22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Ethan

I can't see anything. I can barely move. The room is dark, and my body is tied to a chair. The restraints are tight, and I can't do anything at all. I struggle against the chains for what seems like hours before realizing that there is no escaping from this nightmare.

I close and re-open my eyes many times, but it still doesn't fix my sight. Something is wrong with me. I can't see clearly. I can only hear footsteps on the carpet as someone walks back and forth in the hallway.

"Hello? Anyone there?" I say, but my voice is barely heard.

I am all alone in this dark room with an awful smell. What is this place? It looks like a place from my deep-buried nightmares.

"Perry?" I speak again, softly at first, then I yell his name repeatedly.

No answer. I call again, but the only voice backing me up is my echo. My vision slowly clears, and I soon realize that I can be in what looks like an abandoned hospital. There are medical tools everywhere.

"Perry! Where am I? Where are you?" I yell again till my voice cracks.

The door opens and in the dim lighting, I can just make out a figure walking towards me. It's too far away to make out features, but I recognize the silhouette of Perry.

"Unbelievable. Perry, is that you?"

"Hello, Ethan. Don't you just look awful," he says softly as he grabs a chair and sits next to me.

"Perry, what is this? Where am I? What have you done to me?" My voice shakes slightly as I ask questions. I still can't grasp the whole situation.

"You don't remember?" Perry asks sadly, with his head tilted downwards, looking at the floor.

"Remember what, exactly?" I try to push the memories down, but it's no use. They keep creeping up on me every time I try to think where I could possibly be.

"This place."

"Where the hell are we, Perry? Untie me right now!" I yell louder than before.

I hear more footsteps walking in the hallway. This time I'm sure that someone else is listening to us, so I try to scream at them too. I know that if I get away now, I'll never have any of this happening ever again. I learned my lessons and I can't get betrayed again. Ever.

"Keep your voice down, would you? You don't want to wake the dead."

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you realize what you are doing? Are you overdosing on something?"

"Me? No. God no. I never liked your products, to begin with, Ethan. I am most definitely not overdosed or anything, but I need to fulfil my need to get revenge."

"Revenge?"

"Yes, Ethan, revenge. Revenge for all the vampires who had to die in the sun and be buried under this very morgue because your arrogant company wouldn't sell to them," Perry says, slamming his fist on the trolley, making it shake.

"We sell to all vampires except those who don't agree to our policies."

"And your policies are? Leave humans alone, don't feed on human blood, protect our race? Poison our bodies with substances just for the sake of mere mortals?"

"Perry, you are clearly out of your mind. Why would you do this to me?"

"Me? Out of my mind? I haven't felt better about doing anything my entire life," he says as he takes a deep breath, calming himself.

"Look, I have always believed that vampires should be able to take their rightful position, but when my father was killed by his very own kind, I knew I had to take over this company and turn this world upside down."

"Ugh, yes. Your damned, cursed father. He was just as arrogant as you are."

"How dare you, Perry?"

"How dare I? Seriously, Ethan?" he asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Untie me right now, Perry. You have no idea what you are doing."

"Your dad was a selfish man, who thought of himself as God and the rest of the vampires as peasants. He forced a lifestyle on us. A lifestyle that isn't ours."

"You're going off the topic. Why are you even doing this to me?" I ask as I try to loosen the bindings around my hands. Everything around me feels hazy.

"You think I wanted to work for you in the first place? Why would anyone want to work for a self-absorbed bastard like you?"

"I have always thought of you as a friend, Perry."

"Oh, you don't say," Perry murmurs and finally stands up and walks towards the darkened corner of the room.

I look around me as my vision starts to clear up. He must have drugged me. I can barely feel a thing, and I still can't see clearly. It must be an underground morgue. There are no rays of sunlight, and it smells terrible.

And I can't see much either. Just shadows moving around in the corners. There's a single beam of light in the ceiling somewhere above me.

"You really need to work on your situational awareness," Perry chuckles softly while he leans up against one of the walls.

"Damn you, Perry."

"It isn't good to fall asleep here, you know. This is the lair of a vampire king. And you fell prey to him."

"So, you kidnapped me to bring me here? Here Perry? To this awful place?"

"How awful can it be? Your very own father is buried here somewhere, Ethan."

"Don't talk about my father."

"And now, I did not only kidnap you, no. I also drugged you. I used your own medicine against you. It's called chloroform. That's pretty much everything you could need."

"You are the one behind the FDA, right?"

"Oh, that," Perry chuckles and approaches me again. "Yes. I am."

"And Demetrius?"

"That bastard betrayed me."

"How is that?"

"We were not able to complete our little plan, and since then, he decided to take matters into his own hands."

"And now you are going to kill me. Aren't you, Perry?"

"Not that easily. I need to torture you first. I need to keep you locked down here, install a massive TV in front of you, and force you to watch the news of your company collapsing. The fall of Rothschild Pharmaceuticals. What a wonderful headline that would make."

"I have always thought of myself too careful, that the FDA wouldn't even suspect anything like this and file a lawsuit against me. The moment it began happening, I knew something was wrong. I felt it. And here we are."

"Oh, but they did," Perry replies as he stands directly in front of me, pressing his hand against my chest, and pushing me back into the chair.

"It is all you. It has been you all this time, and I have been nothing but clueless."

"Oh, yes," Perry chuckles and walks again to the end of the room. He is doing his best to intimidate me. But I am slowly regaining my alertness.

"You are going to pay for this, Perry."

"Good gracious, it has always been money with you Rothschilds, wasn't it?"

"Perry, I swear if you don't untie me right now, you will witness dreadful things happening to you."

"Well, the nightmare is about to come to an end. How does it feel to know that everything you worked for was a lie?"

"A lie? What are you talking about?"

"Everything you've done, and everything you have built, will be ruined the moment we get through with you."

"We? You are not alone in this?"

"Alone? How could I be? I have a whole army of rebel vampires ready to come and help me destroy your company once and for all. Your father never stood a chance against me. Neither will you."

"You can't earn a vampire's trust, Perry," I snarl at him.

"Oh, trust me. I just need to provide them with real, fresh blood. The rebels will always be on my side. They are my clan."

My heart begins to race. My hands start to sweat. And I know what is about to happen next. He could drug me again any minute now.

"And would Demetrius be part of your little clan?"

"Oh, no. God, no. The man wanted too much and had no interest in contributing to your downfall, so of course I had to dispose of him."

"Oh, is that so?" I slowly say as I try to break free from the chains around my waist.

"See, the plan was to start with Lily Snow. That fine young woman. The other night, Demetrius was actually on the way to feast on her, and that would have been our very first step towards your destruction."

"Keep Lily out of this."

"Why? Because of the charm she has. Even Demetrius couldn't lay a finger on her. And that was enough for me to prove that he is nothing but words. No actions. He cares more for his family's safety than being a legacy for destroying the Rothschilds."

My head feels dizzy, and my eyes begin to burn. The moment I break free from this trap, Perry will have to pay for this in the worst ways possible.

"Is Lily in danger?"

"Not that I even care, but I have my spies who check up on things every once in a while."

"Spies, Perry? Since when you stoop to such methods?" I grind my teeth, the chains digging deeper into my wrists with every futile tug.

"Oh, Ethan, you're so naive. In this game, one needs eyes and ears everywhere. Your precious Lily, for instance, has been under surveillance for months," Perry chuckles, a low menacing sound that echoes off the sterile walls of the morgue.

"Surveillance? What have you done to her?" My heart, if it was still beating, would have stopped at that moment.

"Nothing yet. But Demetrius's failure provided me with a new perspective. Perhaps Lily's charm is something more... potent. A weapon, even. And if I can't have her, neither can you."

"You are a fool if you think that you can use her against me."

"Oh, but I might already have. The mere threat to her life has rattled you. And that, my dear Ethan, is the first step to your downfall," Perry sneers, leaning in closer.

"You underestimate her. Lily is stronger than you think."

"We'll see about that. In the meantime, let's discuss your company's future. Or rather, the lack of it," Perry replies, standing up straight.

"Over my dead body," I growl.

"Precisely. You see, Ethan, your company has been a thorn in my side for too long. Catering to vampires, providing them with sustenance and safety, forcing them to live off fake blood and drugs. It's sickening, really. The FDA is just the beginning. Once you're out of the picture, I'll dismantle everything you've built."

"You'll never succeed. The Board won't let you."

"Ah, the Board. I've already taken care of them. A few well-placed bribes, a couple of threats. They won't stand in my way," Perry says, waving a dismissive hand.

My vision blurs with anger and frustration. Perry has thought of everything, and I feel powerless to stop him. But I can't let him win. I have to figure out my escape. I have to get to Lily.

"You're making a grave mistake, Perry. Vampires won't stand for this."

Perry doesn't reply right away. He takes another sip of his drink and stares at me for the longest time.

"By the time they realize what's happened, it will be too late. They'll embrace their true natures once again and curse your existence," Perry replies, his eyes gleaming with malice.

"What about me? I changed your life, Perry. I treated you as nothing but a member of the family. What about me?"

"And as for you, Ethan. Well, you'll be long gone," he says, circling me like a predator, reveling in his perceived victory.

"This is so wrong, Perry."

"You know, Ethan, I almost pity you. All that power, all those resources, and yet here you are, helpless and at my mercy."

"You won't get away with this," I manage to say through gritted teeth.

"Oh, but I already have. "And once you're out of the way, I'll take everything you've ever cared about," Perry replies with a triumphant grin.

As Perry turns to leave, I muster every ounce of strength left in me. I am even too weak to read his mind.

"Perry. When I get out of here—and I will get out—you won't have a place to hide. Not from me, and not from those who will come after you," I call out, my voice steady and cold.

"Good luck with that, Ethan. You will need it," Perry pauses at the door, glancing back with a smug smile.

"Perry, wait. There is something that you don't know," I say, and it makes Perry stop in his tracks and glare at me.

I slowly manage to loosen one of my hands and slowly work on the other without Perry noticing. I just need to distract him.

"You can have the company, Perry. Just let me go."

"Oh, yes. Yes, I will. I will have it, Ethan. And with you out of the picture, the board will have no choice but to follow my lead. You're just a relic of the past. It's time for a new era," Perry says dismissively, as he walks back towards me.

This is what I want. I want him blinded by ego and hatred so that he does not predict my actions and his downfall soon.

I suddenly free myself and lunge at Perry with supernatural speed. He stumbles back, eyes wide with fear.

"How did you-"

"You underestimated me, Perry. That's your first mistake," I snarl at him and grab him by the throat, lifting him off the ground. He struggles, but I am too furious right now to let him go.

"Ethan-" he begins to speak, but I tighten my grip around his neck.

"You betrayed me. You threatened my life, my company, and everything that matters to me. And for that, there's only one consequence," I say. Perry tries to break free, but my grip tightens even more.

"Ethan. Please," he pleads.

"Goodbye, Perry."

With a swift, lethal motion, I bite Perry's neck, ripping out his throat, and let his body drop to the floor. I stand over him, breathing heavily, the rage slowly increasing. He is still moving.

"It didn't have to be this way," I whisper to myself as I grab the bottle of chloroform that he used to drug me. I empty it in his mouth and watch him struggle to move.

I straighten up, regaining my composure. I need to get out of here. Suddenly, I hear a familiar male voice.

"For God's sake."

This is not over yet, is it?