Chapter 9: Ritual of Blood

Carl locks the doors to the offices anxious to get home to Joy, as he walks towards his car, he notices some shadows slowly brushing against the wall of the building. As he turned around, Jake jumped on him and pressed his fingers into his forehead knocking him out. "Don't want to hurt him" said Jake as he carried Carl towards their car.

"How did you do that?" asked Aaron.

"Pressure points, very easy to do it if your a vampire" said Jake.

"Cool, we have to get him back to Miranda now, so we can get this done" said Aaron

"Yeah, i heard that there is going to be some master vampires attending the ritual, that has me a little unsettled" said Jake

"I wonder what Miranda has gotten herself involved with" said Aaron.

"I know, i've heard from Sarah that such rituals are only invoked when great power is required, its possible that it might be one of those very rare events that the council oversees, it supposedly boosts the master vampires strength as the human used in the ritual is bound to their maker" said Jake.

'Damn that bitch, I will stop her' thought Aaron angrily. "Sounds pretty heavy" said Aaron as they drove through the city.

"I know, I have heard though that Miranda is pretty obsessed at getting Carl back" said Jake.

"Oh, it doesn't sound as though Carl will want to stay with her of his own free will" said Aaron.

"I don't think Miranda has thought this out properly, but we will just have to see how she plans on doing this" said Jake, as they approached the mansion.

Jake and Aaron carried Carl through the mansion while two vampire bodyguards escorted them down towards the basement level of the mansion. As they climbed down the steps towards the basement, there was a blast of cold air as the door opened. "Ahh, you brought him. Right this way" said an unknown female vampire. As they surveyed the room which was laid with candles with burning incense Aaron thought to himself 'The silver is going to cause a lot of damage in here' as he looked around at the gathered vampires.

He felt some eyes burning into his back, he heard a voice in his head which sounded faintly like Laura. 'Don't turn around Aaron, these master vampires can trap you with their gaze'

"Put him in the ring, Jake" said Miranda, after Jake put him down she pulled off Carls jacket and tied his arms behind his back and bound his ankles. She then removed his tie. Carl started to stir, one of the masters spoke up and said "I think it is time to start the ritual don't you think?"

Carl opened his eyes to a blur and remembered something dropping onto his back, then blackness. He tried to move and relised that his hands and feet were tied together. Miranda approached him and Carl reacted in shock. "Hello Carl, we are going to get everything that we had asked for" said Miranda.

Carl's face contorted in rage as he spat out at her "Whatever you've got going on here Miranda, its not going to work you filthy bitch."

"Looks like we are going to have to bind that dirty mouth of yours Carl" said Miranda as she tied a gag around his mouth. Carl began struggling aganist his bonds as he was pulled upright by one of the master's bodyguards. Miranda left the candle circle as she went to prepare herself. Carl continued struggling as Miranda returned and approached Carl with the ritual athame, she placed a hand on his chest as he struggled against his bonds more furiously. She raised her hand and stroked his cheek as Carl's face contorted into a snarl. Miranda reached down and tore his shirt open, she slashed the athame across his chest allowing the bright blood to seep down his chest. After hearing Carl yelp in pain from behind the gag, Aaron began reaching into his pocket and grasped the vial of silver posion. He extracted the vial of blood from his pocket and covertly injected it into his arm.
He felt the burning gaze of the master again, this time it felt more pressing. Aaron felt more comforted when he felt Laura's warm presence again pushing out the masters influence. Carl yelped in pain again as Miranda slashed him again drawing another line of bright blood, she dragged her finger through his blood and lifted it to her mouth and tasted it. "My you have the sweetest blood Carl" said Miranda as Carl's face twisted in horror and disgust. She forced his head to the side and dug her fangs into him. Carl moaned behind the gag in shock as Miranda drained some of his blood. She then bit into the other side of his neck drawing more blood while some leaked out the wound she had made on the other side of his neck.
Miranda licked over the neck wounds she had made sealing them over. She said to the waiting vampires "Its time to start now" as she pushed Carl on his back and drew her fingernails down his chest sharply drawing more blood from him. Four master vampires approached the circle, they slashed their wrists with the smaller athames and drained blood into the golden chalices setup around the ceremonial ring. Once they had emptied enough blood into the chalices they picked up the candles and set them on fire. They placed the burning chalices back into place around the ring.
Aaron felt as if he was in a dream as he stared blankly at Carl until he heard the insistant voice in his head. 'Fight it Aaron, you need to save Carl before its too late' Aaron snapped out of his dream like state as he saw Miranda standing over a weakend Carl preparing to seal the ritual, she closed her mouth over his neck and bit into him. Aaron pulled the vial of silver out and threw it against on of the chalices it smashed releasing a vile cloud of silver, in moments the vampires around the ring were writhing in pain as the flesh on their face began to peel off.
"Ahhhhh! What is this Aaron?" shouted Jake in agony. Aaron ignored him and ran into the middle of the ring and pulled a screaming Miranda off Carl and stabbed Carl's neck with both vials of blood. The reaction was instantaneous, Carl ripped the bonds off his hands and was about to reach for Aaron's neck as he grabbed his hands and said "I'm here to rescue you Carl, follow me" said Aaron, he walked over to where Jake was writhing in agony. "I'm sorry that i had to do that mate" said Aaron as he opened the vial of bronze coloured substance. "Drink this and we can get out of here" said Aaron as he pressed it to Jake's lips. Jake accepted the vile tasting fluid, the effects were rapid as the peeling and bubbling skin on his face began to heal quickly.
"I can't see, you'll have to lead me out" said Jake still in pain. Aaron moved behind Jake and Carl leading them out of the room the stone walls of the basement blocking out the wails of pain as they ascended. As they navigated through the maze of rooms, Carl's legs began to feel weak as he stumbled along with Aaron gently guiding him. As his breathing began to get heavier under the strain of keeping upright two bodyguards approached them. "Where are you taking him? Hes supposed to be downstairs" said one of the bodyguards. "Thats none of your concern" said Jake who had regained his eyesight, he slammed his fist into his face driving his nose into his head. The other bodyguard was surprised as Aaron slammed his elbow into his neck throwing him against the wall.
Carl collapsed to the floor as his chest gashes opened up again. "Damn that blood didn't work long" said Aaron. Jake picked up Carl as they headed for the gates. They ran outside and found Laura waiting for them. Jake tripped over and gasped in pain as his chest violently constricted. Jake tried to get up but the Carl's weight on top of him and another pain seizure just forced him back to the ground.
"Laura need some help over here!" yelled Aaron. Laura, Russel and Damien came towards them. A whole team of bodyguards rushed outside as Russel and Damien carried Carl and Jake towards their van. "Come on Aaron" said Laura as she pulled out a canister from her pocket and unclipped it, she threw it at the guards blinding them as the silver gas prevented them from proceeding.
Laura started the van and said to Jake. "Hold on, i have the medicine you need back at my mansion, just hold on there." Aaron tried to comfort Jake as he moaned in pain, the silver eating at his insides like acid. "I'm so sorry mate, i couldn't tell you what was going to happen one of the masters was trying to get into my head" said Aaron. "How is Carl going?" asked Laura from the front. "He's not good, he's lost too much blood if we dont do this soon hes going to die" said Cindy, as she tried to stop the bleeding from his chest. "Carl, hang in there it won't be much longer" said Cindy.
Laura got the van through the gates to the mansion as Russel and Damien carried Carl and Jake into the house. "Bring them to the infirmary" said Cindy. When they got to the infirmary Carl was barely alive, only just being able to hold on. Cindy injected Jake with a vial filled with the same bronze substance that Aaron gave him. Jake passed out on the bench as the chemical began to reverse the damage done to his body by the silver. "Carl, i need you to open your mouth and swallow as much of this as possible" said Laura as she rasied her dripping wrist to his mouth. "Damien could you help me here please" said Laura. "We are only trying to help you Carl, you'll never see Joy again if you don't let us help you" said Cindy.
Carl opened his mouth slightly as Laura brushed the blood against his lips, after the blood began running down his throat, Carl began feeling lighter, he took a large swallow of the blood and closed his eyes. Cindy pressed her fingers against his neck and said "I hope enough blood got down, because hes dead"

Carl's head was severely hurting him as blinding images burned across his eyes, he wanted to shout in pain but nothing came out as the confusing shattered images continued to torment him both containing fragments of Laura's memories and those of the vampire that turned her. Just as Carl thought the burning images would drive him crazy his eyes burned open and he felt a tearing pain in his jaw as his new fangs forcefully extended themselves. Carl screamed in pain as the blood hunger tore through him. "Carl, you need to resist it. I know its hard and its painful but we are only here to help you" said Laura as she entered the room. Carl's burning red eyes whipped over to Laura he crushed his hand against Laura and sent her crashing into the wall.

"Laura! Are you ok?" asked Jake as he entered the room. "Yeah i'm ok, can you take Carl outside he needs to feed before the frenzy tears him apart" said Laura.

Carl let out another yell of pain and choked out "Who are you people, what's happening to me?"

"Carl, i'm Jake i can help you there" said Jake as he grabbed his arm and led him outside. As he passed Russel he handed him a shirt for Carl. "When i tell you to, you have to let the burning take control, thats the only way it will stop" said Jake. Carl nodded at him as he groaned in pain. Jake helped Carl into the car, as Jake started the car Carl pulled the black shirt over his head, his chest completly healed. Jake drove towards the nightclub district and found a quiet place to park. He helped Carl out of the car as they approached two women quitely walking through the nightclub area. One of the women said goodbye to her friend as she greeted her date. 'Those two will do perfectly' thought Jake as he used his psychic powers to dig into the womans mind. 'Come over here, bring your date'

She stopped talking for a moment and then grabbed her date's hand and pulled him behind the building and pushed him up against the wall. 'Woah, baby what's gotten into you' murmured the man as she pressed her mouth against his. Jake motioned to Carl "Now Carl, let the burning take over." Carl's eyes burned furiously behind the dark glasses he put on. He jumped behind the woman and wrenched her away before either of them could make a sound Jake had his hand over her mouth and Carl had the man trapped with his fangs buried deep in his neck. He quickly drained the man of his blood letting him drop against the ground afterwards. He growled softly as his eyes still burned softly, as he turned to face the woman now squealing and increasing her attempts to get away from Jake. "Aren't you going to do anything Jake?" asked Carl.

"No, you need it more then i do" said Jake as he tried to resist the smell of blood. The woman kicked out at Carl as he dug his fangs into her neck her cries growing faint as he drained her blood. "Now we have to get rid of the bodies, we can't just leave them lying here" said Jake. Carl stood up and leaned against the wall. brushing the blood off his face he asked "What happened?"

Carl's eyes now back to normal, Jake said "Blood rage, it happens when a vampire needs alot of blood"

"What?" asked Carl confused.

"There is somebody else who can explain it better then i can, after we get rid of these bodies, all your questions will be answered" said Jake.

"Ok, but this is really freaking me out" said Carl, as he helped Jake pulled the bodies into the car. "What about the blood behind the building?" asked Carl.

"Don't worry about it for some reason, they can't do any of that forensic stuff with vampires because it just vanishes after leaving the body" said Jake.

After they had driven out to a forested area, they dug a hole in the ground and dumped the bodies in. They then covered it up. When they got back to the mansion Laura and Cindy greeted them. "Your looking alot better now Carl, go with Cindy and let her check you over, shes our medic. Then i will answer any questions you might have" said Laura.

"I must admit, i was a little surprised that you let me out with Carl" said Jake to Laura.

"I trust you, Jake. If Aaron saved you he must have trusted you a great deal to not turn on him. So can only trust him" said Laura

"How do you know Aaron?" asked Jake

"I'm Aaron's wife" grinned Laura.

"Ohh.. so thats why he's seemed happier lately" said Jake.

"I know it was hard to see him suffer" said Laura.

"What do you mean?" asked Jake

"I've been watching Miranda for sometime now, i knew she was up to something crooked. She was out to use the binding ritual to channel the power of the masters into Carl and then drain the power into herself. I think shes been planning to go against the Queen" said Laura.

"Woah, ok i knew that Miranda was a little unhinged, but that is just crazy" said Jake.

"I know, so i had to grab Aaron i gave him all that stuff to help him rescue Carl, now hes safe" said Laura

"Its going to be hard to control Carl however" said Jake.

"I know about Joy, its been taken care of" said Laura.

"Ok, thats good to know" said Jake.

Cindy re-entered the room with Carl and said, "He's already to ask questions"

"Take a seat Carl, i'm sure you have plenty of questions" said Laura

"Yeah, i do what the hell is going on and who were those people that had me down in that room?" asked Carl

"First off, your a vampire now, I had to do it to save you or you were going to die Carl. Secondly those were really bad people who were going to make you a vampire also, but you wouldn't be much more then a slave to them" said Laura.

"Ok.. so i can go out in the day anymore?" asked Carl.

"No sorry, we don't need as much sleep anymore either. Vampires don't require food but we do need to drink blood at least once every two days, or the blood rage starts boiling" said Laura.

"Ok.. so am i a prisoner here?" asked Carl

"For now you are Carl, the sun is about to come up. I would like it if you stayed here though, where we can protect you. The other vampires that are connected to the vampires that conducted that 'ritual' are sure to want you dead, they dont like unapproved vampires running around" said Laura.

"I'm rather tired, could you show me to where i'm supposed to be sleeping?" asked Carl.

"Yeah sure, Damien could you show Carl where his room is to be?" asked Laura.

"Of course" said Damien as he guided Carl from the room.

"In here, the windows are shielded during the daytime so you don't have to worry about anything" said Damien.

"Alright, good night then" said Carl as he closed the door and laid down on the bed.

'What am i going to tell Joy? I don't want to hurt her, i'll have to stay away from her for now. She's going to know something is wrong when i don't turn up at the office today' thought Carl. 'This is such a mess, why did this have to happen to me? Damn that psychotic bitch'

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

"SHIVA!" shouted the Queen.

"Yes your majesty?" inquired the hag.

"What do you see? I've just heard that somebody has broken Carl out of the ritual" said the Queen

"Nothing, majesty. There is nothing, it seems whatever the prophecy was it has vanished" said Shiva, though silently smiling to herself as she can quite clearly see Carl dressed in gleaming armour much like the painting she showed Laura, he's standing over the Queen and he's thrusting a large gleaming sword into her black heart.

"That sounds quite promising, thank you for the news. Could you inform Geoffory that i want to see him?" asked the Queen

"Certainly, your majesty" said Shiva, as she bowed and left the chamber smirking to herself.

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

"Where did you go today Aaron?" asked Laura as he entered the mansion.

"I was checking out Miranda's house" said Aaron.

"Why did you do that? You could have been seen there!" exclaimed Laura.

"I wanted to see if that bitch was dead but i couldn't find her" said Aaron.

"Vampire corpse disintergrate rather quickly Aaron, if shes alive she'd most certainly wouldn't be there, i don't want you to be taking such risks Aaron i don't want anything to happen to you. I was looking forward to spending the day with you." said Laura.

"Sorry Laura, but i had to check it out. How's Carl going?" asked Aaron.

"I'm worried he's going to try and go see Joy, so i've tasked people to tail him so they can stop him if he goes anywhere near Joy." said Laura.

"Why stop him? Doesn't this prophecy include both of them?" asked Aaron

"Carl is too young of a vampire to be going anywhere near people he cares about, he could end up losing it and killing Joy. He doesn't know how to turn people properly yet. Even if he was to know his vampire insincts are too unruly, he will need to learn how to control them. Until then i don't want Carl getting to close to Joy." said Laura.

"I see your point, but eventually Carl is going to want to see her" said Aaron.

"I know, i hope the guards won't be nessesary but they have orders to protect Joy from everybody.

"Where are all these other vampires coming from Laura?" asked Aaron

"It seems that there are a number of vampires that hated that monster and others that admire me killing him, thats where they are from" said Laura.

"Thats cool" said Aaron.

"Now that's settled we have other things to attend to" said Laura as she pushed him down on the sofa and pushed up his shirt.

"Ohhh.. God Laura, what is that?" moaned Aaron, as Laura bit into his nipple and drained a small amount of blood making him moan.

"That, was fangs baby, your going to enjoy this Aaron" said Laura, as she pulled his shirt off and dropped it on the floor. She bit his other nipple making him moan more intensely, as she rubbed the growing bulge in his pants. She drew her fangs down his chest scraping his abs, when she reached belly button she unbuckled his belt and opened his pants, she thrust a hand into his boxers and grasped his hardness, at the same time she dug her fangs into the hard muscle around his belly button making him shout in pleasure. After drawing some blood out she grabbed the band of his pants and boxers and dragged them off him. She engulfed his hardness in her hot mouth and ran her tongue up and down his shaft, making him quiver in pleasure as he moaned her name. He fisted his hands into her hair as she extended her fangs and lightly pressed them into hardness, a burning wave of pleasure rushed through him as she forcefully sucked a large amount of blood from his hardness.

He yelled out loudly after the burning sensation passed, Laura stood up and undressed quickly. She settled herself over his hardness as she prepared to thrust onto him. "Ahh! God Laura, you are so incredible" shouted Aaron in indescribeable pleasure as she thrust onto him and bit his shoulder drawing more of his blood. She began to quicken her pace as she thrust her mouth over his kissing him wildly as her thrusts. She broke the kiss after Aaron needed to breath, Aaron began bucking his hips into hers as she increased her wild pace. Laura pressed her fangs into Aaron's neck and slowly drew blood from him extracting more pleasure from him. Aaron growled out in sheer pleasure as Laura tightened around him, her orgasm exploding against her senses. Aaron wasn't able to last much longer, as Laura continued to drain more blood from his neck. He shouted out her name and exploded into her, hot waves of pleasure rolling through him.

Laura rolled of him to the side as Aaron panted heavily, trying to regan his breath. "Wow, baby that was incredible." said Aaron as he kissed her.

"I missed you so much Aaron. Lets go to my room before they all wake up" said Laura.

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

A few nights later, Carl was growing desperate to see Joy. 'God, i really miss her. She must be going out of her mind with worry' thought Carl. 'First i've have to ditch those damn guards'

---

'Where could he possibly be? I really miss him and i wish he would contact me' thought Joy as she returned home from yet another hard stressful day at the office. She decided to have a shower and to try and relax. She walked into her bedroom and got a huge shock. "Carl?!" asked a shocked Joy.

"I'm sorry i had to leave you like that baby, i didn't have a choice." said Carl.

"Why? People are starting to wonder where you are" said Joy

"I've got it all covered, or i will have" said Carl.

"Please, tell me what's going on?" asked Joy.

"Alright, if you promise not to freak out" said Carl.

"Ok, I promise" said Joy

"I really care about you and i don't want to hurt you, so what i'm going to tell you is going to be a shock" said Carl as he turned the lights on. "I'm a vampire, it happened four days ago" said Carl. As he showed her the fangs protruding from his jaws.

"Wha.. what?!" stuttered a wide-eyed Joy.

"I know it freaked me out at first too, i tried to stay away from you Joy. But i just can't i think i'm falling in love with you. I want to protect you but i can't even protect myself, i'm really messed up right now. As soon as i'm able to control myself, i'll come to you" said Carl as he turned to leave.

"Wait! Carl, you can't tell me that you think you love me then leave me!" exclaimed Joy.

"I'm sorry Joy, i just wanted you to know why i can't be around you for awhile and i wanted you to know how i felt about you. I will be back but not until i can protect you" said Carl.

Joy's eyes started watering and she said "These last few days have been hell Carl, i miss you terribly. I know that i love you, stay with me please Carl."

"I'm sorry baby, i have to leave now before they find out i'm gone, i'm not supposed to be seeing you. They'll know i'm here and come looking. " said Carl. He held her into a big hug and passionately kissed her. "Bye, i will be thinking of you. I love you" said Carl. As he walked out the door.

Two shady figures are observing Carl leaving the apartment building. One takes out a phone and dials a number. "Yes, Nicokali here" said Nicokali in a rich Russian accent. "Target is leaving the building" said Nicokali.

"Great, you follow him Nicokali, Gregor is to keep watch over Joy" said Marcus into his phone.

"Who was that?" asked a weak voice.

"That was Nicokali, he is trailing Carl now. Don't worry my love we will have him soon" said Marcus. As he stroked the burned skin on Miranda's scared face.