Dean's Online Fiction

The Greater Darkness

Chapter 13

Venice had arrived unexpectedly at Geoffry's apartment an hour ago and told him to get comfortable. “Imastious will be along sometime tonight, and he won't want to have to track you down, so just sit tight until he arrives.”

Geoffry had half-expected Venice to stay, but as soon as she'd delivered her message, she'd bid him goodbye and headed back out the door.

Why is Imastious coming here? He's left me completely alone since the kill. Does he have someone else I'm supposed to murder, or has he found out about Melody or one of the other lessor things I've been doing that he wouldn't approve of?

The vampire knew that giving way to panic and fear was completely irrational, but that didn't stop him from feeling both emotions much more strongly than he expected. They just keep bubbling to the surface despite everything I can do to keep them under control. It's as if some gibbering part of me, a part that is untouchable by sense and intellect has taken over the reins to my thoughts.

Geoffry suppressed thoughts of what would happen to Melody and her mother if Imastious had discovered them, and instead tried to practice his mental techniques. Just as the vampire calmed himself enough to regain the level of control required to cast his thoughts out, his probes ran into a mind surrounded by what he could only call a flawless wall.

It's a little like what Venice does to keep me out of her mind. No, it's exactly like what she does, this is just the work of a master who understands exactly what he is doing rather than a neophyte just doing by rote what she was told would protect her mind.

As soon as Geoffry realized who must be behind that impenetrable shield, he attempted to pull his probes back, but almost faster than he could follow, something grabbed the tendrils of thought, feeding just enough energy into them to make it impossible for Geoffry to break contact, and then followed them back to Geoffry's mind.

Before Geoffry was fully aware of what was happening, Imastious was inside his mind, trying to sift through thoughts and memories. He's slower now that he's inside my mind, almost like we are on nearly equal footing here.

Doing his best to ignore the white-hot pain Imastious was causing, Geoffry pushed back isolating Imastious as best as he was able inside the limited part of his mind that had already been compromised.

Remembering the way that Melody had stifled his attempts to move around inside her mind, Geoffry tried to do the same to Imastious, and was rewarded with a further decrease in the speed of Imastious' attacks.

The younger vampire started to try and push Imastious all the way out of his mind, only to realize with alarm that attempting to do so was draining his strength much more quickly than confronting Imastious at the slightly deeper level they had been before.

Settling back behind the defenses he had already constructed, Geoffry watched as Imastious slowly made his way through the rest of the thoughts in the tiny portion of space that the younger vampire had surrendered.

What will you do now?

Geoffry question was answered a few seconds later as he saw his thoughts begin to take on a peculiar pattern.

That's odd, it's almost like those are settling through the buffer I've created, but they are too ordered for it to be...a suggestion, he has constructed a suggestion.

Any questions as to what the construct was supposed to do were settled as Geoffry felt his resolve to keep Imastious outside his mind start to weaken.

Maintaining his concentration as best as he was able, Geoffry quickly found the construct scurrying from place to place, a spider weaving a web of apathy over everything it touched. A whip-like tendril of thought lashed out and splintered the construct just as Geoffry felt another one try to slide through his defenses.

Acting out of instinct, Geoffry made his buffer more opaque, and then disintegrated the second invader just as it exited the now more resilient barrier. I have to do something quickly; it looks like he is taking over that section of my mind enough that it is becoming easier for him to work there.

Temporarily opening up a window into Imastious' territory, Geoffry lashed out with another tendril of thought, aiming for the conduits of thought he could vaguely sense connecting Imastious' mind to his physical body.

The attack severed the closest link before losing most of its energy and bouncing off of the second conduit. Imastious seemed to gather himself for a few seconds after Geoffry's offensive, and then countered with a blow to the younger vampire's defenses that left his head ringing, and brought the barrier to within a hairsbreadth of collapsing.

How can he hit so hard?

Geoffry tried to pull himself back together and strengthen his defenses, but heartbeats after the first blow came a second, equally powerful attack. Imastious seized on the fact that his opponent was now virtually defenseless to expand his area of influence inside Geoffry's mind.

Suddenly, as quickly as the conflict had started, it was over. Imastious withdrew from Geoffry's mind, and Geoffry opened his eyes just in time to see Imastious kick his door open.

“You should have left the door open, my child. It would have eliminated the need for me to destroy the lock.”

Imastious' gaze seemed to rest on Geoffry's face in a satisfied manner as he finished stepping inside the apartment, so much so that the younger vampire snuck a look in the mirror.

Oh my gosh, I'm covered with blood. The effort of trying to defend my mind must have somehow triggered a nose-bleed.

Seemingly taking Geoffry's silence for submissions, Imastious shrugged and then took a seat. “Of greater worry is the fact that you tried to infiltrate my thoughts once again after already being warned not to do so.”

Staring at Geoffry with the dark, dead eyes that still gave the impression that they were able to see into his slave's thoughts, Imastious continued. “Luckily for you, I assumed that you simply acted out of ignorance and foolishness once again rather than an actual desire to confront me. As you no doubt understand now, whatever tricks you've picked up in the last few weeks would do you no good in a true contest of wills. Had I thought otherwise, you'd now be a sobbing wreck with no sense of self or ability to experience voluntary thought.”

Geoffry tried to remain silent again, but Imastious' eyes seemed to pry a response out of him. “Yes, I understand, it was a mistake.”

The unblinking gaze regarding Geoffry finally proved too much, causing him to drop his eyes rather than continue to look into the emotionless void that seemed to call his thoughts again and again to how tattered and black his own soul was becoming.

Geoffry never even saw the blow coming, in fact the only hint he had of movement was a sudden rushing of air as Imastious lunged from his seat and knocked Geoffry off of the bed where he'd been sitting.

“Yes, master. You will always address me as master. You've bought yourself some small amount of leniency because of your recent actions, but you're treading dangerously close to requiring disciplining.”

The words caught at his throat like pins, but Geoffry felt a presence building just outside his mind, and the thought of having Imastious inside his head again filled Geoffry with an unexpected terror.

“Yes, master,” the response was choked out of a throat so tight that the words caused an almost physical pain.

Imastious considered Geoffry for a few moments longer before nodding. “Very good. You continue to show some small amount of promise. Enough to be spared destruction for the present at least.”

The sense of menace just outside of Geoffry's tightly-shuttered mind slowly dissipated, as Imastious returned to his seat.

“I have another assignment for you.”

Geoffry eyed the packet that Imastious tossed on the bed for a heartbeat, and then the fear started to rise inside him again, forcing him to reach over and open it.

“Her father nominally works for me, but he's become uncooperative as of late. It's time to remind him that although his services are really quite valuable, he isn't irreplaceable.”

Geoffry opened his mouth to voice some half-formed question, only to be preempted by Imastious, who continued with a grin that turned Geoffry's stomach.

“Rather, he's completely replaceable, but his children are considerably less so.”

After Imastious had finally left, Geoffry found himself sitting motionless on his bed, staring at the photo of a smiling teenage girl which had slid out of the packet.

He didn't find out about Melody, but at what price? How can I kill someone so young, someone who hasn't committed any sin other than that of being born to the wrong parents?

**

Geoffry's stomach had become more insistent over the last day. Enough that he knew he was running out of time before he started losing control.

Shifting his spotting glasses, the vampire scanned the cramped, one-way street, stiffening suddenly as his target came into sight.

Right on schedule, just as always. She'll go inside now. Her father is there, but he'll be leaving in half and hour. She and her little brother will spend the subsequent three hours alone until her mother gets home. The fact that her father is always within three or four blocks of the apartment during that time no doubt reassures the family that the little ones are safe. After all, what could happen in the ten minutes it would take for him to get home?

A sharp pain shot through Geoffry's stomach, but this time it wasn't the hunger, it was revulsion over what he was contemplating. Revulsion over what you'll eventually do. You'll complain and rationalize, justify and reason until you finally realize that Imastious is right. You have no choice.

The priest was wrong. It isn't about an unwillingness to pay the price, it's about the fact that the price isn't mine to pay.

Geoffry forced himself to shrug with a nonchalance he didn't feel. I really am going to do it. There isn't any other way to ensure that Imastious stays satisfied enough that he won't invade my mind, won't find out about Melody. I've done terrible things, but I won't be the cause of her being killed or worse.

Now that he was abandoning his surveillance, Geoffry decided to go ahead and complete the two tasks he'd been avoiding. They have to be done before I make the kill. Each day I procrastinate the hit increases the odds that Imastious will become dissatisfied.

Fingering the thick roll of cash that Imastious had given him, Geoffry descended the stairs and headed off towards one of the more disreputable parts of the city.

It didn't take very long once the vampire arrived to find exactly what he was looking for. They're both young, both obviously uncomfortable. It's unlikely they've been selling their bodies for long.

Geoffry wasn't any more comfortable with being propositioned than the girls were with making their pitch, so the next step didn't go all that smoothly, but eventually sums were agreed upon, and Geoffry found himself being led by the pair of trembling blonds to a nearby hotel.

Once inside the tiny room, Geoffry managed to ignore the near terror the girls were exuding for just long enough to mentally push first one and then the other into unconsciousness.

What drives someone to do something they're so terrified of? It would be one thing if this wasn't so frightening for them, but it is. Why don't they just do something else? Surely they have other options.

Looking at the unconscious forms on the sagging bed, Geoffry realized that he was stalling. Time to get it over with.

Neither girl was big enough to provide a full meal, at least not without risking their death. Together though they represented enough sustenance to drive the hunger away for a week, maybe even two.

As Geoffry bit into a vein on the first girl's arm, he felt the hunger flare up with a power that strained the absolute limits of his control. Geoffry had a split second in which to worry that he'd waited too long to feed, and then rational thought fled, leaving Geoffry alone with the seductive beating of the poor girl's heart.

Hunger was no longer a suitable description of what the vampire felt. What had started out as nothing more than an easily disregarded message of his body's need had become something almost tangible. The need beat down on him with the hatred of the noonday sun and he knew he wasn't going to be strong enough to resist it.

Time slowed in step with the absence of thought, allowing Geoffry to bask in an incredible sense of satiation underlined with an odd connection to his victim. The euphoric feelings lasted until the steady call of her heart changed in a subtle way that Geoffry somehow knew meant the poor girl's blood pressure was dropping to dangerous levels.

That tiny change opened the floodgates to Geoffry's mind once again. Gathering strength he didn't know he had, he tore himself away from the arm that had taken on an alarming pallor.

I thought if I fed sooner that I wouldn't loose control. If I can stop the bleeding I think she'll be fine, but it was so hard to not keep going, I came so close to leaving her a lifeless husk.

As Geoffry applied direct pressure to the punctured vein, he tried to understand what had happened.

Should I try feeding on the other girl? Will it be easier now to control myself, or will I still be risking murdering her? The hunger went from a symptom, like pain in a broken wrist, to something more basic, like the fact that the broken wrist is no longer able to support the weight of a textbook.

Geoffry sat staring at the first girl long past the amount of time required to ensure that the bleeding in her arm had stopped. As the vampire watched the rise and fall of her chest, his gaze fought to drift up and fix on the almost imperceptible throbbing of her carotid artery. It's a torment and a relief all at once. It tells me she's still alive, but reminds me just how easy it would have been to go too far.

A sudden sense of despair descended upon Geoffry as he realized he was too much of a coward to do anything other than go ahead and try feeding from the second girl. I'm not man enough to kill myself. The only other option is to embrace to some extent or another the monster that I am.

Moving mechanically, Geoffry stretched out the second girl's arm, and bit down. The coppery flood of blood triggered a brief flare of hunger, but it was only a shadow of what he'd felt before. Instead the sense of connection he'd felt with the first girl came to the fore, bonding him to this new victim in a bittersweet manner he wouldn't have believed possible.

As his breathing synchronized with the girl, Geoffry felt his despair replaced by sorrow for his victim. She's doing so much for me, providing me with continued life, but it isn't offered freely and I'm leaving her with nothing in return.

This time Geoffry was listening for the change in girl's heartbeat that signaled it was time to stop, and it was a much simpler matter to pull himself away and staunch the flow of blood.

Looking down at the two girls, Geoffry found himself near tears. It was like I was part of them, but it was wrong, it should have been freely offered.

The money the vampire had planned on leaving the pair suddenly seemed inadequate. What else can I give them? What else do I have?

Without meaning to, Geoffry found his thoughts reaching out to first one girl, and then the other, probing their minds, attempting to distill chaotic thoughts down to a picture of each girl's true essence. How could someone come to believe that they have so little value? How did they reach a point where they feel that they have no other option but to sell themselves for a pittance? They have each other but it doesn't help because neither is a whole enough person to lift the other up.

Geoffry had thought he was sad before, but the picture of despair painted by the minds he was now touching made his earlier feelings seem pale and selfish.

I can't help myself, I can't really help Melody either, but I can help Sara and Tammi. An artist and a dancer. They've never lost their dreams and hopes, they've just let them become so weak that they can't touch them anymore.

Geoffry's thoughts were moving faster now, faster than he'd realized they could as they spun through the darkened mind before him. The center, I have to go there just like I did with Melody's mom. The pressure surrounding Geoffry grew as he tried to fight his way deeper into Sara's mind. There is no whirlpool here, no drawing of everything down to a twisted destruction. Sara's energy is all directed to keeping others out of her most secret, personal parts. Suddenly Geoffry bumped up against something simultaneously hard and yielding, and he reflexively matched himself to the barrier and felt the pressure disappear as if it were water parting before a surfacing swimmer.

Inside the perfect calm of Sara's center, Geoffry began his work, cutting away the belief that she was worthless, and building a new set of beliefs that would hopefully radiate out and wash away the darkness that constantly tore at her self image.

You're important, a valuable person despite what others may believe. Everyone is important, they just can't always see it.

Geoffry weakened the cynical pessimism that seemed to be eating away like a cancer at her center. There, it's still present, but I've removed the supports that give it shape and form. I think one or two tastes of success will cause it to shatter and decay away into nothing.

Looking around at the tiny ball of light that was now positioned to take over Sara's center, Geoffry felt as though something was still missing, and for some reason he thought of the priest.

He was always so calm. No that isn't quite right it wasn't calm it was peace that seemed to define him above anything else, but peace without some kind of motivating force would be nothing more than a different kind a slavery, One of the mind, one she wouldn't even know to resist.

Mindful of the fact that his strength was slowly being depleted, and that he still needed to do the same kind of work with Tammi, Geoffry worked quickly, expanding the ball of light out so that it was a pool of peace and calm that was too good for the tawdry world in which the girls lived their life.

As soon as the pool was satisfactory, Geoffry reached out and created another construct, one that reached out to touch Sara's dreams. Your dreams will return to things of beauty that you'll feel compelled to try and recreate with canvas and paints. In the so doing, you'll find something to continue striving for.

Geoffry paused for only a second to examine his work before diving into Tammi's mind. The work was somewhat easier as he now had an idea what he was trying to accomplish, but his strength was fading so quickly that he nearly didn't finish in time.

With the last of his strength, Geoffry pulled back to examine the lattice of pink strands he had just finished. Watching the calm white light reflect off of the warmth of the lattice made Geoffry's eyes tear up again. Perfect contentment opposed to exquisite anguish and an angst for perfection that will never really be achieved.

Suddenly, the rising sense of hope and contentment that Geoffry had been feeling reversed with incredible speed only to be replaced with a despair as deep as anything he'd ever felt. Am I really helping, or have I doomed both of these girls to a tormented existence, on in which they'll never know the reason for their persistent dissatisfaction? I don't really know the limits of my abilities, or what unexpected consequences will come of playing God like this.

Overcome by self-doubt, Geoffry pulled several thousand dollars from his pocket, threw it down on the bed, and stumbled out of the room. What have I done? Imagining that we are somehow connected, that I'm not just a parasite committing a new kind of rape? How can money or a few mental parlor tricks possibly compensate for almost killing them?

A decision that Geoffry hadn't even really realized he still had to make was suddenly crystal clear in his mind. His had was shaking as he pulling a carefully-sealed envelope from his jacket pocket. It was foolish to spend so much time composing a response, even more so to risk Imastious finding it between when I composed it and when I delivered it, and it all turns out to be for naught.

The letter I was going to deliver was of no more substance than what I accomplished just now. It is time to write another one, an honest one.

A few hours later, Geoffry found himself standing outside Melody's window staring at both letters, the words of the newest burnt into his memory.

Melody,

Geoffry

As the sky started to lighten, Geoffry affixed the second letter to Melody's window and turned away, thoughts of fire flitting through his mind. I must destroy any physical evidence, and stop thinking about her, or this is all a waste.