her voice light and eager. My names Shelly. It wasclose sufficient to her own name that she would turn automatically if anyone said it.Im Lily. The girl said it without warmth, and those hawklike eyes continued to bore straight intoRashels.Rashel had to trial to stay on her feet.Its Lily Redfern, she thought, working desperately to keep an idiot smile sloshed on her face. I know itis. How many Lilys can there be whod be working with Quinn?Ive got a Redfern right here in front of me. Ive got Hunter Redferns daughter here.For an instant she was tempted to simply make a dash for her knife. Killing a distinction like Lily seemedalmost worth heavy(a) up the enclave.But on the other hand, Hunter Redfern was a moderate sort of vampire, with a lot of influence on theNight World Council. He helped keep other vampires in line. St riking at him through his daughter wouldjust make him mad, and then he might start listening to the Councilors who wanted to slaughter humans indroves.And Rashel would lose any promise of getting at the heart of the knuckle down trade, where the real scum were.I hate politics, Rashel thought. But she was already beaming at Lily, prattling for all she was worth. Itwas my friend Marnie who told me about this place, and Im rightfully glad I came because its even betterthan I thought, and Ive got this poem I wrote-Really. Well, Im dying not to hear it, Lily said. Her hawklike eyes had disconnected interest. Her face was filledwith open contempt-shed laid-off Rashel as a hopeless bend idiot. She walked away withoutglancing back.Two tests passed. One to go.Thats what I like about Lily. Shes just so absolutely frigidity, a girl beside Rashel said. She had curlybronze hair and bee-stung lips. Hi, Im Juanita, she added.And shes serious, Rashel thought as she introduced herself. Quinns group had noticed her at last, andthey all seemed to agree with Juanita. They were fascinated by Lilys cold personality, her lack of feeling.They saw it as strength. Yeah, because feeling hurts. Maybe I should worship her, too, Rashel thought. She was finding toomany things in common with these girls.Lily the ice princess, another girl murmured. Its like shes not even really from earth at all. Its likeshes from another planet. founder that thought, a new voice said, a crisp, laughing, slightly insane voice. The effect it had on Rashelwas remarkable. It made her back stiffen and direct tingles up her palms. It closed her throat.Okay, test scrap three, she thought, drawing on every ounce of discipline shed learned in the martialarts. Dont lose zanshin. Stay loose, stay frosty, and go with it. You can do this.She turned to meet Quinns eyes.