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Chapter 3

Looking Back Part 1

1

“Your brother?” Christine said curiously. “Now that is interesting. But from my studies, you have no family at all. So where is he exactly?”

“He is nowhere and everywhere,” Adrian replied, knowing there was no reason to resist anymore.

“A paradox then. Oh, this is getting good. But that isn’t really an answer.” She pressed on his spine with the rod again. This time, the pain was less. Perhaps the drug was wearing off, or perhaps it simply needed time to recharge, like most older models.

“Tell me the truth, and all this will disappear.”

“He…he…he died twelve years ago.” Adrian panted. “I was too weak to…to…” He began to weep. “I was too weak to help.”

“Oh, now we are getting to the juicy stuff. So tell me what happened.”

“Screw you, bitch!”

He then began to laugh uncontrollably.

“We mustn’t be rude or use such language, or else Daddy’s teachings didn’t sink in.”

There was something different about this voice. It seemed more powerful and something else that Christine couldn’t put her finger on.

2

He continued to laugh until Christine put pressure on the point in his shoulder again. When she did, he moved as quick as a bolt of lightning. In one movement, he knocked her to the ground and grabbed the electric rod she had dropped. In less than the time it took for her to blink, she was on the floor, and he stood above her, completely unfazed by the drug.

“Now, how about we have a little fun time together?” he snickered as he brought the rod above her heart. “By the way, I am Adrian’s brother, Izac.”

He laughed slightly, looking at the rod.

“Now I know that this rod is able to deliver a constant supply of electricity and at quite a high voltage I might add. So how about we test how much your heart will be able to handle, shall we?”

Christine began to laugh herself.

“Finally, we meet Izac. I’ve been trying to piece everything together. And I almost have the complete picture. Now tell me about yourself, please.”

Izac laughed, but that didn’t shock her. With this lapse in concentration, Christine had all the time she needed to turn the tables on him. She moved even faster than Izac had. She jumped onto her feet and took the rod from his hands. With the rod in her hand again, she used one of her feet to sweep under his leg and knock him to the ground. In response, Izac laughed.

“Is death funny to you, boy?” she asked.

“Yes, and if you kill us, then you will also kill another innocent woman. And if you are here to take my life, then you will have no way to save her.”

“What?”

“It is a simple situation. You let me get up and put the rod away, then I lead you to the woman who you free. And finally, you kill us with a clear conscience.”

“Who said I wanted to kill you?”

“From what I observed, you have no sympathy toward us, and you clearly had some plan to torture us, for some reason or another.”

Christine smiled and said nothing, but the smile confirmed Izac’s suspicions.

“You don’t want to kill us? Then what?”

She interrupted him before he could finish his thought.

“I may still kill you but not until I am satisfied,” she corrected as she let him go.

“Well, you can color me intrigued. Now if you want to save her, you will follow me.”

Christine removed the rod and allowed Izac to stand. Izac stood and started for the door with a smile and slight hum, with Christine following at his heels. He moved with a spring in his step down the road, slightly skipping, until he reached the first adjoining alleyway. He turned down it, first making certain no one was looking at them.

They went five paces down the alley, then ten, fifteen, and they stopped at seventeen. When they abruptly stopped, Christine looked around to see what was what. They were stopped at a cluster of ivy that had been grown from the top of the building to the very bottom. There were some clusters of dead vines, but for the most part, it was lush and healthy. Izac grabbed a thick cluster of dead ivy and pulled on it. As he pulled on the ivy, he also turned his left hand to the left, and Christine could hear the sound of a vault door opening.

Izac pulled the door open when it was completely unlocked.

“After you, madam,” Izac said with a bow, one of disrespect.

Christine shook her head.

“If you think I will let you get behind me, then you are more foolish than I ever believed,” she responded.

“Fine then,” Izac replied and stepped inside.

Christine followed and closed the door.

3

It was an abandoned hospital or perhaps a laboratory, she observed, that Izac and Adrian had maintained in secrecy as best they could. Though this didn’t mean they properly cleaned or replaced broken aesthetics. But when remaining undetected by royal guards, they would have to forgo such things. This didn’t make her harshly judge them. She had a mission and needed to keep her mind focused on her prize.

She didn’t realize that her eyes had wandered, and her pace had slowed until she heard Izac call back to her, “If you don’t hurry, you’ll be left behind, slowpoke.”

With that, she picked up her pace but continued to let her eyes wander through each of the dark rooms. She couldn’t see much until they adjusted to the light, and she then saw the bones, clothes, and hair that were accumulating in the patient living quarters.

When they entered the operating section of the facility, she could see the floors of the rooms here were stained crimson, or perhaps scarlet, from the countless gallons of blood that had been spilled over the years.

Izac lead her to their most recently used operating chamber, and inside Christine saw the woman restrained to the table.

“Here she is, Miss Christine.” Izac revealed with a cheerful gesture toward her. “The woman you are going to save.”

Christine remained silent as she walked over to Anna, but the sinister smile she wore made Izac question what her actions would be. Anna would have cried tears of joy upon hearing Christine would save her, but she had already shed every tear her body held. When Christine reached the table, she pulled one of her long black hairs out and took hold of a scalpel from the tray beside the table. She pulled the hair taut in one hand and cut it with the scalpel in the other. The moment it was done, Izac saw the life fade from Anna’s eyes and body, still with a hopeful look on her face.

Izac stood in shocked silence as Christine put the scalpel back on the tray and walked back toward him.

“Well,” he said, clearing his throat, “that wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” Christine asked happily. “No, wait, let me guess. You thought I would free her and then kill you. Well, in truth, I did free her.”

“You freed her immortal soul from her miserable body,” Izac said in slight anger.

Christine nodded.

“And now she can be with her child,” Christine added coldly, looking at the fetus.

“The only problem is that you robbed me of my plaything. But she can still serve a purpose, so I cannot be upset.”

Izac had made his way to the counter and was opening one of the drawers.

“Just don’t bother trying to kill me,” Christine informed him. “I cannot be killed by someone like you.”

“You’re not human, are you?” Izac asked absently.

“No.” She giggled. “But more on that when we have both you and Adrian present.”

She began to rummage through her sleeve. Everything was held in her sleeves because the robes that the sisters wore didn’t allow pockets except hidden in the sleeves. People agreed this wasn’t practical, but it was helpful for when the wanted to conceal a defensive weapon.

“We cannot be in the same room at the same time.”

“An easy thing to remedy,” Christine said in her cheerful tone. “Just wear this, and that problem shall disappear.”

She pulled out a small silver ring with an aquamarine set in the center. She held it out for Izac. He looked hesitantly at it.

“Oh, come on now,” she said in her calm and playful tone. “I don’t bite or anything.”

He hesitated a moment longer before taking it. Though she says I can’t kill her, Izac had thought, perhaps, I can do something more damaging to her than just death. He knew she wanted him to wear it, and he decided to put the ring on.

4

With the ring now his finger, he felt more alone than he had in his entire life. He admired the ring when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

“Oh, my darling brother,” Adrian’s sobbing voice called. “How I’ve missed you. These years without you have been torture.”

Izac looked up, startled. He saw Adrian standing in front of him as he truly was, afflicted by the disease. He had no hair and looked as though he could lose his purpose to continue at any time. They were barely a foot apart, but it seemed miles as they stepped together and embraced in a hug.

“How lovely,” Christine commented in a tone that both brothers thought a little close to mocking. “Now that we have everyone here, I need to finish my research.”

“What research?” Adrian asked as he stopped sobbing.

“You two are an extreme puzzle I have been tasked with solving.”

“A puzzle?” Izac asked, sounding annoyed and insulted yet still fascinated.

Who gave you this task? Adrian asked.

“Imagine,” Christine explained, ignoring Adrian, “an alienist with a second personality of his dead younger brother. He lured women to their death where he does what exactly to them, both pre- and postdeath?”

“Well.” Adrian started. “I extract their eggs to use in creating genetic mutations that the royal guard would pay handsomely for.”

“After the extraction, it is my turn,” Izac added when Adrian finished. “I’m a bit of an artist.”

Izac took off the jacket and unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the tattoos. Adrian didn’t feel the need to remove his clothes. They were the same as Izac’s, but they both knew his body had no marks.

“I find the body to be the best canvas to work on, so I do a new painting with every person he brings in. Of course, I do my best work on our self.”

“Now that is a few more pieces of the puzzle in place.” Christine chuckled. “But I still need to know how this all happened. So please open your minds’ vaults and show me.”

Christine waited a moment, just looking at both of them. When they exchanged an unsure glance, she realized they would need a large push to reopen their past.

“Very well. If you don’t talk, you will be punished.”

Izac began to laugh again.

“There is nothing you could do to me that can harm me. Didn’t you learn that earlier?”

Christine moved her hand to her chin.

“Perhaps not any traditional weapons, no.” She implied, with what Izac didn’t know was a seductive grin. “But I do suppose there is one weapon that I can use against any male in this world. In fact, it is my strongest weapon.”

A look of pure terror dawned upon Adrian’s face, though he tried to hide it. When he realized they both were looking at him, Izac with concern and Christine with pleasure, he decided he couldn’t remain silent any longer.

“You are a demon, aren’t you?” he said in pure fear.

5

She took her hand and slapped him across his face. He staggered, and once he recovered from the blow, he could see a dark aura around her. Her eyes were glowing a deep scarlet.

“Don’t compare me to those bottom-feeding, low-life slackers.” Her new and extremely deep and ominous voice made Adrian feel extremely fearful for their lives. “I am a child of the night. Blessed by the great goddess and given the power to end those I judge unworthy or on her list.”

“I…I sincerely apologize, Christine, for any offense or rudeness I may have shown.”

He would have stayed fearful, but when his brother started to laugh again, his fear turned to terror, and his eyes darted to his brother.

“So you’re telling me that you are a beast blessed by the good graces of The Master of the Lower World, and now you work as, what, an executioner who takes the lives of the…the…what would you call the two of us now?”

“The desperate and deranged,” Christine replied. “And they are the best people for me because they are more like customers than victims.”

“Customers?” Izac started.

“Keep your mouth shut, brother, please,” Adrian pleaded. “You don’t know how dangerous this weapon can be.”

“Oh, so we have a man with more of an education than I had expected. This is so delightful,” Christine said cheerfully but still in her new voice.

“Educated in what regard?” Izac asked, puzzled.

“Why don’t you tell him, and I’ll get ready, love,” Christine said in her original voice and removed the cloth keeping her hair in a bun.

“Such creatures known as demons,” Adrian said cautiously, “and those above them, I do believe, have the most dangerous weapon in the world.”

Izac looked puzzled but remained silent.

“Sex and seduction. Once they start with a victim, they don’t stop until they perish.”

“Though they are not quite victims when they are so willing to commit such a vile action,” Christine added.

“So what?” Izac said indifferently. “We’ve been caught, haven’t we? So why don’t we just go out having a little fun for all our troubles?”

Adrian looked from Izac to Christine.

“Please.” His eyes begged her. “He is but a boy and knows not all the ways of the world.”

Christine seemed satisfied with his pathetic pleading.

“Very well. I don’t have the urge with you, boys, anyway. That is to say, if you do as I ask, then I won’t.”

Adrian was going to hesitate but knew the safety of his brother was on the line, so he acted fast.

“What is it you want?”

“What I want is to learn everything there is to know about you and your history.”

Adrian found it incredibly hard to start but knew he had to in order to protect his brother. And when he did, he couldn’t stop himself from telling everything.

6

His brother was unplanned, and this created problems. Adrian had been born into the not completely wealthy but still ranked high in society Adavitch family. His mother, Lynn Adavitch, once known as Lynn Flairwein, had been the daughter of a wealthy tradesman who owned a successful empire in the silk and fur trade.

His father, Henry Adavitch, had enlisted in the royal guard the moment he could, secretly earlier. His mother had once told him this was to prove to his seven brothers and six sisters, himself being the runt of the litter, that he was the strongest of them all.

When his regiment was assigned to guard a set of caravans that contained his mother and her father’s most priceless treasures, it was love at first sight. They quickly married, but there were less than romantic motives for his father. All married couples were entitled to the money the other had in their possession, and when Lynn’s father passed on because of mysterious circumstances, she was given control of the entire trade empire.

Lynn never cared about money and didn’t mind spending it to make her husband happy. This quickly changed when she became pregnant. After having baby Adrian, she wanted to spend more time with her family. She requested that Henry retire from the royal guard, and her business advisors ran the empire.

Things were going great in the lives of all three, as Lynn was still gaining more money than she was spending on Henry or young Adrian. Adrian was given the best teachers money could buy, and though he wasn’t the perfect student, he was still very intelligent. He was being groomed for enrollment in any profession linked to the royal guard. But the good times didn’t last.

After five years, Lynn became pregnant again, and this time was different. The child was born prematurely and at the cost of Lynn’s life. This caused more than just pain and loss to Henry and Adrian.

According to the laws set forth by His Majesty, a person was only entitled to their spouse’s money while they lived. When they perished, it was passed evenly into the surviving next of kin who might only access it after seeing eighteen cycles.

This meant that Henry was unable to use Lynn’s fortune for another thirteen years. Which drove him back to the royal guard and, worse, to drinking and violence.

7

“Hold on a moment, Adrian,” Christine said. “I believe that we should relive these next moments.”

Adrian had been unwilling to even talk about this to anyone because of the trauma his father had caused, and he didn’t like the feelings he was experiencing up until this point. When he looked over at Izac, he could see he was feeling the same way.

Before he could ask what she intended to do or if she would mind not doing it, she brought out a sapphire crystal skull and whispered something into it. When she finished, darkness began to leak out of the skull’s eyes. It leaked out into the area until the three could see nothing but each other.

“What’s going on here, Christine?” Adrian shouted across the darkness.

“Just relax and let the shadows show you.” She giggled.

Before he had time to react to her answer, the darkness faded, and he saw where they now were. He felt like crying.