He forced me to the ground, ripped the back of my dress open and poured a cold liquid onto my skin, which began stinging. Then came the lashes. One after another, beating against my spine and tearing into my flesh.
“Stop… Stop… Please!” I could barely utter the words through the pain.
He stopped only after my back had become numb from the torture. Then he grabbed me and pulled me to a standing position next to him.
“Now, you need to heal. But first I must change vessel. All this unnecessary exertion has rendered this old one useless.”
He dragged me out of the room, back toward the black marble staircases. Despite my stumbling and tripping against him, we climbed down several more levels.
We entered yet another chamber, this time with a young blonde vampire wearing a tattered red dress. The Elder sat me down on the ground, removed his black cloak, and gave it to me to hold. Then, without warning, his decrepit form collapsed in a heap. The female vampire let out a bloodcurdling scream, then her neck clicked, her face contorted and she stood up as if nothing had happened. She walked over to me and grabbed the black cloak, throwing it over her shoulders. Then she pulled me to my feet just as harshly as the man now dead on the floor had set me down.
“That old vessel was second-hand already. This one is much more comfortable. Now, let’s fix you.”
The lashes and the shock of what I’d just witnessed made me dizzy. I tried to steady my legs but fell to the floor and everything faded to black.
****
When I came to, I found myself lying on a cot in a room not dissimilar from the one we had left Abby in. My back was still causing me so much agony that it sent my head reeling again.
Sitting in the corner was an old woman—a human, I knew instantly. Her blood smelled irresistible. Sweet. Succulent. The Elder sat at the opposite end of the room, watching me.
“This is an immune. We haven’t turned her yet, as you can see. I’m sure you’ve noticed how much sweeter and richer her blood smells? You want to stop the pain? You drink.”
The old woman whimpered and cowered in the corner.
“I can’t,” I said through gritted teeth. It took every ounce of restraint to not fly at the woman’s throat.
The Elder stood up and dragged me closer to the woman, pushing my head down so her scent was now intoxicating me. I shook my head violently.
“No… No… Get off of me!” I stamped down hard on the Elder’s foot, making her lose balance. This gave me the five seconds I needed to flee through the open door.
I had no idea where I was going and the pain slowed me down. I headed back toward the staircases and then upward, hoping to lose myself in the maze of dark hallways and chambers. But it didn’t take long until I bumped into a second vampire—another Elder inhabiting another old vessel. I could tell this time due to the yellowish tinge of the body.
He caught my arm and pulled me down, holding me against the stairs until the Elder chasing me had caught up.
“Thank you,” she said, addressing him. “I’ll take charge from here.” Then she turned to me. Her eyes rolled in their sockets and her mouth split into a lopsided grin. “Very well. You won’t cooperate? We’ll just have to make you our very own little puppet then.”
She pulled out a vial of red liquid from her cloak, and before I could even react, she yanked open my mouth and poured it in. Its sweetness tantalized my tongue and the effect was instant; my wounds stopped aching. And, for the second time in the past few hours, I lost all consciousness.
****
This time when I opened my eyes, my surroundings felt strangely familiar. I lay on a cold stone slab. I sat bolt upright and glanced around. I was in the largest and innermost chamber of The Shade’s Sanctuary.
The exact spot where Derek woke up. Where I first met him. Where it all started.
The torches fixed to the high walls gave off a dim glow. A wave of relief washed over me. I was home. For all I knew, Derek could be within less than a mile. But then the reality hit me full force. How did that Elder bring me here? Why on earth would it bring me home? I knew that the answers to these questions would bring me neither joy nor relief.
The chamber seemed empty, although there was a strange round hole about fifteen feet away from me. I stood up cautiously. Just as I motioned to walk over to it, a deep voice I knew so well echoed around the room.
“Sofia.”
Xavier! A figure stirred in the shadows in a far corner of the room. I was ecstatic to see a dear friend. I rushed toward him to pull him into an embrace. But as I got closer, joy turned to horror.
Translucent eyes. A manic grin.
“Xavier!” I screamed.
Xavier fell to the ground, twitching. A freezing cold enveloped me, seeping into my bones. I managed to scream for a few seconds, but then I lost my voice. I couldn’t move my tongue. I couldn’t open my mouth. I couldn’t move any part of my body. I felt trapped in my own body as a dark presence closed in around me.
Then I heard my own voice speak.
“No, darling. I’m not Xavier. Just the darkness that consumed him. The same one that has now consumed you.”
Chapter 4: Derek
Early the next morning, I packed up a few key belongings. I made sure to leave behind a spare phone, instructing Corrine and Ibrahim to contact me only in an emergency. Then, after holding Rose one last time, I headed further inland, to the city of Liberia. There I used a telephone box to make contact with Aiden and, six hours later, I found myself boarding a helicopter bound for Hawk Headquarters.
During the flight, I tried to stop thinking about what Sofia and my son could be going through. I tried to stop thinking about what was beyond my control. If I was to think clearly and not be a constant fire hazard at Headquarters, I had to keep my emotions in check.
On my arrival, Aiden was waiting for me on the landing pad. The lines in his face had grown deeper over the past few days and he had dark circles under his eyes. In spite of this, he smiled and gave me a brief hug. Then his brows creased with worry. “My granddaughter?”
“Rose is safe with Corrine and Ibrahim, at least for the moment. I wouldn’t have left her if I’d thought that she wasn’t safe.”
“Rose,” he said softly. “I wish I could have seen her.”
“You know why I left her behind. Right now, we’re working with Arron and the Hawks blindly because we have no choice. But there are still far too many things about their motives that we don’t understand. This is no place to bring a newborn.”
Pain flickered in his eyes, but he composed himself. He was a man well practiced at switching off his emotions. We marched toward the main building.
We reached his office and shut ourselves inside. Sitting at the table waiting for us was Arron. When he saw me enter, his lips curled.
“Welcome back, Derek.”
I nodded curtly but said nothing. I would have preferred to talk privately with Aiden, but Arron knew more about Cruor, the vampire realm, than Aiden, and he certainly had more influence. I remembered how, though he had not accompanied us personally when we stormed The Blood Keep, he had armed us with dozens of Hawks from Aviary.
I took a seat opposite Aiden, who looked grimly at me before launching the discussion. “Firstly, Sofia. Based on what the Ageless told you, we can only assume she’s in Cruor.”
“There are three gates that allow passage into that realm,” Arron continued. “One at The Underground; one at The Shade; and one at The Blood Keep. Now, at the time the witch took Sofia, we were storming the Keep, so I doubt very much she would have transported Sofia to that particular gate. So the witch either sent Sofia to The Shade or The Underground, after which an Elder would have taken her through the portal and into Cruor.”
“Why do they want her?” I asked, terrified to hear Arron’s answer.
“Isn’t that obvious? She’s an immune. An immune’s blood is rare sustenance to their kind. You remember the effect it had on you? What it felt like drinking it
?”
I shuddered. I remembered drinking Sofia’s blood all too clearly.
“Let’s cut to the chase,” Aiden said. “To rescue my daughter, it seems the only way is to force entry into Cruor and retrieve her. One of the many problems with this is that not even Arron knows if it’s possible for a ‘non-Elder’ to enter without assistance.”
“And Ben? My son?”
Aiden heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s still a mystery to us. We’ve made no progress in tracking Kiev. Truth be told, I have no clue where to even start. We have virtually no background on Kiev other than his stay at The Blood Keep. And we searched the whole place since he kidnapped Ben. The Keep is now empty, save for a few dogs. Kiev too could be in Cruor for all we know.”
I looked at Arron. “And you have nothing to add?”
“No.”
I breathed deeply. Ignore your emotions. They won’t help find your family. Focus, Novak. Focus.
“All right. For now, it appears that our only option is to put all our focus on Cruor. We’ll need the assistance of the Hawks again. God knows what we’ll find ourselves faced with at the end of that portal, if we even manage to enter it.”
I was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door. Aiden got up to open it. When Vivienne stepped into the room, my heart leapt. I jumped up and pulled her into my arms.
“Derek, I’ve been so worried about you,” she said breathlessly. “When you didn’t return Eli’s text… I didn’t know what to think.”
“I’m just about hanging on, Vivienne. I’m glad you arrived safely.” I kissed the top of her head. “What about the others who were headed here?”
“Claudia, Cameron, Zinnia, Gavin, Eli, Shadow, and Xavier’s brother Landis, they’re all here.”
“What of Ashley, Liana, Yuri and Xavier?”
Her lower lip trembled and tears filled her eyes. She looked down at the floor. That was enough of an answer. I wanted to comfort her, but we had no time for it now. We had to stop mourning the situation and put all our efforts into facing it.
I sat back down, anxious to resume our discussion. Storming The Keep was one thing. Barging into a different realm was entirely another. I knew the only person with true power to help us was the Ageless. It was our misfortune that she was the one person who was certain to never help us.
Just then, there was another knock at the door.
“Come in!” Aiden snapped. A young hunter rushed in. “What do you want?”
He lifted up a phone. “For Mr. Novak. Someone called Corrine is on the line.”
My heart leapt into my throat as I snatched the phone from him.
“Corrine?”
“Derek. I feel mad saying this out loud, but… Sofia just showed up at the hut.”
Chapter 5: Sofia
Now that the Elder had taken over my body, I was in a constant state of cold. The chill had settled within the marrow of my bones and made them ache. My eyes stung, yet I couldn’t blink. My vision was blurred; I could still see, but not clearly. I wanted to gasp for breath, yet I was not in control of my own windpipe.
Leave me… please! I begged.
My mouth opened in response.
“We have much work to do together, you and I.”
I shivered internally.
“And besides, you’re far too sumptuous a vessel to let go of before your expiry.” This time my body trembled—it was the Elder trembling through me, as if experiencing pleasure.
My legs carried me out of the temple and into the garden outside. The moon’s rays shone down on the clearing, allowing me to make out the shadows of three figures sitting in a circle on the lawn. As we drew close, I was horrified to see that I recognized all of them: Ashley, Liana and Yuri. Only they were not the same vampires I knew, just as I was no longer the Sofia they knew.
My legs folded beneath me and I dropped to the ground next to Ashley.
“Continue where we were. Before I left to change.”
I wondered if my friends had thoughts like I had. Whether they too were horrified to see me. If they were, I could not tell. Their eyes remained unfocussed and their faces void of expression. I assumed they saw the same in me.
It was Liana who spoke next, anger in her voice. “Did I not warn you that this might happen if too many of us rushed through at once? We are expiring too many vessels. We are exerting them far too much. And we are forgetting the purpose of our visit; we came here for a harvest.”
“I agree with you. If we were back on the other side of the gate, we’d never dream of engaging in such activities.” Ashley addressed me. “We are becoming complacent, forgetting that vessels are a far more precious commodity now than they were only a short while ago, thanks to the queen here.” She waved a hand toward me in disgust.
“I will ensure that this queen realizes her mistake, have no doubts about that,” my voice replied.
“We must call a ban on spoiling any more vessels,” Ashley said.
Yuri, who had been swigging from a bottle of wine, looked agitated. “We have been starving ourselves for too long! We’re already abstaining from immunes. To hell with more austerity! There are still plenty of vessels remaining on this island. And when we run out of supply? We go forth and create more.”
“Mindless fool. You know it’s not as easy as that any more. And what about all the human blood we have needlessly wasted?” Liana said. “I can’t stand watching it spilled on the ground by filthy game hounds! It’s fresh, hot blood that we should bring back for our own sustenance. We’ve had enough amusement. Now we must see to the preservation of our kind.”
From the way we were all speaking, it was now obvious to me that these were the key leaders of the whole operation. But the decisive tone my voice took on next made me realize that the Elder possessing me was even a step higher than the other three.
“We will call a ban on any further wastage; both humans and vessels.” Yuri opened his mouth to protest, but my voice bulldozed over him. “To accomplish this, all Elders—save for the four of us and a few dozen others who you think are best suited to assist us—must return through the gate. We can call on reinforcements as and when they become necessary.”
Ashley and Liana nodded in approval.
“Then, we organize the creation of more vessels. Only once we have collected enough to fill Cruor’s chambers will we resume our festivities. Is this understood?”
Yuri’s face twitched but it was clear that he was not about to argue.
My voice continued. “For now, we’ll keep all humans and vessels already on this island as they are currently situated: the humans in the lower levels of The Cells; the vessels in the upper levels. Once we’ve completed our procreation, we’ll call on more Elders to come back through the gate and help us transport them all back to Cruor in one swoop.”
“And the Hawks…” Liana began.
“The plan for the Guardians remains as it was,” I said, looking at Liana. “Go now and wait for me by the Port.”
We all stood up at once. Ashley and Yuri began walking toward The Vale; Liana to the Port; and myself toward The Cells. Using my vampire speed, the Elder rushed us past the giant redwoods until we arrived at the large wooden entrance.
As my Elder had mentioned, they had evacuated the humans from The Catacombs and stuffed them all into The Cells for ease of access. It sickened me to see the number of humans they held in each cell; they were caged like animals. Those who weren’t sleeping or unconscious looked up at me as I passed them.
“Sofia! Oh, thank God!”
“Please, help us!”
“Mom, look! Queen Sofia is back! I told you she’d come for us!”
I couldn’t even turn my head to see who was calling out to me. I was sure I heard the voice of a little girl among them. The Elder continued to march my body forward. The lighting was so dim that I doubted they could even see my face to understand that I had been possessed. They would think that I was ignoring their plight.
The
se were my people; they were dependent on Derek and me to rule them and give them protection. A wave of guilt hit me, crushing me into dust. Then fury boiled within me unlike any I had ever felt before.
This time when the Elder addressed me, he didn’t use my voice to speak out loud. It was as if he had read my thoughts and felt my emotions. I heard his hissing voice within my head.
“Save your sentiments for later, girl. I promise you’ll find better use for them.”
You won’t get away with this, you snake, I screamed in my head. Tears would have fallen from my eyes had I been in control of them. I thanked the heavens that, at least for the time being, no more blood was to be spilled.
After a few more minutes of this torture, we stopped in front of a cell. Inside, a person slumped on the floor. She crawled to the bars and started whimpering.
“Please, feed me! My stomach is burning! I’ll do whatever you want!”
She was a young woman wearing a torn black gown. Her face was brown with dirt and she looked like she hadn’t eaten in days.
“Silence, witch!” my cold voice said.
If she was a witch, I wondered to myself why on earth she allowed them to treat her this way. The Elder answered my curiosity within my own head.
Not all witches are as powerful as your Corrine.
It was disturbing to know that my every thought was exposed to this kind of evil.
I continued to speak: “I will feed you. But in return, you must polish my vessel. The same treatment as the last vessel we sent to you.”
The witch lost no time in gathering herself up from the ground. She staggered to the corner of her cell and started mixing some kind of concoction together—what exactly, I couldn’t see. Then she murmured a chant for several minutes, walked back over to the bars and threw a handful of powder into my eyes. The powder felt like acid and in my head, I cried out in pain. But after a few seconds the stinging subsided and my vision was as clear as it had been before my possession.