Fratelli: The Awakening (The Vampire Cartel #1)

45. Why Not Me!

Chapter 45

Why Not Me!

H enderson, Nevada

April 15, 2018

(6 Days Before Death)

Darlene stormed into the bathroom, her rage palpable, vibrating the very air around her. She slammed the door with such force it echoed through the walls, a thunderous reminder of her fury. Every door she passed through suffered the same fate, a symphony of slams marking her volatile path. She paced the small, confining space, her arms folded tight across her chest. A fortress of defiance. She was not just being scolded but caged—by a vampire, of all creatures. He had imprisoned her. How was this any different from being a prisoner in Dolly’s mind? Her pacing quickened, each step a beat in her dark symphony of vengeance, her mind a whirlwind of plots and schemes for escape and retribution.

“Why are you doing this to me?” A meek, tremulous voice broke through her thoughts.

Darlene froze mid-step. Her gaze snapped to the mirror. There, beyond the glass, was Dolly. Her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen, tears traced sorrowful paths down her cheeks. Dolly hugged herself, shivering, a picture of fragile despair.

“What are you doing awake?” Darlene asked, her voice a venomous whisper. “I put you to sleep.”

“Let me out of here. Please, let me out!” Dolly’s plea was a heart-wrenching wail, a desperate cry for freedom.

Darlene stepped closer to the mirror, her reflection a dark contrast to Dolly’s sorrow. “Never. It’s over for you,” she said. “This is your doing. I tried to show you who he was, what he was, but you wouldn’t listen. You never listen. You just use me to clean up your messes!”

Dolly shook her head slowly, her voice whispered the words: “You aren’t real. You were never real. The doctors said it was all in my head. Why is this happening now?”

Darlene’s heart sank. To be denied her truth, her existence was the core of her pain throughout the years of living life through Dolly’s eyes. Why was she the one everyone loved? Why was Darlene just a figment of Dolly and not the truth?

“Those doctors,” she spoke through clenched teeth. “I remember how weak you were, letting them erase me. We were sisters, together, and you believed them. You sent me to the void and left me there until you were too weak to face the world, then used me to fight your battles. That’s who you are, Dolly—a puppet. Theirs and the vampires. Like all those before us that come from Julia Brown.”

“Who? What? I don’t know any Julia?—”

“Shut up! It’s my turn. Do you hear me? My turn! He’ll bow down to me and love me in ways you’ve never had with him. Together, we’ll kill all the vampires. We will create a better world. Where weak and pathetic people like you only serve us! Not rule over us!”

Dolly frowned; confusion knitted her brows together. “Who are you talking about? Lucio? Vampire?”

“Yes! You clueless fool! Lucio is a vampire!” Darlene’s voice was stressed with exasperation. She paced again, her movements sharp and agitated. “He’s been manipulating you all along. Why do you think you lost your job? He reported you to the mayor’s office. He murdered our real mother. He intended to kill you too, but I stopped him. I did! Not you.” Darlene beamed with triumph.

Dolly’s eyes widened in shock. “Lucio is a vampire? This is insane. What am I saying? I’m insane. What is happening to me is crazy!”

Darlene’s frustration erupted into a scream. “I’m sick of your victimhood! Sick! Sick! Sick!” She tore through the bathroom, flinging open cabinets. Finding his shaving kit, she turned back to the mirror.

“What are you doing?” Dolly’s voice was a whisper of dread.

“I’ll deal with you later. But first, he’s going to see me. Not you. He’s going to love me! Not you! I’m the one. And it’s time everyone sees it,” she said.

Darlene pulled out the clippers and plugged them in. Dolly’s reflection watched in horror. Darlene’s smirk deepened as she flipped them on. Her hair, thick and long, a feature many would envy, was an emblem of a life she despised. At first, she had extensions, but in her transformation the extensions fell out. Her hair grew, and grew, not in weeks or months, but hours. It was past her shoulders—all hers. She was a warrior, not a damsel. Dolly was the one who needed saving; she would rule.

She ran the clippers over the side of her head, the long tresses fell away.

“Stop it! You insane bitch! Stop it!” Dolly screamed.

Darlene’s smirk grew as she shaved the other side, sculpting a fierce mohawk.

“Stop!” Dolly wept. “Let me out of here! Stop torturing me!”

Darlene stood before the mirror, watching Dolly’s reflection dissolve into a mere shadow. Her true self emerged, no longer a mere copy. She was the original now. She surveyed her transformation. The mohawk’s front bang draped over the left side of her face, a stark declaration of her defiance.

“Nice. I’ll get some piercings today,” Darlene chuckled. She ran her hand through her hair. But as she touched the shaved sides, something strange happened. The freshly shorn follicles grew, and her hair lengthened before her eyes. Horrified, Darlene stepped back. The transformation continued until her hair was long once more, and Dolly reemerged. They stared at each other, mirrored terror in their eyes. Darlene’s scream was so piercing that it shattered the mirrors and the glass shower doors around them.

Lucio burst into the bathroom; his senses assaulted by the sound of shattering glass. He found Darlene on her knees, surrounded by a sea of broken mirrors. Her screams were so intense, they seemed to reverberate through the very foundation of his home, like an earthquake shaking every room. Lucio dropped to his knees beside her. His heart ached at the sight of her anguish. She turned to him, seeking solace, and he gathered her into his arms. He cradled her against his chest. He carried her from the wreckage, bypassing the bed, and instead settled into a chair, holding her on his lap.

Darlene clung to his neck, tears streaming down her face. “Why can’t I kill her?”

“Tell me what happened?” he asked.

As brilliant, cunning, and perfectly matched for him as she was, she wouldn’t be complete until she embraced her other half. How could he help her see this?

Her head snapped up, eyes wild. “No! Not you!”

She leaped from his lap and fled the room. He could hear her cursing as she went. Instead of pursuing her, Lucio remained seated, unsure of his next move, until he heard soft, mournful weeping emanating from the bathroom. The ethereal cries tugged at his curiosity. Pushing himself up to stand from the chair, he went to investigate. Inside the bathroom, glass was scattered everywhere. But it was the shards of the mirror that drew his attention. Among the fragmented pieces, he saw a face trapped beneath the surface. It was Dolly. She wept from her prison. What sorcery was this?

“Dolly?”

“You did this to me,” Dolly sobbed.

He knelt and carefully picked up the largest shard of glass.

“No, sweetheart. I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did! You let her loose. You trapped me here and set her free. Now I’m alone. You did this to me, Lucio.”

“I swear to you, I will help you. Fix this. I swear it.”

Without another word, she vanished. Lucio clenched the glass so tightly that it shattered, the shards pierced his skin. “I will bring you back.”

Lucio sat at his desk, the weight of the situation rested heavily on his shoulders, just as the door to his office eased open. Tristan entered, impeccably dressed in a freshly tailored suit, seemingly unfazed by the previous night’s chaos.

“You seem ready to get to work,” Lucio commented, without looking up.

“I am. I need to head to the Bellagio. But first, boss, what is going on? She?—.”

“I know,” Lucio pushed back from his seat and walked over to the window. Tristan joined him, and both men stared out at Darlene, now clad in a skimpy bikini, basking in the sun. She wore her sunglasses in a reclined pool chair.

“Do you feel it?” Tristan asked.

“Yes,” Lucio confessed.

“How is she doing it?” Tristan asked, genuinely in awe of her power.

“I’m not sure,” Lucio admitted.

“It’s like a pulsing headache that worsens the closer you get to her. No one can approach. Only the human staff seem unaffected. Our men have gone underground because of the sun. The human security detail remains, and they are securing the perimeter. Inside, it’s just you and me now.” Tristan rubbed the ache in his brow. Lucio suffered as well but endured. Somehow, Darlene had forced the vampires away from her. The closest he could get was the window or balcony over the pool.

“I don’t think she realizes she’s doing it,” Lucio said.

“Have you tried reaching out to her?” Tristan asked.

“Mentally she’s shut me out. She’ll come to me when she’s less angry. Right now, what you have done is best. She’s dangerous when like this.”

“She’s a ticking time bomb. She’s going to explode, boss. This situation?—”

“I’m aware. I’ve called in reinforcements,” Lucio said and turned away. “The professor is en route.”

“From Phoenix? He agreed to come?” Tristan asked.

“It took some convincing, but yes, he’s on his way. I sent a plane for him.” Lucio returned to his desk and sat down.

“You need to understand what you’re dealing with. I trust you’re smart enough to figure it out, but boss, you’ve been slipping.”

Lucio smirked. “Am I the only one? Slipping?”

Tristan shrugged. “I think you’re surrounded by enemies now, and it’s my job to mitigate all the risks.”

“I’m listening,” said Lucio.

“The information you wanted on the adoptive family. I’ve looked into it. Got what you needed.”

“We found them?” Lucio smiled.

“Better than that. We know what happened. Where she comes from and how it’s all connected to Wanda Brown.”

Lucio leaned forward. “You found all of this out in the past six hours?”

“I started a little earlier,” Tristan said with a shrug. “But yes. Like I said, boss, I’m back in. One hundred percent. You can count on me, as always.”

Lucio nodded. “As always.”

“Here’s what I found out,” Tristan began. “When I traced the trust, the trail went cold. Financial data never just disappears, so I dug deeper. The trust is named after Darlene Brown, which is Dolly’s real name. Lucy Young, her adoptive mother, met Wanda while she was pregnant. They both worked at a law firm in Utah, the same firm that manages the trust now. Wanda insisted the Youngs raise what she thought were twins she carried in her pregnancy. She had even named themDarlene and Sharlene. In her last trimester, Wanda and the Youngs established the trust and moved to Baton Rouge, where she wanted to give birth. You are not the father. The father is dead.”

“I didn’t believe it was even possible,” said Lucio. “So, Lucy and Wanda were friends?”

“Not quite,” Tristan replied. “Wanda was a secretary, and Lucy was a lawyer. Lucy helped protect a fundamentalist religious sect expelled from the Mormon church. Interestingly, the adoption paperwork was signed two months before Wanda gave birth.”

“That doesn’t add up. Why would Wanda want to give birth in Louisiana, close to me?” Lucio questioned.

“She had to hide the babies from the ‘first people.’ They wouldn’t suspect Wanda was connected to a group of Mormon lawyers or hiding her daughters with a white couple. The trust was established through this church. It was Dolly’s money from the start. The original will detail everything. Except there were no two babies born. And later, when the Youngs died,” Tristan explained, “…a young and confused Dolly was tricked into signing it away and then kicked out of the family, forcing her into foster care.”

“All roads lead to now,” Lucio mused. “Wanda wanted Dolly near me, not the first people. What did they do to her?”

“That’s the key,” Tristan smiled. “I think Wanda met her lover and became pregnant with the twins while she was with the first people. Something unnatural happened. That’s why you have Darlene and Dolly. They might have been separate at first. Whatever ritual merged them is what fuels Darlene’s power.”

Lucio’s eyes lit up. “That’s it. The missing piece. I was right to call in the professor. I knew it.”

“She is still dangerous, boss. She knows too much, but not enough to be controlled or contained by any measure that we’ve used before.”

“Where’s her brother?”

“The Gamer-con goes down at the Bellagio. I have him hosting and Lamont sitting on him,” said Tristan.

“I will bring her tonight to the casino to see him,” Lucio said.

“Is that wise? She doesn’t seem to be in the mood.” Tristan glanced back at the window.

“She doesn’t like Dolly, but I haven’t once heard her say anything against her brother. Maybe he and I should meet with her present. Let’s see what that does to her mood,” Lucio said.

“Agreed.” Tristan turned to leave.

“Tristan?” Lucio spoke.

He paused.

“Are you okay?” Lucio asked.

Tristan gave him a wry smile. “I’m good. Thanks for breakfast.”

Lucio nodded. “Anytime.”