Mark of the Dagger (The Marked Series Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter Fourteen

"So other than what happened with Samuel the Shmuck, you had a pretty good birthday?" Jan said. They were laying on Jan's bed listening to her cd player, talking about her birthday celebration the night before.

Uncle Joe had gotten her two knives with an ankle and wrist sheath. Nadia had gotten her a solid silver stake with an easy grip handle and a belt to hold everything. Alex got her some fire dust that automatically catches fire if you blow it onto a vampire and she couldn't wait to try it out, and a vial of holy water. Her mom got her a dagger that matched her sword.

"Yeah, aside from dodging my moms’ questions about Samuel all night, it was pretty great. I got some cool toys but I think my favorite present is the pair of boots you and Damien got me, they are smokin’,” she laughed and laid back on the bed with her legs in the air to admire her shoes. They were pointy toed, knee high and bright orange. She loved them. "I was thinking about seeing if we can go to the mall next week. You think you can get a day pass?" she asked her best friend.

"Probably not," Jan said quietly.

"Well why not?" Dani asked and rolled on her stomach to look at her friend who was rummaging through her cd’s. "Why won’t your parents sign off on it?"

"I don't know who my parents are. I was in foster care before I came here," Jan said with a shrug.

"How come you never told me?"

"It never came up,” she laughed

"I feel awful. You're my best friend and I never even knew about your past."

"Don't. It's not a big deal."

"So who are your guardians then? Why can't they give you the ok?"

"Technically the school took responsibility for me.  Headmaster Charleston doesn't want to be responsible if anything happens if I leave campus."

"That's stupid. There has to be something we can do. Maybe my mom or Joe can take responsibility," she said hopefully.

"I doubt it works that way." She laughed. "Oh crap it's already curfew."

Dani was suddenly pulled from Jan’s bedroom and surrounded by trees, buildings and water.  Her vision too blurred to make out where she was.  Sinister laughter floated on the wind, the sound sending shivers down her spine.  She took three deep breaths to calm her racing heart and her vision cleared.  She was on the Mt. Claussen campus and armed as she was in her first dream.

She heard shouts and spun around in confusion, trying to determine which direction they came from.  As the sounds of battle erupted around her she picked a direction and ran to help.  Amidst the confusion of being pulled into a vision her thoughts were a jumbled mess.  The only thing Dani knew for certain was that something was terribly wrong.

Dani reached a clearing near the head of the North Trail and saw Jan and Samuel fighting back to back, enclosed by a wall of shadows.  Vampires!   Knowing two people she cared about were in a fight for their lives, she let loose a battle cry and lunged into the fray.

Jan was down on one knee, the vampire fighting her, winning. Dani took out Jan's vampire then turned to face the others. Back to back, the three of them fought.  She could hear more sounds of battle in the distance and could see the other hunters holding their own against the Vampires that invaded her home.

"Dani..." Jan screamed, shaking her. "Dani... Oh God oh God. Dani come back." Dani's vision cleared, and she was back in Jan's room. "Oh thank God. Your eyes, Dani. Your eyes turned cloudy, or milky or something-"

"Jan listen to me," Dani said sternly and took her hand. "Something's wrong. We have to find Joe and find him fast."

They took off through the side stairs to miss running into any faculty and having to answer questions. On the way to faculty quarters she told Jan about both of her visions, for she was certain that was what they were.

"So you think we're going to be attacked?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Oh God," Jan breathed. "That’s scary."

"Yeah, it is, but as long as people stay inside their rooms they should be alright."

"No. These are public dorms, Dani. If the Vamps get past our wards then it doesn't matter once they're inside. They can go into any building they want."

"Oh shit."

"You can say that again."

"Joe,” she yelled while pounding on his door. She hammered her fists against it until she was certain he wasn't home then ran to Nadia’s room and did the same. When she came to door Dani almost cried with relief.

"Nadia where is Joe."

"In a meeting Dani, what’s wrong. You look as if you've seen a ghost."

Dani quickly went through her vision once again for Nadia, thankful that the woman trusted her enough not to question her sanity.

"What's all this commotion?" Alex said peeking his head out of his room.

Dani looked at him and got a feeling of wrongness so strong she doubled over with it. He moved as if to help her. "Don't touch me," she said and ignored his look of hurt.

"Dani! What's wrong?" he asked.

"What did you do Alex?" she whispered in horror. She moved to push Jan into the hallway away from Alex. "Jan run! Run as fast as you can and find Joe. Tell him what happened and to bring Adele. Do it quickly. Go!” she yelled when Jan stood frozen.

Alex stood staring at Dani as if she had lost her mind. Without taking her eyes off of Alex she walked into Nadia’s room. "Nadia, please trust me. I don't know how I know this, I just do. Something isn't right. He somehow has something to with the vampires. I need your cuffs."

All Hunters had really cool metal snap cuffs. Dani had her own but like all her other toys, they were locked in Joe's room.

"He can't have Dani. You know he would never."

"I don't want to believe it either, but I can't ignore what my gut is telling me. Please just cuff him until Adele gets here."

"Dani have you been drinking," Alex asked. She rolled her eyes at the asinine question and took the cuffs from Nadia to do it herself. "This is ridiculous Dani. I don't know what you think I’ve done!  But whatever it is, I didn’t do it!"

Joe came running with Adele and Jan on his heels. He quickly took in the scene, and she told him everything again, including her feeling about Alex. Adele confirmed that his mind had been tampered with by a vampire's compulsion. “They must have gotten him to let the witch in to tamper with the wards and erased his memory,” Adele said.

 Joe quickly got on the phone and started calling all the hunters and warning them.

"You knew?" Dani said to Joe after seeing him take such action. "You knew we would be attacked, and that's why all the extra guards are here. I knew you were lying," she said on a laugh.

"Come on Dani, Jan. I hate to do this but you two need to suit up. I'm sure you know there is no protection anywhere as soon as they get past our wards," he said and they nodded.

They left Nadia’s room and Dani glanced back at Alex. He was sitting on Nadia’s bed with his head in his hands. She didn't blame him for what he did, he had no choice. There was no way he could have fought against a vampire’s compulsion. She could only imagine the horror he was feeling at being responsible for what was about to happen.

She went back to his side and took his hand before gearing up. "Alex, this isn't your fault. They would have found someone else to use. It would've happened no matter what. You can help make this right, go get your weapons," she whispered gently. But when he only sat there frozen, she shrugged. There was nothing else she could do. She went to get her new toys.

Chapter Fifteen

By the time she had her belt, ankle and wrist sheaths on, Dani was ready to go, and there was chaos outside. There weren't vampires on campus yet but all the Hunters and staff were splitting up. A couple going to each dorm, the rest spread out across the quad, through the trails and lining the gates.

Joe told them to go back to their building and stay inside, only to fight if they absolutely had to.  On the way there Dani’s arms and neck were tingling and she shivered.  “Hurry,” she whispered to Jan, clasping their hands together.  They ran the rest of the way there.

“Why do I feel weird?” Dani asked.

"It's the vampires. It's the way our blood reacts when the demons are close." One of the hunters nearby answered her. She was standing on the porch, not yet wanting to go inside. "You two should probably go on in now," he said as if reading her mind.

Ignoring is soft order she replied, "It would have been nice if they taught us that in class. Do you think that means they've breached the wards?"

"Most likely. And they will talk about the different reactions eventually. They weren't expecting you to learn on your own so quickly."

"Dani, please go inside," Samuel pleaded. She hadn't realized he had come up behind them.  The look of such love and worry all over his face was enough to make her agree.

She was scared to leave him out there. To know that he was about to fight for his life… And hers. She loved him with all heart and in that moment she didn't care about all of their fights. She threw herself into his arms and kissed him with all that she had. When she pulled back she whispered, "Please be careful."

He gently ran his fingertip across her cheek and smiled. "Always am." He kissed her one last quick kiss, then pushed her back up the stairs toward the door.

"Does that mean you've changed your mind then?" Jan asked with a sardonic smile once they were inside.

"Not necessarily. Come on," she said and pulled her to a window so they could watch the happenings outside.

Other students were in the common room as well, some with weapons, some standing in groups with worried expressions on their faces. She learned that before the staff went out to fight they armed a few select students.

The tingling in Dani’s arms intensified immensely and as if out of nowhere they were surrounded. "Uh-oh,” she whispered and held tighter to Jan's hand as she watched the love of her life fight like the warrior he was.

There were shouts as the hunters fought, cries of pain as some fell. And in the distance there were more. She felt like they were frozen in time. She didn't know how long she watched them fight outside.  The longer she stood there the more vampires she saw. Her side was completely outnumbered.

"Shit,” she whispered. She turned to Jan and the other students that were armed. "We are way outnumbered out there. I'm going to go."

"Oh no you're not. You heard what Joe said," Jan said as she pulled back on Dani’s arm.

"Yeah, I know. Not unless we have to. Look out there Jan. They need help. I have that dust remember. That will do serious damage. You guys stay here and protect the rest of them. Don't come fight unless they get past us." She quickly hugged Jan and ran outside before they could stop her.

If she thought it was chaos earlier, she was sadly mistaken. With her stake in one hand, the fire dust in the other she ran toward the biggest group. She ignored the bodies littering the ground. In the back of her mind she registered that only some were hunters, most were vampires-their bodies already disintegrating.

She noticed that the Hunter she was talking to earlier and Samuel were in the middle of the larger group of vampires. They were completely surrounded. She looked cautiously around herself, making sure there were no separate vamps. They all seemed to be focused on the two Hunters.

She moved as quietly as she could, knowing that they would hear her anyway. But they were too focused on the two guys, and that was their mistake. She quickly blew her fire dust on the two closest vampires. When their screams erupted in the night, the others turned to see what happened. The flames of the two vampires were blazing bright for about two seconds then there was nothing but ash.

The vampires deserted Samuel and the other Hunter-she promised herself she would find out his name if she made it out of this alive- and came after Dani. She blew more dust but only reached two of them. Then there were three circling her. She moved her stake to her left hand and pulled out her sword. It was just like in her dream. It felt right, no, it felt perfect. With a deep breath she lunged at the closest vampire. She swung her sword in an arc and with one swing decapitated him. She had a moment to think
'Wow. That's really sharp’
before she was fending off the next.

Samuel had come to her aid. They stood back to back as more vampires surrounded them. The other guy was on the outside of the circle taking out any he could get. She swung her sword and stabbed a vampire girl who looked the same age as Dani. She missed her heart but she swung her arm out again and got it the second time, and that was the hardest thing Dani had ever had to do.

They fought until they were alone in front of her dorm. "Shit,” she said. "That was freaking awful."

"Yeah. You should've stayed inside. Were you trying to give me a heart attack?" Samuel asked wrapping her up in a fierce embrace. "Thanks for helping. You did well."

She smiled and noticed that Jan had come outside too and had fought with the other guy. She ran to Jan. "Are you alright."

"Happy as a clam," Jan said dusting off her hands and Dani realized that she was serious. She shook her head.

"Guys listen," Dani said. There was some serious fighting coming down by the South Trail. Her only thought was of her uncle and she took off running.

"Dani come back," She heard Jan yell, but she ignored her and kept going.

She saw a movement out of the corner of her eye, heard Samuel yell and turned just in time to stake a vampire charging her from the right side. "Nice move," Samuel said when they caught up. "Where are we going?"

"South Trail. Keep your eyes open though, that was a close call.”

Dani was right, they knocked off six more before they got to the trail. She remembered hearing that there would by hunters on the trail itself, but there were also hunters on the quad at the opening. She saw they were outnumbered again, but it didn't look like they were doing too badly.

Dani, Samuel and Jan fought beside each other like they did in her vision. She remembered her uncle saying in class how much stronger a vampire is than her classmates, but she never imagined they would be this strong. She took a kick to her ribs and felt one crack and stumbled in pain trying blink back the blackness that wanted to overtake her.

Fighting through the pain, she staked the vampire that injured her. Hearing Jan yelp in surprise, Dani turned quickly to see her go down with a vampire poised to lunge. Dani swung her sword and took his head off.
Ick
. She thought. Too much blood. "Where is your stake?" she asked Jan.

"He kicked it out of my hand, that's how he got me down," Jan replied. Dani tossed her stake to Jan and pulled out her dagger.

She felt like a true warrior, standing in battle with her sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. She loved the feeling. They fought-she didn't know how long they fought. Dani was aching all over, her chest protesting with every breath and every movement. But she had to keep going. She lost count of how many she killed. She wasn't sure if she even cared, to be honest. She was proud of herself for being able to protect herself, her friends and her family from evil, though she wasn't proud of having to kill. And she realized that Samuel was right. She was definitely a contradiction.

"Sunrise," Samuel said. "It will be over soon. The ones that didn't die will take off." He was right. About two minutes after he said that, they vanished. The three of them stood together, bloody and bruised and watched the sun rise over the mountains.

"Dani!” She heard the frantic call of her uncle as he came out of the trail.

"Oh thank God," Dani said and ran to him. He hugged her so tightly that she cried out in pain.

"You're hurt. Oh my God." In a panic he started to run his hands over her to find her injuries. "Where are you hurt? Let me see."

"It's alright. I just have a broken rib. Other than that, I’m fine."

"Thank God you're ok. Thank God you're all ok," he said and put his arms around Dani and Jan.

Dani yelled in pain. At the same time that she fell to her knees and tried not to vomit, she heard Samuel shout as well. She tried to look at him, for he was slowly crawling to her side, but her neck and the right side of her torso were on fire. “What’s wrong Dani?” Joe asked frantically.

“My side, it’s on fire. Make it stop,” she cried over Samuels' groans of distress. Dani barely heard Jan say that her thigh was burning-her own pain so enormous that it was all she could think about.

“Dammit, Dani, Samuel! I don’t understand what’s going on,” Joe yelled in frustration, running his hands through his hair roughly. He had never seen anyone go through so much pain. He didn’t know what was causing it. “Is it your neck? It’s just your Dagger Mark lining itself. It does that once you’ve become a hunter, meaning you had your first kill.”

“No! Uncle Joe, it’s worse. It isn’t my neck, it’s my side. Make it stop, it burns.” Dani ended in a groan.

Samuel finally made it to her and clasped her hands. The moment their hands joined they both screamed in pain and a blinding white light flashed behind Dani’s eyelids.

“What’s happening?” Samuel rasped. All Dani could do was sob in answer.

She felt the collar of her shirt move away from her neck as someone took a look.

“Oh my God,” Joe breathed.

“Get it off Uncle Joe. The shirt is making it worse. Oh my God it’s awful,” she cried. “Please somebody get my shirt off of me,” she yelled in frustration when he didn’t do it right away.

Dani felt him rip her shirt down the middle and immediately felt better. She heard the intake of breaths around her but was too happy the burn had faded to care. “Thank you,” she said with relief evident in her tone. Samuel let go of her hands and slowly started to remove his shirt.

“Is that better?” Joe asked in a strangled voice. Never in all his life had he ever seen anything so incredible. He kept glancing between Dani and Samuel at a loss for words.

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“Dani! Joe!!” Nadia yelled. Dani looked up to see her running toward them. “Is she hurt?” she asked, immediately worried.

“No. She’s ok. Just a broken rib or two. Look.” he said quietly and pointed between Samuel and Dani.

“Holy shite!” she exclaimed.

“Ok. Someone tell me what’s going on.  You all look freaked out. What’s wrong with my back?” Dani said. When no one answered she said “Help me up.” She stood slowly, careful of her ribs and looked over her shoulder trying to see her neck and back, then looked down at her stomach.

“Oh,” she breathed. “What does that mean?” She turned her wide eyes on her uncle. “How? Why?” Not only was her dagger filled in like a tattoo, there was a big sun tattoo on her right side, the tips of its’ rays reaching all the way across her stomach, touching her ribs on her left side and all the way to her spine on her back. The suns’ center ran down the length of her side. It was huge.

Remembering Samuels’ cries of pain she quickly looked at him. He had the same tattoo, just as big, running down his left side. Mirror identical to hers. “Oh my God! Why did this happen to only Samuel and me and not anyone else?” she asked. She was working herself into a temper at everyone’s dumbfounded expressions. “Tell me what this means,” she yelled.

“The prophecy,” Joe said. “That’s the only thing that makes sense. I can’t believe I didn’t put it together sooner. You are the only half-blood that has ever been marked.”

“What are you talking about, what prophecy?”

***

Dark days will come, evil will unite

To battle our people, to destroy the light

Our warriors will fall, our light we will lose

And a darkness will come, consuming all hope

When despair arises,

Our saviors will be;

A boy who is lost will be part of our grace

The best of his race there will be no one stronger,

A girl who is half, she will fight to defend,

Not only herself but all of those within

The strongest of all, She will be the key

With her fierce loyalties and his fierce love

They will unite a family that will be all above

For they bear the Mark of the Chosen

Their bond cannot be broken

For love is the light they will need.

***

When Joe finished reciting the prophecy from memory, everyone just stood around staring at each other. As if a bomb went off, they all starting talking at once.

“Holy Toledo Batman!” Jan said.

“How do we know for sure they are talking about us? Couldn’t this be something else entirely?” Dani asked.