Chapter 40

Nadia gasped and took a step back upon recognizing Sharaina. She last saw her in 1901 when she and her army invaded her village and massacred her people. Their crime against Dark Star as the Voodoo clan was binge feeding on humans and turning their corpses into puppets for their entertainment.

Nadia could not believe that she was face to face with the great Queen of the darkas gods. She wondered what on earth Sharaina was doing there and why a darkas god of her caliber would defend a none pure. Her eyes widened in fear when it 'hit her' that the two had a pact.

Nadia turned to Akirexer and exclaimed, "You sold your soul to the queen of the darkas gods?!"

"Yes I did. Pretty cool huh?" Akirexer twirled her hair with a devious grin.

Nadia tucked her lips. 'There's no way in hell that I'll be able to defeat Queen Sharaina. I have to get out of here.'

She reached into her apron pocket but Sharaina zoomed in on her in a flash. Sharaina threw Nadia up and snapped her forehead, sending her flying up and disappearing into the clear sky.

One dog growled at Sharaina while her back was still turned and she raised a brow up. A force turned it and all the other beasts into dust. Akirexer couldn't keep her jaw up at Sharaina's awesomeness. She took out Nadia and her fiendish dogs in seconds without breaking a sweat.

"Wadose, you can come out now." Sharaina said aloud.

"Yes my queen." Wadose stepped away from the bus that hid him. He smiled warmly at Akirexer and tilted his hat at her. "Pleasure seeing you again, Akirexer."

"You do realize that this is the first time you are smiling at me, right?" Akirexer mockingly asked him as she got off the ground.

"I happen to be in a very good mood today Akirexer." Wadose reached into his pocket and pulled a red glowing pill. "Here take this."

Akirexer took the pill and held it up to examine it. "What is this?" she asked Wadose when she averted her eyes back to him.

"It is a pill made out of compressed gamarax of ten vampires. That should be enough for a recharge. Gamarax manipulators administer these pills to darkas gods that have just awoken from hibernation and are too weak to hunt." Sharaina answered her instead.

"Oh I see." Akirexer threw the pill at the back of her mouth and swallowed it. It was completely tasteless but warm.

Within seconds, Akirexer felt the fresh rush of gamarax running through her body. Her feet left the ground and she spun slowly in the air as her wounds healed. The wind nearly exposed her underwear in the white silk nightdress. Her eyes and dragon mark began to glow. Akirexer moaned softly as her fangs stretched out and sent out a relaxing sensation throughout her body.

In time, the therapeutic feeling was gone and she began to float back down feeling like a million bucks. She turned to Sharaina with a satisfied smile but it was turned upside down when she saw the worry in her eyes. Akirexer did not have to ask Sharaina what was wrong when she said,

"The energy levels here are heavily unbalanced. This should explain the weird sightings in Dark Star."

"Weird sightings?" Akirexer asked her stunned. she took a concerned step forward.

"A volcano on the southern part of Dark Star in the Gerebe realm disappeared. A water fountain's water in Lano village turned black and emitted a foul odor." Sharaina explained. Her voice was low but firm.

"What do you think could be causing the imbalance?" Akirexer asked her again.

"I don't know but commander Diavinx should. I must see him before I return to Dark Star. You will accompany me." Sharaina ordered Akirexer and she nodded her head in submission.

Sharaina took off her red coat and tossed it to Akirexer. Akirexer dropped her brows stunned by her sudden actions. It, however, did not take long for to remember that she was inappropriately dressed. Without a word, Akirexer wore the coat. It smelt of red roses to her pleasure.

Sharaina, who was now only in a black elasticated long sleeved dress and black tights tore opened a portal. Her red heels walked over the dog dust and disappeared into the portal. Akirexer and Wadose followed her in.

****

A squirrel made its way down a tree in pursuit of an acorn on the ground. It picked it up and was about to go up a tree when Nadia crush landed on it. It's blood splattered under her back. Nadia faced up in a daze.

She brought her sore muscles up as she sat and gnashed her teeth suddenly at her arm. Nadia wiped the sweat off her forehead and groaned in pain as she painfully got on her feet. Holding her arm in place, she looked ahead of the trees in thought.

"I can't believe that I'm still alive. I have to go and tell the Great One that her sister belongs to Queen Sharaina. She will not be an easy target. At least this way, she will spare my life for having failed at my mission."

****

Rose sat in her office wiping her sweaty palms on her dress. She glanced at her wall clock and let out a sigh. Her anxiety was due to her press conference. She feared that it was going to reopen wounds of the past. The few days that she spent with the Packets were the worst days of her life.

Rose thought about how helpless she felt due to the beatings she got. Those beatings left scars she was afraid to show her son. She hugged herself when she remembered Madeline and Monique.

Rose wondered if it would be right to bring them up during the interview. Would anyone believe her when she explained that they were vampires. Rose's thoughts were cut short when she heard her secretary tell her,

"They are ready for you Miss Peterson."

Rose got up from her chair. Let's get this over with. She let out another sigh.

Rose walked outside and she was met with cameras, voice recorders and reporters shouting out her name and asking her all sorts of questions at once. A security guard guided her up the booth and several more officers stood around her.

"Please be silent. Rose Peterson will only answer one question at a time." Mr Martin declared with hostility and the crowd surprisingly went silent.

Rose looked around and swallowed hard. "Good morning. I am Rose Peterson. I will take your questions now."

The crowd got loud once more. Each reporter was trying to get her attention. Rose spotted a man in a bright green shirt and pointed at him.

"Miss Rose Peterson, I am Thomas Miller from Kansas TV. Is it true that you were held hostage by the notorious Packet brothers?" he quickly asked.

Rose leaned toward her microphone. "Yes it is true. I was held hostage by the Packet brothers." She answered briefly and on point just as Mr Martin advised her prior to the conference.

Rose picked another young man in the crowd.

"I am Jason Pines from Daily News FM. A good number of officers including the head detective rushed to your aid after your colleague, Rajat Mandhan, reported that you were missing. None of them returned. What happened to them?" He asked and held his voice recorder high at Rose.

"They were all..." Rose paused due to the tightness in her chest. She felt her tears coming and she held them back with all her might. "They were all killed." her voice cracked and a sniff was heard.

"How did you manage to escape the wrath of the diabolical Packets?" the very reporter continued at the dismay of the others.

"I was rescued by...by...um..." Rose was stuck.

She knew that she couldn't disclose Akirexer's secret to the world. She looked up at the reporters and they were all anxiously waiting for her answer. With the corner of her eye she saw her secretary push her way through the officers. When she finally got to Rose, she whispered into her ear.

Rose widened her eyes at her in horror and abruptly left the booth. The reports grew louder and continued to fire her with questions. They didn't stop even when they saw that she was out of their sight. Rose made her way to the car park with Mr Martin on her tail. She ignored him, got into her car and started the ignition.

"Where are you going?!" Mr Martin impatiently asked her as he hit her window.

"To check on my son!" Rose put her seat belt on.

Mr Martin stepped back and watched her speed off. Rose's speed reduced when she finally got to her neighborhood. Fire trucks blocked her way and several people were wondering around across the road. Ambulances kept driving in and out of the neighborhood.

Rose got out of her car and ran to her house. When she got there, fear paralyzed her at the sight of her broken door with an axe through it. She held her tight chest gasping for air as she shakily got into her house.

Rose made her way up the stairs and went straight to Gilbert's room. She looked everywhere but he wasn't there. Rose rushed to the spare bedroom where Akirexer slept but even it was empty. In even more panic, she ran to the bathroom across the room and let out a sharp scream.

Her Asian maid laid dead in the bathtub with her neck almost completely torn off. Rose pulled her hair as she hyperventilated. She ran downstairs and was relieved to see two police officers there.

"I can't find my son!" she desperately cried.

"Please calm down ma'am while we search the house." one of the officers said.

They got their guns out and the puppy she rescued along with Akirexer casually walked passed them without a care in the world. It headed straight into the kitchen and pounced on something playfully. Rose pointed at the puppy and the officers followed it into the kitchen.

When they caught sight of Mason, they put their guns away and gave way to Rose. Rose pulled Mason away from the counter and hugged him. The officers excused themselves and searched the house.

"My baby!" she kissed him all over his face. "I am so happy that you are okay. What were you doing here?"

"Aunt Whitney told me to hide here and not show myself no matter what I heard." Mason sobbed. His green eyes were swollen due to his crying but the sparkle due to his mother's embrace could be seen when Rose warmly stared back at them.

"Mummy, a shape shifting witch attacked us and went after aunt. Is she okay?"

"I trust that she is my son." Rose lovingly held his cheek.

***

Commander Diavinx sat comfortably at his desk watching two big breasted brunettes dance for him seductively. The women giggled as they bounced their breasts up and down. They chuckled louder as they began to undress each other.

One of the women pouted seductively at commander Diavinx and threw her dress at him. Commander Diavinx began sniffing the dress when Queen Sharaina walked into his office. Akirexer and Wadose were right behind her.

They watched, unnoticed by the commander, as one of the women blindfolded commander Diavinx. She led him away from his desk and spun him around. Commander Diavinx was laughing uncontrollably and Queen Sharaina was disgusted beyond belief.

****

"Vice commander Quix! Vice commander Quix!" commander Diavinx's secretary exclaimed in panic as she ran into Quix's office.

Quix lazily blew on his hot coffee. With a yawn he asked, "Yes?" And he took a sip.

"The queen is here and she is heading for the commander's office!" She answered anxiously. Her soft eyes wide with panic.

Baffled by her uneasiness, Quix asked her, "Why are you so anxious? This isn't the first time her highness is checking up on us." He took another sip of his coffee.

The secretary wiped the sweat off her forehead. "The two brunettes are with the commander right now!"

Her response caused coffee to splash out of Quix's mouth. He hastily got off his chair and stared back at the secretary in horror.

"Did you say the brunettes are with him right now?" he whispered to her and she frantically nodded her head.

Quix screamed and startled the secretary to the point of her screaming back. He burst out of his office running with the secretary running right behind him.

"Of all days the queen had to come today!" he complained to himself.

****

Commander Diavinx was chuckling annoyingly as he looked for the naked women. Little did he know that they were shivering in a corner with Sharaina glaring at them. Akirexer smirked to herself with her hands folded. When she saw the angry look on Queen Sharaina's face, she almost let out a laugh. Wadose prevented it by poking her with one of his tails.

Sharaina walked towards Diavinx but the sound of her heels made him reach out for her large breasts and squeeze them.

"I have you now sweetheart. Wow your breasts are so soft and tender." he remarked with a wide grin.

At that point, Akirexer couldn't hold in her laughter anymore and she let it out loud. She held her ribs as she laughed completely ignoring Wadose's tail pokes.

"What's going on?" Diavinx asked, stunned by the unfamiliar laugh, asked. His hands were still on Sharaina's breasts.

Wadose went up to him and took off his blindfold. Upon meeting Sharaina's angry beaming red eyes, commander Diavinx screamed in horror only to receive a loud bruising slap.

"My queen!" Diavinx bowed down in fright with his head on the floor.

It was at that moment when Quix and the secretary skidded into the corridor of the office. The sight of Diavinx bowing down to the queen and the two frightened women in the corner made Quix realize that he was too late.

Seeing that he didn't attract any attention when he arrived, Quix sort to escape. The secretary had the same idea so there were no surprises when both of them started to tippy toe backwards out of the corridor.

"Hold it right there vice commander and get in here right this instant!" Sharaina yelled and Quix bowed his head in shame.

He walked the walk of shame as he joined Diavinx on the floor. He made sure to keep his eyes on the floor.

"Is this what you do instead of doing your job?!" Sharaina thundered and her voice startled the women. They couldn't stop themselves from whimpering.

"Leave my sight you damned harlots!" Sharaina yelled at them and they quickly picked up their clothes and left shutting the door behind them.

"My queen, please have mercy by giving me the chance to explain myself." Diavinx begged.

"I'm listening."

"Today is my birthday and those women were a gift given to me by a good friend. Please, I did not mean to offend you." Diavinx swallowed hard. "I also didn't mean to touch your..."

"Shut up!" Queen Sharaina raised her voice completely silencing him. "You will never change your ways."

"You know me all too well your highness." Diavinx agreed.

"Shut up, I want to know why the negative energy levels are terrible here."

"There have been high levels of vampire activity. Hundreds of civilians are murdered daily. This is especially worse amongst the homeless." Diavinx explained.

"What are your captains doing in the fields?" Sharaina asked him again.

"They are doing all they can in cutting down the vampire numbers but they are numerous. They are also extremely stubborn due to a cult that is spearheading everything. The cult is known as - "

"The Day Walkers." Akirexer finished and Sharaina turned to face her.

The sound of Akirexer's unfamiliar voice forced both Diavinx and Quix to lift up their heads. Diavinx immediately recognized her and faced back down while Quix froze.

He was completely enchanted by her beauty. He couldn't keep his jaw up as he stared at her hopelessly blushing. He wondered who she was and why she wasn't in uniform. Her bare feet are what stunned him the most.

Diavinx took notice that Quix wasn't bowing his head. He smacked him at the back of his head completely breaking his trance. Reality hit and Quix hastily faced back down with a smile.

"How do you know of this Akirexer?" Sharaina asked Akirexer.

"I have been attacked by two of them. Each had a tattoo of a letter under their eye." Akirexer answered confidently.

Sharaina took two steps towards her and paused. "So you mean to tell me that the one I just took out is one of them?" She asked and Akirexer quickly gave her a confirming nod.

"That one had the letter D. Are they ranked according to strength? You mentioned two attacked you." Wadose inquired.

"Well, I should think so. The first one was weaker than the second one." Akirexer affirmed.

"Get up." Queen Sharaina ordered Diavinx and Quix.

"Your highness, a report of the location of the secret base of the vampire cult was delivered this morning. I will be leading a troop there tonight." Diavinx remarked.

"Good, I shall accompany you." Sharaina turned to Akirexer. "Would you like to join us?" she asked her.

"No my queen. I have something important to do. Please pardon me." Akirexer respectfully declined.

"I see... no matter. I want to speak to commander Diavinx alone. All of you to excuse us."

Akirexer nodded her head and promptly left the office with Wadose. She paid no attention to vice commander Quix on her way out. This only left him grinning as he rubbed his chin.

Akirexer and Wadose spotted a water fountain. They both walked to it and sat down. While Wadose fought the urge to pick up one of the fish and eat it, Akirexer stretched herself and smiled widely.

"Why are you so happy?" Wadose asked her.

"I am happy because tomorrow I will have my closure." Akirexer happily answered him.

"Why do you say so?"

"I will finally be face to face with my mortal enemy. He is to get married tomorrow so I figured that I'd crush his wedding."

"Why have you waited this long though? I thought you knew this vampire personally so you could have killed it by now." Wadose mockingly asked Akirexer.

"Yes you are right." Akirexer gave him a pat on his shoulder. "But you must understand that he has been tricky to find."

"Sounds reasonable enough I suppose." Wadose admitted. "Don't look now but vice commander Quix is staring at you. He has been doing so from the time we sat here."

"What really?" Akirexer tucked her hair behind her ear and peeked at Quix who was pathetically trying to act as though he wasn't spying. "Wow he is terrible at pretending."

"In deed he is." Wadose laughed softly.

"Wadose how were you even able to see that? I mean you have no eyes! Shit." Akirexer laughed at him.

"I am able to see with my skin Akirexer. It enables me to see in all directions at once. I just have to focus on the relevant direction." Wadose titled his top hat at Akirexer.

"That's pretty cool I guess."

Wadose got up. "Well I am leaving now. The vice commander is coming here now that he knows that we know his little secret."

"Oh sure." Akirexer smiled at Wadose.

A minute after Wadose left, the sunlight on Akirexer's face was blocked by Quix's shadow. She reluctantly faced up and they both locked eyes. His capturing gaze, white smile and bushy eye lashes turned Akirexer on.

Alright, he is totally my type. Akirexer smiled back at him as he let out his hand at her in greeting.

"Hello Akirexer,"