Master: Crimson Read online

  “Your help?! Where do you—”

  “You walked out the door. You picked him up. You fucked and sucked him. You did this, Gabriel. That’s your come all over the seat. That’s his blood in your veins.”

  “But you made me this way!” Gabriel screamed, shocking Raiden silent by tearing out a fistful of his own hair. The auburn-dyed strands of hair floated in the air for an instant; then took a suicidal dive to the ground. The younger vampire’s scalp bled a little, but the blood began to congeal even before it had time to mat his hair. Raiden averted his eyes. It was like he had been caught spying on a private moment.

  “You would have died.” He changed lanes and prepared to exit the freeway.

  “Why didn’t you just kill me? I mean really, Raiden. What’s in this for you?” Gabriel whispered, his anger dissipating into something like sorrow, but deeper. The singer fairly cringed as he barked back a retort.

  “I couldn’t very well deprive the world of your so-called ‘talent’. Not to mention, I wouldn’t have been able to stand the sight of your funeral broadcast on every single bloody channel while I’m trying to watch something decent on the telly.”

  Unfortunately, the popularity of Gabriel’s television show was undeniable. He was almost more loved in Japan than in America, so his death would cause quite the ruckus. Though God knows why, since he can’t act for beans.

  “This is funny to you, isn’t it?” Gabriel inquired. Raiden snorted mirthlessly, hating the sound.

  “Sure it is.”

  “You’re a monster.”

  “Hit the nail on the head with that one, Gabriel. But you’re forgetting one important fact: now, so are you.”

  “I’ll never be like you,” Gabriel stated. He sneered at the side of Raiden’s face.

  “You already are. So now you have to learn to survive, just like I did,” the older vampire coldly informed him. I’m not a fucking baby-sitter. You’re on your own after this, kiddo.

  “I don’t want any part in this—this miserable existence you substantiate,” Gabriel proclaimed. He lifted his chin with a trace of his old arrogance. Raiden snickered against his better judgment. Still a prissy little shit, aren’t you?

  “Well, the good news is that there’s a way out. If you’re so unhappy with the current state of affairs, then kill yourself. I’ll even tell you how to do it.”

  Raiden clamped his mouth shut as soon as the words had left it. Bad move. He hadn’t meant to pull out that card just yet. Or ever, necessarily. That can of worms should have stayed unopened. Gabriel stared at him with a mixture of horror and relief.

  “Do it for me. You started this, you finish it.”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not my problem,” Raiden told him, turning into the driveway of his summerhouse a little too sharply. Gabriel’s eyes fairly exploded out of his head.

  “The fuck it isn’t!”

  Raiden pulled into the garage and cut the engine. Turning, he forced himself to look Gabriel in the face.

  “You don’t want to die, Gabriel,” he said as softly as he could stand. But the younger vampire didn’t seem to hear him. For the next ten minutes, they argued heatedly, stopping only when a small sigh escaped the forgotten corpse in the back. They both froze, their dispute momentarily forgotten. Gabriel turned ashen and stopped breathing for a few seconds until Raiden took pity on him.

  “Bodies…do that sometimes, Gabriel. They make sounds. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  Raiden activated the remote-controlled interior garage light and unbuckled his seat belt. Soft light crept into the dark of the car‘s cab, infiltrating its ebony core with slivers of gold. Gabriel slumped against the seat. For a moment, he looked like a lost, frightened child. His desperate eyes searched the Raiden’s expression for some sign of reassurance.

  Please…don’t look at me. The tiniest piece of the vampire’s heart quivered. He was consumed by the feeling, the irrepressible need, to draw closer to the younger vampire. Still, he moved not an inch. He had worked so hard, so long, so relentlessly to suppress his softer side. The human side.

  The inner turmoil affected multiple locations—his gut, gorge, his groin—but the strongest pain emerged from the space where his metaphorical heart resided. Stupid, he thought, to feel so possessive and fearful of the broken creature beside him. But Gabriel was his progeny—his creation; fruit born not of seed, but of blood, the most precious element in his life—and the most accursed. Ultimately, he couldn’t deny the strange claim he had upon the vampire. And he wasn’t entirely sure he disliked it. Without even meaning to, he inched towards Gabriel, his teeth and fingers itching with the need to physically affirm his ownership. Trembling with an absurd, unwelcome tenderness, he caressed Gabriel with his eyes and clenched his fists, killing the urge to touch the side of his creation’s striking face.

  Grimacing, Raiden straightened his shoulders. He had to remain aloof. This one incident would not cause him to unravel. Shaking off his reckless spell of weakness, he opened the car door.

  “Let’s get started then.”

  Chapter 7

  The Watch

  Sleeping, he doesn’t spy the intent

  Hidden beneath my holy halo.

  Like a serpent, it lies in wake,

  Waiting for the proper time to strike.

  The bay, stiller than death, was a shimmery black, its dark effulgence emanating from an unknown source. Gabriel dipped his fingers experimentally into the onyx water, watching with half-hearted interest as his flesh failed to reflect the light-deprived color. Funny, to think that until this moment, he had harbored an intrinsic fear of the ocean due to a traumatic incident from his childhood.

  Years ago, in hopes of escaping the Quebec's frigid winter, Gabriel's parents had decided to take a summer vacation in Sarasota, Florida. They had rented a condominium on a small, relatively private key. Delighted by the prospect of swimming in such seclusion, Gabriel had failed to heed to warnings of his mother to stay close to shore. Within minutes, his happy frolicking in the waves had morphed into a struggle for survival. The water fought to overpower him, and had almost won. Had his mother not risked her own life to rescue him, Gabriel would most likely have drowned.

  Until recently, this had been his most traumatic memory. Compared to what he had experienced in the past three days, however, his long-preserved phobia of the ocean seemed silly, inconsequential. Self-indulgent, even. Now, the demons he faced were flesh and blood, living within him. There was not a single doubt left in Gabriel’s mind as to whether or not he still belonged to the human species. Truly, he had become…something else. That knowledge in itself was enough to break him. He kept waiting for his inevitable descent into madness, but it wouldn’t quite arrive. It had better happen soon. He told himself that he wasn’t strong enough to deal with this new reality, that there was no way he could ever learn to survive as a vampire. I can‘t kill again and stay sane. Earlier, when Raiden had mentioned the option of death, the idea had fairly overwhelmed the actor with its promise. Death was a way out, and he desperately wanted to escape. As soon as the actuality of dying had time to ferment, however, he realized that more than a piece of him was selfish and stubborn enough to want to keep living. Even if that meant more murder. More blood. Technically, he had died once already. He wasn’t sure he could willingly submit to that again. The instinct to survive was still too strong.

  Glancing at the body bag beside him, Gabriel couldn’t quite believe that he was about to go through with covering up a cold-blooded murder. Especially one that he had committed. Gabriel-san! The voice of the dead boy echoed over and over, growing more shrill with terror each time he remembered it. Shuddering, he squeezed his eyes shut at the dreadful memory of preparing the body for disposal.

  First, he called Joe to assure him that everything was fine, and that yes, he was feeling much better. Of course, the bodyguard probably could see through the badly-acted lie, but for once, he opted not to comment. Gab
riel suspected that he would be assaulted with a volley of questions upon returning home. For the moment, Joe had let him off the hook. After the phone call, Raiden helped him bind the boy’s wrists and ankles with nylon rope. They secured the rope so tightly, the surrounding skin broke. Next, they wrapped the body in plastic and tied a length of rope around the neck, torso, and legs.

  “Just in case the fish somehow get into the body bag and try eating the limbs away from the body. Can‘t have parts of him floating to the surface for some lucky fisherman to discover,” Raiden explained with a bland expression.

  Then, the vampire produced a body bag of mysterious origin in which to place the boy. After lining the inside with multiple bricks, they moved the corpse on top of them. With no small degree of reluctance, Gabriel zipped up the bag, mourning the unquestionable passing of his humanity as he completed the task. At that point, he knew there was no turning back. He felt like he should cry, but the tears wouldn‘t come. They stuck in his chest, blocked by too many years of burying real feelings below the surface, choked by his dogged reluctance to experience emotional relief. Self-punishment masked by self-preservation.

  Now he was sitting on Raiden’s small, sterile blue motorboat, wearing a stranger’s clothes. Wonder if these are even his—or maybe they belonged to one of his victims. Throat tightening, Gabriel forced himself to turn around. Raiden. The bane of my existence. Raiden was sitting near the bow, looking up at the moon as if he wanted to reach it. For once, he appeared almost completely unguarded. Silvery strands of hair framed his face like pieces of halo. The vampire’s eyes, coal in the midnight light, betrayed nothing. His mouth—sensual, supple— had abandoned all traces of its earlier mockery. Every so often, Raiden’s restless tongue flicked at his swollen bottom lip. Now, even now, even after he had revealed his true persona, his beauty yet radiated deadly, glamorous intensity. Angelically evil, stunningly surreal. Despite the hate thrumming in his veins like a deadly poison, Gabriel still found it hard to tear his gaze away from his reluctant creator.

  Without warning, Raiden’s eyes shifted to meet his. He averted the eye contact, but not quickly enough to stop a blush from stealing across his cheeks. Why he still had the energy or willpower to feel embarrassment, he didn’t understand. Maybe it’s harder to avoid Raiden’s damned natural charisma than I thought. A part of his brain that was still sensible smacked himself upside the head for this abominable thought, but not even a well-deserved mental bitch-slap could erase the notion from his mind.

  “Come on, let’s do this,” Raiden proclaimed. The expression in his eyes was bored, apathetic; somehow lonely. Gabriel grunted his assent. He picked up the seemingly weightless body bag and prepared to heave it over the starboard.

  “Don’t waste any time, do you?” the older vampire remarked with slight surprise, shading a smirk with the side of his hand.

  “Now’s as good a time as any. We’re far enough out in the water. Besides, he‘s dead.”

  He ignored the eyebrow raise Raiden threw in his direction. For a fraction of a second, Gabriel hesitated. Can I really do this? Perhaps by burying this boy, he was also burying a vital part of himself, one that he could never get back.

  But think of the alternative, drawled a Raiden-like voice in his mind. Think of what will happen to you if you don‘t. You‘ll lose everything. You’ll be in jail for the rest of your life. Your name will be dragged around in the dirt and pissed on. You’ll be nothing. Gabriel squared his shoulders. For the sake of survival, he might be able to bear a little bit of self-loathing. For a few days, a few months, a few years….for as long as he could stand it. The truth was pure and simple: he just wasn’t ready to give up yet. Without any warning, he tossed the boy overboard and listened for the tell-tale splash.

  The corpse floated on the sapphire surface for the barest moment before sinking into the waiting depths. Gabriel allowed himself a morbid mental picture of the boy’s trapped hands moving one last time, outstretched in supplication, stiffening fingers clumsily fumbling to free himself.

  Then, as quickly as it had begun, it ended. The body bag slid under the surface of the water as if mired in quicksand, and it was no more. After thirty seconds or so, not even the merest of ripples perturbed the water’s glaciered surface. The sea swore silently to guard his secret; Gabriel had to admit he was glad. His fingers sought the item he had stolen while Raiden was otherwise engaged. He found it moments later, ignoring the other vampire’s sharply questioning glance as he moved to the opposite side of the boat to grieve in private. Gabriel-san! I’m your biggest fan! The watch he had swiped lay silent, bereft of a battery now that its former owner no longer had any use for it. He caressed the watch’s ruined face, its blood-spattered countenance providing the sole reminder that he was, in fact, the murderer of an innocent boy. Pac-Man. Only a kid.

  The long-forecasted storm broke inside him, releasing swells of sorrow inside his breast. He rode the waves willingly, tasting the salt of guilt in unshed tears of latent regret. Raiden eyed him out of the corner of an eye, seemingly waiting for the dam to break, but he would not let it. He wouldn’t give the bastard the pleasure of seeing him shatter.

  * * * *

  Raiden sniffed the air. At once, his sharp nose detected the scent of the blood-soaked watch. So, Gabriel thinks he can hold out on me? He’d prove the thief wrong.

  “Where is it?”

  “What?” Gabriel barely muttered, turning further away from him. The older vampire crossed his arms impatiently.

  “The watch, Gabriel.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Raiden rolled his eyes several times before getting control over them. Always such a little snot. “So you don’t know anything about this?” He made a grab for the hidden souvenir. Gabriel ducked to the left, clutching the watch even closer to his chest. The older vampire seethed at his creation’s impudence. More than being angry, he was also confused by Gabriel’s behavior. He couldn’t believe that the brat had kept the stupid thing. It’s fucking morbid, that’s what it is.

  Gabriel backed further away from him. “I told you, I don‘t know what you‘re talking about.”

  Oh, REALLY? Raiden smiled, shark-like, and proceeded to corner him. “You’re just going to have to learn the hard way. When it comes to blood, I can always smell when you’re lying. Give it over.”

  Suddenly, Gabriel darted to the port side. His seemingly random act caught Raiden off guard for about three seconds, which was all the time the younger vampire needed. He took one last whiff of the watch’s wristband, filling his nostrils with the unique aromatic blend of sweat, skin, and blood’s burnt copper. A moment before Raiden threw him against the boat‘s railing, Gabriel flung the watch off the port bow as far as it would go. About a mile away, it fell into the water‘s waiting, greedy mouth and disappeared. Even as Gabriel’s back slammed into side of the boat, he couldn’t help the self-satisfied smile that broke across his pain-ridden face. Limply, he slid to a sitting position and shot Raiden an impish grin.

  “Go ahead and get it. You can swim, can’t you?” Gabriel mocked, laughing despite his state of temporary immobilization.

  “Bastard!”

  The actor giggled. “So angry, Raiden. You wanted to see for yourself how good it was, huh? Now you’ll never know.”

  Raiden’s face turned scarlet and his eyes narrowed to slits. Bending down, he regarded him with unchecked fury.

  “You can’t keep anything from me. I fucking made you.”

  Before Gabriel could react, Raiden had planted his knees on either side of his creation’s legs, effectively pinning him in place. Gabriel yelped in protest and tried to push him off, but the older vampire’s reflexes were far superior. In less than half a second, he twisted Gabriel’s wrists together above his head, holding him firmly in place against the hull.

  “Get off me,” Gabriel warned. His entire body strained to remove the singer’s weight. Raiden paid no attention. He was too overcome by rage, bloodlust, and th
e need to dominate. Gotta show him who the fucking boss is.

  “I’m going to taste him whether you like it or not.”

  Gabriel gave a quiet gasp, his heartbeat doubling in pace as Raiden started to smell him. Slowly, Raiden sniffed up and down the sides of his neck, paying extra attention to the throbbing carotid and pumping jugular. Blood, boy, Gabriel, skin, musk, aftershave, cologne…sex. The older vampire closed his eyes. On pure instinct, he flicked his tongue out to massage the straining vein in his creation’s neck.

  “S-stop, stop, oh, s-stop, you—ah!”

  Gabriel’s breathless demands faded into low pants as Raiden circled that one spot with his tongue over, over, and over again. Through the sweet and sour of Gabriel’s skin, the older vampire tasted the boy’s youthful, exuberant blood. So this is his first. A soupcon of random, irrational jealousy poisoned his enjoyment. Snarling, Raiden’s fangs reached their maximum extraction as his tongue made its way up to the side of the younger vampire’s jaw. He itched to pierce Gabriel’s skin to experience the full effect, but he knew better than to bite him again. But to taste them at once, both he and the boy…! Desire, hot and hard, rushed below and filled him.

  Gabriel bucked his hips unexpectedly, nearly toppling the older vampire to the ground. You’ll pay for that. Despite his resolve, Raiden almost bit him anyway. Ghosting his fangs along the jaw, preparing to nip the flesh, he became aware of Gabriel’s tight, swollen heat beneath him. Groaning, he opened his eyes.

  “Do you feel that?” Raiden mouthed against his skin. He shifted so that their bodies were pressed together so tightly, they seemed to merge. A sound, carnal and feral, was freed from the younger vampire’s throat; trembling, he stared angrily back at Raiden.