Surface Below: Dark Secrets (The Surface Below Book 1) (10 page)

Dragging Becca down a cold, dimly lit maze-like corridor, Caleb grabbed her hair even tighter before he stopped and opened the large steel door. He threw her inside, Becca’s knees hitting hard against the stone floor, and a yelp escaped her throat.

Sarah hurried to her, narrowing her eyes up at the boy. He slammed the door shut and the sound of it locking resonated through the room. She pulled Becca up from the floor and gave her a once-over look, and noticed Becca’s shirt was covered in blood splotches.

“Come on baby, sit up here and let me see,” Sarah pleaded as her fingers went for the hem of her shirt. Becca pushed her mother’s hands away and her terror filled eyes darted around the room.

“Becca honey, just let me see.”

“You’re dead.” Her lip quivered as she tried to stand on shaking legs. “You’re fucking dead.”

“I’m so sorry, baby. I know that’s what you believed.” She reached for her but Becca’s hand shot up, warning her to stay away. “It was the only way to keep you safe.”

“Safe from what, mom?” Becca asked. She winced as she pushed up to the wall. Her body brutalized and violated. Tightly her arm went across her body, holding it. The pulsing in her abdomen was sharp and constant.

Viktor had spared her nothing as he explored every inch of her body. Letting his fangs sink in where he pleased. It took a handful of bites before her body began to weaken, the effects of his debilitating bite releasing a toxin that relaxed its victim.

“Let me see how bad it is. Okay?” Sarah pulled the collar of her daughter’s shirt away from her neck, revealing several deep bite marks.

“Did he bite you anywhere else?”

Her eyes filled up with tears and she fought to keep them from spilling over. Becca lifted her shirt and her belly was covered in bruises and bites.

“He bit me everywhere, mom. Everywhere.” Becca fell into her mother’s arms and cried hysterically. Sarah felt relieved to embrace her daughter after so many years away from her.

“Don’t worry baby, it’s gonna be okay. I promise.” She held her even tighter. “Someone is going to come for us. I promise.”

“Who, mom? Who is going to come for us?” she whimpered.

Sarah pulled her away and wiped away her tears. “Do you remember anything?”

“Remember what, mom?” Becca didn’t understand – what was she supposed to remember?

“Do you have any memories of before I died?” she asked more specifically.

Becca thought about it but nothing came to her, and she shook her head.  

“I want to do something right by you, my beautiful girl. I see now the damage your father and I did to you and your sisters. To all of you. So this much I can give you.”

“All of us? Sisters? Mom? What are you talking about?” Becca shook her head. She almost thought she was still in a nightmare. Stuck in between reality and this place. But the pain she felt in every joint and muscle told her it was reality.

Sarah didn’t say any more; instead she touched Becca’s hand with one of her own, and with the other, she lightly touched the temple of Becca’s head.

“Mom, what are you doing?”

Sarah made a shushing sound, closed her eyes and began to utter something in a foreign language. Becca started to feel something inside her: a mixture of Vampyr and Conjurer together as though the species had been baking together.

As if Becca had been struck in the face, a whirlwind of memories came flooding through her mind. Her eyes widened and everything became a little clearer: the farm, William, Z, Nikki, Uncle Danny. All of the memories seeped into her skin like acid. It left her breathless.

A couple of tears rolled down her cheeks as old but new memories played inside her mind.

She remembered herself and her sisters playing on the front porch of the farmhouse, William and his brothers playing tag in the yard. Late night movie night with their mothers, baking cookies with Caroline. Uncle Danny and Uncle Craeden telling them fantastical stories from their childhoods. And then the power.

An electric surge jolted through her, awakening the mingled creatures inside her. Conjurer came to life, filling her mind with impossible recipes and knowledge. And then the vampire. The monster inside her shook from its hibernation.

The memories flurried into place until a true final memory stuck in her head. Her sister, the brothers went to bed one night and when they woke everything had changed. Their lives had forever changed in a single night. And until now Becca hadn’t even known it. At a tender age of six she woke to her Uncle Danny telling her that Sarah had died in a car accident.

Becca’s eyes shot open and locked with her mother’s.

“What did you do?” she muttered, feeling the residual effects of the unnatural memories trying to force their way into her timeline.

“Becca…you have to understand everything we did was to ensure this day could come. To make sure the six of you survived so that one day you could become the Heir and Heiress.”

“The Heir and….the what?”

They were still foreign terms to her, but somehow they felt right. She searched her mind for the new knowledge. Only tidbits would come through, but nothing to further help her understand. Before her mother could explain anymore, the sound of the massive steel door caught their attention and they both looked up. Tobias and Merrick stood tall in the doorway. A smile swept across Sarah’s face when she saw them, and she leapt up into Tobias’ arms.

“I knew you would come,” she whispered to him. He squeezed her even tighter, nuzzling his nose into her bright red locks. But then he looked down to the stone floor, his daughter staring up at him in shock.

“Daddy.” It was almost inaudible as the picture she had kept loyally next to her bedside flashed into her mind. He was no different from the man in the photograph. She hurried to her feet, wincing at the movement, and raced into his arms. It forced him backwards and he became overwhelmed by the reunion.

“My little Becca.” He pulled his arms around her and refused to let go. For him it had been 27 years since he saw her. Since he had held her. The moment too brief.

Both men had risked so much to be there with their wives on that night. Only days after the accusations had been made. It was one of the few times he and Merrick hadn’t butted heads with each other. Neither knew the next time they would see their wives or children. So in a hasty irrational moment they snuck to the Surface under the cover of a very powerful Magi, a man who had escaped to the Dark for unspeakable, heinous crimes. A man they would later learn had an ulterior motive for helping them. The Magi had given them one night under his cloaking protection in exchange for their valuable, extinct blood.

Tobias remembered it too well, the feel of each of his daughters in his arms.

“Merrick.” Sarah hugged him tightly, relieved to have them back with her.

“Are you both okay?” he asked, keeping a watchful eye on either end of the corridor, expecting a guard to come at any moment.

“Ummm, Becca….she needs healing…” She began stealing a look at the sight of Tobias and his daughter. “Viktor hurt her pretty bad.”

Tobias’ eyes flared and waves of rage coursed over him. Viktor would pay for that.

“Toby, we need to hurry,” Merrick urged him. He grew more uneasy with every minute they stayed there.

“Come on, sweetie.” He pulled Becca under his arm and led her down the dark, damp hall. Merrick took the lead and stopped just short of the end.

He peered around the corner to ensure no one was coming. “Okay, let’s go.” He waved them on.

They rushed down the hall and towards a steel door. Merrick pushed it open and a burst of cool air hit them all. “William, Miranda and Markus are waiting just down in the clearing.”

The mention of his name snapped Becca back to reality, and her need to feel his embrace grew.

“Come on, Becca.” Tobias held her close as he descended the stairs.

Becca walked at a hurried pace as they descended several stone steps. It brought them down into an open, green grass clearing.

She held tightly to her father. It felt foreign to her, having her father embracing her. She only knew who he was from the pictures her mother had shown her when she was very little. But still it was a comforting feeling.

Becca looked out in front of them and could see three people and that was all she could discern. As they got closer though, she recognized one of them. And it was the only one she cared to see.

William.

The three stood, waiting patiently for them. William paced impatiently, but stopped when he looked up and saw them hurrying towards them. He’d worried that he wouldn’t be able to get her before Viktor hurt her. He still wasn’t sure he had. His eyes came to her and everything around him became nothing but a silent lull in the background.

“Becca…” he whispered, hurrying towards her. Markus and Miranda gave each other a knowing look as William took off towards her.

She pulled away from Tobias and ran towards William. Pain jolted through her as her feet met the ground but she didn’t care; he was the one person who made sense to her right now.

“I think he’s in love.” Markus smiled. Miranda hugged him tightly.

“You know he is,.” she replied. “Come on, let’s open the portal.”

Miranda pulled away from him, barely giving their parents another look. She was still trying to process what she had learned. Both she and Markus felt betrayed. Everything they thought they had known was lies.

“You gonna cloak it?” Markus asked, and she nodded as if it had been a rhetorical question.

In the middle of the clearing, Becca collided into William and grimaced. He could smell Viktor all over her, and his usual bright green eyes darkened, almost igniting in his skull. Then he caught the lingering scent of one other and he almost growled. Caleb. Caleb had made good on his threat to taste her. He felt her body stiffen as he hugged her tightly. Viktor had hurt her and that was not going to go unpunished.

“Let me look at you.” But she held too tightly to him. “Becca…”

“Just hold me,” she whispered into his chest and took solace in the smell of his shirt, a mixture of laundry soap and musky male scent.

“I’m so sorry, Becca.”

“Please just take me home.”

“Yeah okay. The portal open, Miranda?” William turned, keeping Becca in his embrace.

“Where to?” Markus asked.

“The farm house,” William said. “The rest of you go back and gather the rest of our family.”

“Nikki and Z?” Miranda asked.

“That’s up to Mom and Danny.”

“Son?” Merrick made the attempt again, but William was quick to turn and glower at him, his eyes still smoldering a dark threatening green.

“Stop. Like I said before, just don’t. I don’t want to talk to any of you. I don’t want your explanations or excuses. I just want to get her home.” William brought his stare to his father. “None of this would have happened if you would have just told us what we were.”

Merrick shook his head and took a step back, sensing a rage washing over his son.

“It’s open, William.” Miranda called for his attention.

He turned away and walked Becca towards the portal. She resisted though, remembering the feeling she had when Caleb had taken her.

“Becca, this is the way home.” He held her, lifting her face to look up at him. “I’m not going to let anything else happen to you. You have to trust me. Just hold tightly and we’ll be home.”

Her body clung to him, never wanting to let go. The memories she had now, the feelings that were now seeded deep within her were thrusting her into him. She didn’t want to be away from him. Without him ever again. The thought left her breathless and sick to her stomach.

“Get them and get back,” William demanded before disappearing into the portal.

One by one the rest passed through the portal, leaving just Merrick and Markus staring at each other.

“How much do you know?” Merrick asked Markus. He looked down to the ground and back up to his father.

“Did you kill them?” Markus asked bluntly. He teetered on whether or not he believed his father had murdered the Heir and Heiress in cold blood. Now his questions could finally have answers.

“Do you think I did?” Merrick questioned him. Somehow he already knew the answer, but he also knew his son had needed to see him to make that decision.

Markus looked him in the eyes and shook his head. “No I don’t,” he admitted. “And we know everything.”

“Okay, let’s go get your brother and your mom,” Merrick said as they caught up with the others and then disappeared into the portal.

In the upstairs bedroom of the farmhouse, William lowered her to the bed and crouched down in front of her. Becca stared at the ceiling as though she were in a heavy daze. Shock was finally setting in.

From the moment they had stepped through the portal and out into the vast field beneath the Willow tree, Becca had said not another word. Her eyes had just fixed in front of her. William had scooped her up into his arms and carried her the couple of miles back to the farm house.

“Becca…Becca look at me.” His hand grazed her cheek, but she didn’t say anything or move.

“Okay.” William pushed up from the floor and went for his closet.

From the top shelf he grabbed a duffel bag. It had been a long time since he had used it, he thought as he set it down and opened it up. Inside were several vials, powders and liquids. He pulled out a container with a balm-like substance and opened it. A minty, earthy aroma filled the room.

Walking back over to Becca, he kneeled on the bed beside her.

“I’m gonna take your shirt off. Okay?” he warned.

Becca didn’t budge; she sat still, her eyes still looking up to the ceiling. He pulled the shirt up over her head and stared at the canvas full of Viktor’s canines.

It made him cringe at the sight and he had to force himself to control his rage. He dipped his fingers into the jellied substance and rubbed it between his hands. Expertly he began applying it to her skin, and rubbing it into each wound.

The warmth against her skin, the tingling beneath his hand meant it was working. Her body felt like it was coming back to life.

William crawled farther onto the bed behind her and was presented with the same blanket of injuries on her back. He sighed as he grabbed for more of the balm, warming it between his hands again and gently massaging it into each wound.

“Anywhere else?” he asked, even though he knew the answer. He was sure if he took her jeans off he would find fang marks lining the inside of her legs. As he came back around to look at her, she bit at her bottom lip. “Becca?”

“He….ummm…” She looked away from him and tears escaped down her face.

Her cheeks turned a dark red. A vision of Viktor on top of her. She was tied to the bed and he had his way with her. In ways that Davin had never dreamed of. All the times he had hurt her were nothing more than playground scrapping. Anxiety and terror rolled off her as the memory burned into her mind. William cupped her cheeks and made her look at him. He tilted his head so that it touched her forehead.

“Listen to me, it’s not your fault. Viktor is an evil, vicious man and cares about no one but himself,” William assured her, tucking strands of loose hair behind her ear.

She started to cry harder now as the entire memory played out further. “He wouldn’t stop. He just kept biting me, saying how amazing I tasted. And then he…”

Becca couldn’t stand the sight of herself and she couldn’t imagine William seeing anything but Viktor.

“I know, Becca. I know.” William couldn’t remember the last time he’d allowed his emotions to run him like this. Anger was the only thing he ever let show at the surface. Now it was hurt and pain. And then love. “I’m sorry.”

She pulled away from him and stood up to unbutton her jeans. The farther she pushed them down, the more it made William sick. Viktor’s fang marks her legs. Inside and outside. The number of times he had bitten her was overkill. It was unnecessary. One bite would have been enough to subdue her. But the dozens and dozens covering her body meant only one thing. She was nothing more than a game to him.

Becca pushed herself up onto the bed farther and like before, William rubbed the spots with the ointment. Being as gentle as he could. The deeper bites made her wince against his touch. And the ointment stung a little on those.

She watched him and finally made a revelation.

“You’re a vampire.”

William snapped his head up and stopped rubbing the ointment into her leg.

“What did you just say?”

“I’m….I’m a vampire and a, um…Conjurer? I think.” She knew it was the right word; she just wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Becca, honey, what are you talking about?” How could she know that?

She took in a deep breath, still understanding the new memories herself.

“My mom gave me back my memories. We grew up here, William. All of us together on this farm. You and your brothers, me and my sisters,” she muttered, still staring off. “I don’t know what’s real anymore. The only thing I know is that I need you. More than I’ve needed anyone.”

“You’ve got me, Becca,” he said, pulling her into him. She melded against his chest and relaxed. “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”

The mixture of emotions that rolled off of her was almost debilitating. It was enough to make William dizzy and sick to his stomach. For a while he sat there, holding her close. He couldn’t even comprehend the confusion she felt. Almost teetering between reality and something far worse.

Becca’s eyes got heavy, and the adrenaline finally leveling out made her yawn. William pushed her up onto the bed.

“Try and sleep,” he encouraged her.

She pulled the pillow to her chest and hugged it. He watched her for a moment, the way her chest heaved up and down as her breaths slowed and then relaxed.

Desperately he wanted the memories she had, so that he could understand the urgency she had to have him so close to her. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel that innate need, but he wanted to understand why he had it.

A commotion filled the house and it irritated William. He pulled the quilt from the bottom of the bed up to Becca’s chin and kissed her softly on her forehead.

The yelling and cursing coming from the first floor of the farmhouse forced William to hurry down the stairs. As he came off the stairs and into the kitchen, Nikki and Z were yelling. Obviously upset by what was happening.

William walked in just in time to stop Z from lunging at Markus.

“Who the fuck are you?” Z took a swing at Markus, but William grabbed him, forcing the two down onto the ground. Z got a punch in on William, in the jaw, before he hit the floor.

“Ah, you fucking asshole.” William returned the punch.

The sight of them was almost fitting. Two brothers scrapping on the kitchen floor. The front door of the house swung open.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Danny declared, clomping through the house, and he pulled Z away. He lunged again at William. “I said that was enough.” Danny pushed him back and stood between them, hand on each one.

“Whose perfect idea was that? Why on earth would you send Miranda and Markus?” William wiped the blood away from his lip, giving his father a vehement stare.

“Obviously no one was thinking,” Danny noted, keeping his firm hand against Z’s chest.

“What is going on, dad?” Z demanded from Danny, his breaths coming in quick motions.

Merrick looked sideways as a pang of remorse filled him. He had never considered how it would feel for his son to not know him. It was disheartening to see and hear.

“Z, Nikki, you need to sit down. There are some things we need to talk about.” Danny said, slowly lowering his hands from the two brothers. He gave them each a daring stare.

Z and Nikki looked at each other and then back at Danny. “Alright, we’ll sit down.”

Danny motioned for them to follow. Markus gave William a warning glance before following the rest into the next room.

William and Caroline stayed behind. She gave him a sideways look. “Sarah told me about Becca. Is she okay? Do you need me to heal her?”

William scoffed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “I may not live in the “Dimension” with all of you, but I do have a bag and I know how to use it,” William said. “What I don’t get though is why you didn’t tell us.”

“To protect you, William. Please understand that,” Caroline said.

There were so many times in his life that she had wanted to reveal it all to him. Tell him his true birthright, but the fear of Viktor finding any of the children and destroying any chance of the Heir and Heiress making their return stopped her. So as it was, she prepared herself for the tongue lashing she had always known would come.

“Understand that you couldn’t tell us what our true legacy was. I mean really, mom? Not even Markus, Miranda and me? We at least know what we are. The Heir and Heiress?” William argued. “We should have known.”

“Alright, fine, William. You should have known but what then? Hmm? You can’t even fathom the power within the six of you,” she countered. “We took the memories and bound you all to keep Viktor from finding you. The Drifters’ Order would have given him the power to find you all.”

“Do you realize what he did to her?” William asked in a dark voice. “He raped and violated her, he bit her and marked her. Dozens and dozens of bite marks all over her body. Some will never fully heal, they’re too deep. Viktor marked her so I would always know what he did to her. Now do you think if we had known that this would have happened?”

“William…” she whispered.

His hands came down hard on the counter and it made her jump. The rage she saw in his eyes, the darkness that he kept deep within him concerned her. It was something she had never seen his kind have before.

“No, it wouldn’t have!” he yelled, “Damn it, I could have protected her!”

“William!” Merrick came into the room. “Stop it! You wanna be mad. Fine be mad. But not at your mother. You be mad at Tobias and me. We made the decision to alter your childhoods and bury the Heir and Heiress within you. We decided to split you up. US! Not your mother, not Sarah. And damn it, you’re alive today because of it.”

William balled his fists up and hit the counter again.

“I’m sorry Viktor did this to Becca. And you’re right, it should never have stayed secret this long…but it did. And now, we have to fix it. As a family.”

“You stole our lives from us, Merrick! Our family! My family!” William yelled, shoving his finger towards his father. It was a mixture of abandonment, anger and lingering withdrawals that fueled his outburst.

Caroline watched her son, growing more concerned. His eyes became darker than she had ever witnessed. William breathed hard, in and out.

“William?” she called to him gently, putting as much motherly tone in it as she could. He gave her a sideways glance but didn’t fully acknowledge her. “William, how long have you been drinking human blood?”

Merrick’s eyes widened at the question and he looked to his son for an explanation.

“William, how long?” Merrick pushed the question again. Still William stayed silent, feeling like a teenager getting caught coming home drunk or high.

“He’s been doing it for a while.” Markus’ voice came from behind them. William shot him a look.

William’s outburst had come through loud and clear in the living room, prompting Markus to join them. He knew the small amount of blood he drank earlier would only last a short time.

Merrick eyed his sons and shook his head.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been feeding him more than just Hybrid, I’ve also been giving him a balancing agent,” he revealed, forcing William to shoot him an angered stare.

“You what?” he growled.

“Oh please, William, you don’t think I didn’t know what you were doing? And did you think for a moment I wouldn’t make sure my brother wouldn’t become some crazed, unhinged vamp

William knew his brother just wanted him to be safe, but with all the betrayal that had already happened, this was just salt in the wound.

Markus walked over to the drawer near the sink and retrieved an orange tinged vial as well as a crimson one.

“Here, it will bring you down.”

William took them and placed them on the counter. “They don’t work anymore, Markus. Haven’t for a long time.”

“What are you talking about? Since when?” Markus scrunched his face.

“Since a long time. Hybrid is useless now. Does nothing,” William admitted and then shrugged. “Sorry Markus.”

“I’ll get some from the cellar,” Markus said, defeated.

“Get what from the cellar?” Merrick asked, looking back and forth between them.

“Blood.” William finally looked at his father.

“How could you be so damn careless, William? So reckless?” His father was pushing harder than he knew better to. He was only agitating the stirring Beast inside of his son.

“How could I…? Are you serious? You steal our lives away and then never “get around” to telling us the truth. HA and now I’m the one that’s careless and reckless. Uh uh, not a chance. Maybe if you had been around for one fucking second to give a damn, things would be different,” William said, his voice rising with each word.

“You don’t think I didn’t want to be there? You think I enjoyed being a prisoner in the Dark world you ungrateful….”

“Stop it now, both of you.” Caroline stepped in, stopping Merrick from saying something he would regret.

“No I’m curious to hear what good old dad has to say.” William crossed his arms now, glaring over at his father.