“I won’t ever forget what you’ve done for us, brother,” Erik choked, tears streaming down his cheeks. “And neither will Helina. I’ll make sure of it.”
I watched from the floor as he exited the cottage, still carrying our sister in his arms. He closed the door, and a few minutes later, I heard the creaking of coach wheels.
If Erik hurried, they would escape the village by dawn.
* * *
My father passed away the following night, and my mother followed him three days later. Once my shoulder had healed enough to bear the strain, I dug two graves in the garden, next to the rose bush, and laid them to rest.
The bitter thought occurred to me that I ought to dig my own grave while I was at it. For the day before I’d coughed up my first lot of blood.
I didn’t know how long the illness would take to disable me, and dying sick was bad enough to not want to die hungry as well.
That meant only one thing, since I’d run out of food and money in the cottage. Another trip up to the highway. Another robbery. The last one I’d ever need to make. And, God willing, this time without murdering anybody.
I decided to pick a spot a little further up the road than last time. By the time I arrived, it was well past midnight.
I sat myself down on a tree stump and waited. My ears ached for even the slightest crunching of gravel. Any distant whinnying. Any clattering of wheels. I waited for hours in vain. Nothing came that night, and as morning was about to break, I felt too frozen to move. I’d stayed sitting in one position for far too long.
My eyelids became heavy and I fell face forward into the snow, my limbs no longer capable of supporting me. As I began to lose myself to the darkness, a chilling wind whipped past me, rousing me to my senses. It was so biting, it was as though it was seeping into my very bones.
And then I heard it. A whisper… a rasping voice… drifted through the dark woods.
“You want food.”
At first I thought that it was the whistling of the wind through the trees playing tricks on my ears, my hunger and cold making me hallucinate.
But then it came again. “You want a cure.”
“Who are you?” I gasped.
“You miss your family.”
I managed to find the strength to sit up and look around me. I couldn’t see anyone. It was hard to even tell which direction it was coming from.
“I can give you everything you want.”
“Show yourself!”
A figure shot out from a tree a few feet away from me. A man, it seemed. He wore a long black cloak, his hood pulled down over his eyes. As he approached me, his walk was jerky. And his smell. It was the stench of rotting flesh.
“Follow me.”
What other choice did I have than to follow? Even if this stranger intended to murder me, I was dying anyway. The mention of food ringing in my ears, I found strength in my limbs again to stand up.
I followed him for hours, and he refused to answer any questions. It was a constant struggle trying to catch up with him. I’d wanted to walk side by side with him, but somehow, no matter how much faster I pushed myself to walk, he was always a few feet ahead of me. Finally, as I was on the verge of giving into numbness again, we entered a clearing and a magnificent dark castle came into view. A castle I’d had no idea ever existed. A castle I was sure our village didn’t know about either.
We walked through the courtyard up to the giant oak doors. I followed him inside.
“Welcome to The Blood Keep.”
His voice echoed around the chamber as the doors creaked closed behind us. And as they did, the man crumpled to the ground in a heap. His face became visible for the first time—that of a corpse. A rotting, maggot-infested corpse.
But it was too late now for second thoughts.
The Elder kept his promise.
Over the following years, he cured me of my mortality.
He provided me with more blood than a single vampire could consume.
He made himself my father and gave me new siblings.
In exchange, he dragged my soul to hell.
Chapter 1: Kiev
“Mona’s gone.”
I stared at Saira as she stood in the doorway of my room.
“Gone?”
“She left this note.” The werewolf handed me a piece of damp parchment with words scrawled in the witch’s florid handwriting. Don’t try to find me.
“It means that she left voluntarily.” Matteo appeared next to the werewolf. He placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, though he looked unsettled himself.
“I know what it means,” Saira snapped. “But why? And where?”
“Why the hell are you asking me?” I said.
“You became close to her,” Saira said, looking at me pointedly.
“Let’s get one thing straight, wolf.” I glared back. “I finished that stupid task you asked of me. Now I don’t know where the witch is. And I couldn’t care less.”
The wolf looked taken aback, and opened her mouth to argue. But Matteo, although he also looked surprised at my words, caught hold of Saira and tugged at her. I shut the door as they left.
The last words the witch had said to me replayed in my mind.
“I don’t want to ever see your face again.”
I’d sworn at that moment that I wouldn’t waste any more of my time on that impossible woman. Her erratic behavior was driving me crazy. And my inability to understand what was going through that twisted mind of hers was an endless cause of aggravation.
She was clearly insane.
And I already had my own insanity to deal with.
Now that I thought about it, I wasn’t even sure what had drawn me to her in the first place. Perhaps, because of Saira’s demand, I’d spent too much time thinking about her and that had let her get to me. I felt embarrassed and angry at what a fool I’d been to spend as much time with her as I had. At how low I’d stooped in catering to her demands.
Maybe it was all just my ego wanting to conquer the challenge.
Well, Mona isn’t a challenge. She’s a jumbled-up puzzle with missing pieces: a waste of time.
At least, after all that had happened, Saira would never argue about my place on this island. Which, of course, was the only reason I’d befriended Mona in the first place. So in that respect, the time I’d spent with her hadn’t been a complete waste.
Now, the first thing I had to do to was get the witch’s bitter taste out of my mouth.
As soon as Saira and Matteo had disappeared down the corridor, I ran toward Lorena’s room and knocked.
When there was no answer, I forced the door open. It was empty. I exited the tunnels and headed toward the wall. Since it was nighttime, most of the vampires would be outside.
“Is Lorena on duty tonight?” I asked the first vampire I came across.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “You’ll probably find her in the witch’s cabin. I heard Lorena claimed it for herself soon after the witch left.”
I turned and made my way toward the lake. Indeed, the lanterns in the lake house were lit. I jumped into the lake and swam toward the cabin.
I realized as soon as I flung the door open and saw the beautiful vampire standing in the middle of the room, wearing Mona’s deep blue dress and earrings, that I was going to relish every moment of this evening.
There was no better place to put all thoughts of Mona to rest than with a different woman in Mona’s own cabin. It was as if Mona never existed and Lorena had lived here all along—even her clothes now belonged to Lorena.
Lorena’s lips parted in surprise. Then she scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I thought you didn’t want me.”
I looked at her with heat in my eyes. I walked to her and pulled her lips against mine, tasting them hungrily. There was barely a moment of resistance from her once I’d gripped her waist. She reached for my clothes and ripped them off, as I did hers. Lowering her down on the mattress, I touched
and tasted every part of her.
We made love until morning.
Pushing her off me, I rolled over on my stomach. It was only then that I noticed the faint smell of blood. Witch blood. A patch of blood stained the floor about two feet away from the mattress. Perhaps Mona was injured when she left me and I just didn’t notice at the time.
Lorena said, “There was quite a lot more of that when I first got here. I licked most of it off the floor. Ugh. Her blood tastes bland. Just like the rest of her. I really have no idea what ever attracted you to her.”
I ran my hands along Lorena’s hips and caressed her neck with my lips.
“I don’t know why either,” I whispered. “Perhaps the witch isn’t so powerless after all. Because I have no idea why I’d reject you for that little wench.”
Lorena smiled from ear to ear and drew my head down toward her, her tongue pushing between my lips. As her heat intensified, I found myself coughing.
Startled, she drew away.
My throat went dry all of a sudden, and a sharp pain throbbed in my head—the likes of which I hadn’t felt since I was a human. It was like an intense migraine. I sat up in bed.
“What’s wrong?” Lorena asked, squeezing my shoulder.
She pulled herself upright next to me and placed a palm over my forehead. She withdrew it instantly, as though I’d given her an electric shock.
“Kiev, your forehead! It’s… it’s warm.”
I brushed her hand aside and turned away from her as I coughed again. This time, specks of blood sprayed out of my mouth, landing next to Mona’s dried blood on the floor.
What is going on?
Chapter 2: Mona
I’d lost count of how many days I’d been traveling. I’d begun to believe that I might perish in the ocean before arriving at my destination. But finally, in the early morning hours, I caught sight of it in the distance.
I inhaled sharply. The ogres’ kingdom appeared even more terrifying than the rumors had made it out to be. I pulled my shawl closer around my shoulders as a gust of sea wind chilled me to the bone.
The island consisted almost entirely of black mountain ranges. A towering stone wall surrounded the island. As I drew nearer, screams and shouts rang in the distance, and the beating of ceremonial drums.
There were countless rumors about this place. But one was agreed upon by everyone:
He who ventures in doesn’t venture out.
I pulled the dolphins to a stop once we approached the beach, unpacked the small bundle of personal belongings I’d taken with me, and jumped out of the boat into the shallow water. I cut the dolphins free from the boat and they swam away.
I would have no more use for them.
Shaking, I walked across the sand until I reached the giant iron gate, spiked with what appeared to be human skulls. I knocked with all the force I could muster, yet it sounded pathetic against the thick metal.
I knocked again.
When there was still no answer, I shouted out, my voice trembling:
“Open the gate!”
I shouted for several minutes until eventually, there was a deafening crack—the sound of a large bolt being drawn—and the gates swung open.
Standing before me were two ogres—each easily five times my size. They wore nothing other than loin cloths made of animal skin around their rotund waists. Their leathery skin was a muddy brown, their dark tusks stained with… I didn’t want to know.
Before I could say a word, one of them grabbed my arm and flung me over his shoulder. He ran, and since I was hanging upside down with my stomach against his back, it was hard to even make sense of my surroundings, or where he was taking me.
Though I didn’t miss the sound of the gates clanging shut.
Finally, he stopped running and let go of me. I fell face forward onto a cold stone floor. Wincing and rubbing my head, I looked around. I was in the corner of a small empty hall—within one of the mountains, I was sure, since the walls were jagged rock. The place was poorly lit—there were only a handful of dim lanterns for the whole room.
Keys clanked behind me and I turned around to look at the ogre. He was standing outside a large door, fumbling to open it. When he managed it, we were hit by a wave of screams echoing through the darkness.
He swung me over his shoulder again as he entered through the door and began walking down a staircase.
“Wait!” I shouted over the noise. “I need to speak to your king.”
He made a sound that sounded halfway between a grunt and a chuckle.
He continued walking down the steps and once he reached the bottom, he lowered me to the ground again—a little more gently this time. I stood up and looked around me. We were in an enormous low-ceilinged dungeon. Every inch of it seemed to be covered with cells, except for some narrow pathways winding between them. The place reeked of sweat and mold. Again, this place was poorly lit, but I could just about make out the prisoners—all humans, it appeared. Hundreds of them.
I wondered how they could have gotten hold of so many. Though I didn’t have time to wonder for long. The ogre gripped my arm and dragged me forward. He stopped outside an empty cell and flung me in, locking the door after me.
“Wait!” I shouted again. “No! I need you to take me to your king.”
The ogre’s laugh was more pronounced this time.
“Why would the king waste his time on you?”
“I’ve come to offer my services, but I need to speak to him specifically… please. Tell him I want a meeting.”
He rolled his eyes and walked off. I prayed that he’d do as I had requested.
Now that the ogre was gone, I looked more carefully around at the prisoners. I realized that they were all female. Perhaps the men are kept separately in yet another dungeon.
The dungeon door slammed shut. The ogre had left. The screams of the women died down. But the cries didn’t. That was when I realized how many women were cradling babies. And those who weren’t appeared pregnant.
I gasped and my knees weakened.
The rumors are true.
I sank to the floor. As I sat there, I realized that since I had no magic, I was really no different than any of these human women.
Except that I’d entered these gates of hell by choice.
Chapter 3: Kiev
I could diagnose most human illnesses. But I had lived for centuries and had never come across a vampire being sick with anything other than his own darkness.
I wondered whether the sickness could be connected to the sudden change of my eye color. I still had no idea what had caused that either. And although I was relieved that my eyes were no longer red, it unnerved me that I had no idea why.
After the migraine and coughing persisted for three days in a row, I visited Matteo in his room. Lorena suggested that he might have come across a phenomenon like this in his years of experience.
To my annoyance, when Matteo opened the door, Giles, the tall blond haired vampire I’d once saved Mona from, was sitting there too. As soon as he saw me enter, his cordial expression turned into a scowl.
I eyed him and looked at Matteo. “I need to speak to you. Privately.”
Matteo nodded to Giles, who shot me a glare. “How about Kiev waits until I finish my conversation with you?”
“No, I think we’re done anyway, Giles. What did you want, Kiev?”
Giles made sure to shove against my shoulder as he headed out. I restrained the urge to punch him in the mouth. Instead I sat down in Giles’ place.
I looked at Matteo.
“Have you ever come across a vampire who was… ill? I mean physically sick. The sensation of a migraine in your head. Coughing blood.”
His expression was enough to tell me that he hadn’t.
“You’re experiencing these symptoms?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
I got up abruptly to leave. I still felt guilty for what I’d put Matteo through every time I looked him in the eye, and since he obviously c
ouldn’t help with this, I didn’t want to waste his time with my personal issues.
I left the room and shut the door.
“Serves you right for driving Mona out.”
Giles appeared from around the corner of the corridor as soon as I emerged.
The grating tone of his voice combined with my headache was more than enough to make me snap. I wrestled him to the ground and began to shower his face with punches.
Matteo’s door opened.
“What the hell is this?” Matteo shouted. “Cut it out.” I felt his hands around my waist as he yanked me off Giles. “Get lost, Kiev. And Giles, watch your mouth. You two…”
I shot one last glare at Giles before rushing out of the tunnels. I didn’t stop running until I’d reached the beach and dipped my feet in the ocean. The sea air calmed my migraine slightly, but it couldn’t dull the unnerved feeling this strange illness was causing me.
I decided that it was safer if I stayed outside the walls of the settlement, at least for the moment. I would be less likely to slice through Giles’ throat. I didn’t trust myself at all right now. The pain eating away at me made it difficult to think straight.
I didn’t return to the tunnels that night. It felt better lying down in the open, on the beach.
Though the migraine made my body crave sleep, the pain didn’t allow it. Lying down in one place only made me think more about the pain, so over the next few nights, I went for walks around the island—outside of the walls, away from all the people and noise. And to shelter from the sun during the day, I stayed in a cave I’d managed to find.
Lorena came out to see me, but even her I didn’t feel like spending time with. The sound of anyone’s voice set a rattle off in my head and made it more unbearable.
Finally, one evening as I was doing my rounds around the island, Matteo approached me.
“Kiev.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going on with you. Whether this is you being affected by Mona’s leaving—”
“This has got nothing to do with that,” I snapped.