SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
THE NIGHT WAS DARKER THAN IT HAD EVER BEEN. There was no moon, stars, or lights to throw even the least amount of illumination. A person with claustrophobia would have died an awful death, frightening the soul out of them. No way to judge time or space. It was as if the sun was nonexistent. There was absolutely no way to tell where he was. It appeared to be total darkness. Could have been standing inches from a sword and wouldn’t have known it. The consequences of a single step forward could not be discerned. He tried but couldn’t see the hand in front of his face.
Vampires were known for seeing perfectly well in the darkness, yet he could see nothing. Had he gone blind? There were no sounds of wildlife, no sounds of a ticking clock. The silence was never complete, and yet this seemed to be. He couldn’t even be sure if he was inside or out. Because he wasn’t bumping into anything, he thought he was probably outside, but the silence was deafening. He swallowed and took at least a little comfort in the fact that he could hear it. Steven bent down and felt the ground beneath him; it felt like dirt, and some bug crawled on his hand; he quickly shook it off. He stood up and didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t run to get out of whatever area he was in; he could barely take a step or two.
The scent of Clive Christian’s No. 1 cologne was in the air. There was a masculine scent with a touch of floral. It was nice, but of course, it meant that someone was there. Since he couldn’t see, he attempted to listen but couldn’t hear a thing; he couldn’t listen to his footsteps as he took two forward. Steven slowly pulled his sword and swung it with more force than ever before, but it connected with no one.
Someone or something was breathing to his left, and he swung again, but he knew he hadn’t made contact. Steven wasn’t claustrophobic but now appeared to be. Not being able to judge space was exasperating, and with an enemy nearby, it was scary. He wouldn’t see or hear a blade slicing through his neck.
There had never been a gloomier atmosphere. Someone whispered his name from behind and then from in front of him. Was it two against one? Or was someone blurring around him? A long silence ensued until, finally, someone screamed at him; he almost jumped out of his pants as the scream broke the silence.
“Who are you?”
The vampire was as helpless as he had ever been. He remembered the lighter in his left breast pocket. He pulled it and tried to light it. Steven dropped it and swore as he bent down to retrieve it, but it hit his foot and bounced. He felt around and found a spider and squashed it. Then something cockroach-like ran up his arm, and he shook it off. After a minute or two, he gave up. Someone out of the darkness touched his face, and he instinctively tried to punch whoever it was, but it didn’t work. He lost his balance and fell.
“I’m gonna cut your head off!”
Steven could smell blood. He moved forward, trying to orient on it, and found himself falling off a three-hundred-foot cliff. He broke every bone in his body and two in his head. The pain was excruciating as he healed.
“No daggers down here,” said Dracula as he laughed.
Steven awoke with a start as he sat up in his bed.