Chapter Five

Rick stood on the balcony of the compound and watched the vampires in his courtyard battle one another.

Today was Saturday and the usual drill involved them practicing their strength and fitness levels.

All vampires had to be fit regardless of if they were inside his courtyard or outside. That was a general rule that he had.

The werewolves were cunning creatures and sometimes fearless to almost the point of stupidity that it made him laugh sometimes.

Just like the werewolf that had refused to leave Gwens office. What was his name again...Cory.

He would deal with Cory later. He would have to do it discreetly though. If Gwen got wind that he had something to do in the unfortunate death of her team member, he would lose her forever.

His mind went back to the office and the images of Gwens skin close to his lips. He so badly wanted to kiss her desperately at that moment but he had subdued the feeling.

Gwen wasn't the type that you would just kiss out of the blues. She might have a soft exterior but underneath, he knew that she was as fierce as a lion.

The blood moon was fast approaching and Rick knew what that meant for both old vampires and new ones alike. It was a period where they were filled with the most insatiable bloodthirst than other times.

Rick watched the vampires that sparred one another in his courtyard. They were going to be turned into something else when the blood moon started.

Savages to say the least. He as the vampire king would be able to subdue some of his own urges to an extent.

In the past, he usually fell reign for the urges that the blood moon brought with it.But, this was going to be an exception.

Gwen was in the streets. He hadn't met Gwen before the former urges but now he felt like he needed to protect her from himself.

She was just a wolf and yes, they were strong when the full moon rose but it wouldn't be enough to protect both the unfortunate humans and werewolves that would be out on the street.

During the blood moon, a vampire's strength increased more than tenfold and their bite was more lethal than a werewolf's bite during a full moon.

To put it in shorter terms, they were invincible on the night of the blood moon.

Rick was king of vampires but that didn't mean that every vampire was willing to do his bidding. Just like the one named Tyler who had an expression of murder on his face when he had stepped into Gwen office.

Even if he gave the command that they shouldn't be on the streets looking for fresh blood, they still wouldn't listen.

Gwen and her team would be in the streets to render help where they can and he knew that it wouldn't be enough.

The paranormal company that she worked for had the majority of its workforce as vampires and they too would be affected by the blood moon basically making them indisposed.

Gwen was his top priority for that night. That was why he needed to keep his cool together. If he went rogue, considering the strength that he had, he would mean more danger than even ten vampires put together.

Who knows, he might suddenly attack Gwen and rip into that beautiful flesh of hers.

Asides from the shenanigans that the blood moon brought, another thing was on his mind.

The moon staff.

Rick had started hearing about some staff that allowed its wielder to be able to control everything supernatural.

At first, he thought it was a hoax. Obviously, a piece of metal or wood, whatever the staff was made with wasn't going to let anyone be able to control someone, even if they were the most deadly supernaturals to ever exist.

But, something strange had happened recently that had made him believe that the staff was more than a whisper amongst vampires and werewolves alike.

He had a dream where someone had told him the staff's location and he had almost seen a glimpse of it before he had woken up, unfortunately.

That singular cat had been more than enough to pass on the information that the staff was indeed real.

He heard what sounded like a loud thud. It snapped him out of his thoughts. There in the courtyard, a vampire had taken down two vampires single-handedly without even a blow to his body.

Rick recognized him instantly. He was one of the toughest vampires in his crew and he was also one of the cruelest.

But then again, something was different today. He could sense it. Rick smelt the air and smelt something familiar.

Werewolf blood.

Had someone in the compound attacked a werewolf recently?

He motioned over for the man to come and he started climbing the stairs to reach the balcony where Rick stood immediately.

As the man got closer and closer, he could smell the blood more strongly than before.

Rick frowned. He hadn't heard of any recent attacks on any werewolves. So, what was this peculiar smell?

The vamp's name was Green and he was large and very fit.

"I smell werewolf blood on you. What have you done? Did you lead an attack on a pack of wolves?"

Green shook his head and frowned.

"There has been no recent wolves attack. None that I know of and neither did I lead any attack against the wolves."

If so, what was that smell? It was right there, the smell, at the tip of his nose.

He didn't trust Green one bit. The man was lying. He had certainly done something.

Rick focused his hearing on Green's heartbeat. If a vampire was lying he could tell, their heartbeat had an irregular pattern.

But, Green's heartbeat was normal. Then Rick smelt it. Underneath that original werewolf smell, he smelt something else that was faint but still distinct.

Human blood.

"Did you bite a human?"

Green said nothing and just stood there, stiff as a board.

"Answer me, Green. Did you bite a human?"

Rick kept his cool, there was no need to drag the attention of other vampires. He needed to sort this out quickly.

Green was hesitant to talk and Rick was starting to get very impatient.

Grabbing Green he whisked him into a room and flung him against the wall.

Green scrambled to his feet and dashed for the door which was open at an amazing speed but Rick wasn't the kind of vampire for clout.

Rick reached there before Green and kicked him below. Hard.

Green fell to the ground and Rick lifted him up in an impossible chokehold.

"Did you bite a human?" He asked again, his fangs starting to show underneath the layers of his many white teeth.

"He was in the way, I didn't mean to. He was just in the right place at the wrong time and he had seen me so I couldn't let him go scott free."

"What do you mean the wrong place at the right time? Explain yourself."

"I had gotten a lead on the moon staff and had pursued the source to an alley and he had been there. I didn't know what else to do."

Rick flung Green across the room and he crashed into a table rendering it useless

"You could have compelled him. That's all you needed to do." Rick growled as he left the room and a whimpering green.

A new fear was with him now. What Green had just told him meant that he wasn't the only one who searched for the moon staff. The hunt was more than real.

Other supernaturals wanted it too. If a vampire happened to find it, his title as king of vampires would be null.

Rick wouldn't let that happen. He would take down anyone, and I mean anyone that stood in his way of getting the moon staff.

***********************

There was a pounding noise in his head as he opened his eyes. He felt disoriented and at the same time, he felt alive.

He was staring up at the ceiling and the first thought that came to him was that he couldn't recognize the patterns on the ceiling.

The ceiling in his house was pure white with a few mosiac designs scattered across it. But this one was a fine milky color.

Another thought struck him as odd. Alastor wasn't close to him. He should have gotten dog slobber up his face the minute he had opened his eyes.

But he got none of this. He shifted his head over to the left and realized that he was laying down on a sofa.

A red sofa to be precise.

He realized with horror that he wasn't on his bed at home. He was in someone's house.

Bruce shot up to his feet and looked around him. The place he was at seemed to be a living room.

There were about three more sofa with the same identical color as the one that he was seated on.

At the center of the living room was a fluffy red rug and at the far corner of the room was a small fireplace.

What the hell was he doing here?

Something was definitely wrong. The last thing that he could remember was going to see his friend who lived in the alley off the ninth street.

How the hell had he ended up in another house that wasn't his?

He wanted to take a step forward when he saw someone come in from the door that was adjoined to the living room.

It was a woman and she took his breath straight out from his lungs. He blinked to make sure that he was seeing perfectly and he wasn't under some illusion.

She was tall, at least as tall as he was, and had fiery red hair cascading down her shoulders. Her skin looked unblemished and flawless, matching perfectly with her bubble gum-colored lips.

She was wearing a tank top and shorts and she looked as sexy and beautiful as hell.

Bruce felt something surge through him like a sharp jolt of electricity.

The woman didn't move, she just stood there, ogling him and that was when he realized that he was naked waist up. The lower part of his body had been covered only by some sort of bedding material.

The thought that the woman had seen his nakedness made Bruce go red in the face.

"Who are you? What am I doing here?"

The woman didn't answer. Instead, she just started approaching him slowly.

Bruce started moving back.

She could have a weapon and he didn't know.

"Stay back, don't come any closer," he said with an outstretched arm.

But the woman kept coming closer while he kept on moving backward until he felt something bump against him. He had nowhere else to go.

Bruce didn't want to hurt this woman but something told him that she was far more than she appeared to be.

Suddenly, something very strange happened. With blinding speed, the woman was suddenly in front of him.

He saw her hand come up to his shoulder and felt her whisper.

You will forget that you were bitten and that I saved you.

He felt a strange warm feeling pass through him. It was a sensation that he couldn't control. All he felt at that moment was the will to forget what the woman had just told him to forget even if he didn't want to.

"Repeat after me," the woman said, and beyond his own free will he found his lips opening and repeating the same words that she had used on him.

Then, the woman guided him to the sofa and he followed her willingly. Everything that was happening to him felt surreal.

"Now, sit, close your eyes, and let me get you a cup of tea."

Against his own will, he found himself closing his eyes and resting his head on the headrest of the sofa.