Devils Roses 04 - Witch

Ophelia's eyes had gone completely black and her head was tilted back looking up at the sky. Bolts of lightening began to strike the street around the Vampires.
    The Euro Trash looked over at Lorri. Lorri turned back at Ophelia and scowled, “No.” She looked at Sam, “NO.”
    Sam bowed under her will.
    His feet were stuck as Aimee’s were. Lorri would let Giselle die before she would let them interfere. “The vampires must do things their way. Giselle must earn the right to be queen.”
    Sam could see Ophelia from the corner of his eyes. She lifted her fingers to a point. Her will was not attached to Lorri. She could disobey Lorri. Sam put his hand over hers and shook his head.
    He noticed Giselle rounding on the vampire suddenly. She wasn’t jumping and fleeing anymore. She appeared to be listening to Aimee’s shrieks and cries. She closed her eyes. She put her nose in to the air and began to sniff.
    She listened to the wind.
    She moved as if dancing with her partner. He slashed out with his hand but she leaned back and rolled to the side. His hands swiped at her, but she dodged it and backhanded him across cement. He was back and clawing at her, but she fought him using precision. Her eyes were still closed as her leg shot out and took him to the ground. She leapt across the concrete like a feral cat and pinned him with her strength.
    The vampires in the circle began to scream and howl as Giselle’s hand came down on the man. She stopped a hairs width from his throat. She looked up at Lorri.
    Lorri’s expression never changed, “Finish it my queen.”
    Giselle blinked, “What?”
    “He is a usurper. Finish him. No one may defy your crown queen Giselle. Your word is final.”
    Giselle looked as if she gulped. She looked into the man’s eyes as she lifted her hand and brought it down. Sam watched as one of her own tears dripped onto his face, as her hand tore his throat out. She brought the hand back a second time and tore the head right off of him. His frightful face rolled across the street to the edge of the silent circle.
    Giselle sat back down on the cement and licked the blood from her fingers. She was panting. Sam closed his eyes and took his first real breath. Aimee was on her knees sobbing. The intense death dealer was nowhere to be seen, she was the fragile girl she fought to hide.
    “Queen Giselle has my support. She is law. She is life and death.” Lorri shouted across the yard.
    Sam watched as Giselle stood. Each vampire dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. Giselle looked stunned. She backed away from them all, but they whispered and muttered ‘My Queen’ in every direction.
    She walked toward the house but was slammed on her back. Sam felt his jaw drop, as she stood up only to wince as she put her hands out.
    “Lorri I can’t get passed it. Lorri?” She looked like a mime making the fake wall, like the ones on the seaside boardwalks.
    Lorri sighed, “Giselle, the Queen of the Vampires may not enter Lydia’s home. It’s a sanctuary.”
    Aimee was off the ground and running before Lorri could speak another word.
    She crossed the guards in time to catch Giselle, who had dropped to her knees.
    “Never?” She asked.
    The vampires began to growl at Aimee, as she wrapped her arms around Giselle.
    Giselle put a hand out, “She is my friend. No one hurts her. Like ever, okay.” She looked to be in shock.
    Sam looked at Lorri, “Did you know this would happen?”
    Lorri clenched her jaw and then she was gone. Sam looked at Dorian, “What the fuck Dorian?”
    He shook his head, “Giselle never would have done it if she knew. She would have died. They would have waited for her to feed and then they would have killed her. This was the only way.”
    Sam felt the truth in the words but his heart ached for Giselle.
    “Where will she go?”
    Dorian cracked a grin, “The castle of course. Dracula’s castle has always been where the royalty lived.”
    Sam shuddered imagining visiting the disgusting place where his Hanna had been kept.
    “What always? Marcus was the only Dracula.”
    Dorian shrugged, “It’s hers if she wants it. It’s spelled to keep the royal one safe.”
    Sam snorted, “Yeah it worked for Marcus.”
    Dorian gave him a hardened look, “He was in the yard if you recall.”
    Sam looked back at Ophelia, who was still staring at him. Sam frowned, “Go inside and learn about your family. If Annabelle is right, you meet your father in a couple weeks. July