“Why did you bring me here?” I demanded, concerned about the lack of advantage I had in the confines of this car. My fists could probably take on all of these men, but not Varick. And Belmont knew it. He'd brought me here on purpose, to hurt me, corner me. And the stupid thing was, he was wrong. In part anyway. I didn't work for his brother. But I supposed someone like Belmont would suspect such a thing. He was too proud to believe a poor servant could con him alone.
“Because I'm going to make you watch your girl die. As punishment. I made a deal with Abraham to bring her here.”
“You're mad!” I cried. “You can't do this.”
“It's already done,” Belmont said, stepping closer to me. “And when she's dead, I'll have you strung upside down from a tree, slit your throat and leave you for the Vampires.”
I backed up, my muscles tensing all over. No. This is not happening.
“I don't work for your brother,” I growled.
“Liar.” Belmont spat at my feet.
I glanced at Varick who seemed less than amused by these revelations. The car door was still open. One of the men had discarded a gun on the seat beside it. My only option was staring me in the face.
I'm coming for you Evangeline.
I lunged forward, snatched the gun and stepped out of the car.
JONAH
A small ledge of metal ringed the cable car, allowing me to move around it, side-stepping along. The frigid wind bit at my cheeks. The drop would certainly kill me. But I had to get down there somehow. Had to get to Evangeline.
“For Christ's sake,” Varick growled, leaning out of the car. “Get back inside.”
“No!” I shouted, shuffling further along the ledge.
Belmont was laughing. “Fall to your death then. That will hardly save her.”
My knuckles turned white as I clung to the metal casing of the car. It was ice-cold and sent goosebumps sprawling up my arms. The car was moving toward a tall support tower of metal struts. At this speed, we'd move through it in less than a minute. I just had to hold on till then. But what would come next made fear drive a dagger into my heart.
“Shit, shit, shit.” I closed my eyes, steadying my breathing.
“Go fetch him,” Belmont ordered Varick.
Varick gave him a cool look before stepping out onto the edge of the car, following me. He moved easily around it, the fall evidently giving him no cause for concern.
I aimed the gun at him. “Stop,” I commanded.
He let out a frustrated sigh. “Just get back inside, you fool.”
The car wobbled as we lifted into the square gap in the tower. I almost lost my footing, clinging wildly to the side of the car, my fingers going numb from how tightly I was holding on.
We were fifty feet up. But I had to do this. For Evangeline.
Bracing myself, the car slid into the gap in the tower. And that was it. I had to jump. I had no time left to question it. I cried out, leaping forward, reaching for the bars. I slammed into a steel strut, gripping it with all my might and bracing my feet on the one below. I glanced back, spying Varick holding onto the cable car with one arm, his dark cape billowing around him in the wind. The car slid out of the tower and Belmont and the other spectators gazed at me in surprise.
Evidently I wasn't worth pursuing, because Varick stepped smoothly back inside the car and shut the door.
I was left in darkness with only a dim red light shining atop the tower, the moon now sheathed in clouds.
What have I done?
I was fifty feet up above a forest full of Vampires. And the only thing I could do was keep going, try to make it to Evangeline. I conjured the image of her soft features, her shining eyes.
Slowly, I started to descended, carefully moving from one bar to the next. Some of the struts glimmered with frost, making my shoes slip and slide as I went.
My heart was in my throat.
My biceps strained as I lowered myself to the next level. Down, down, down, until the frozen ground was only a few feet below me. I dropped onto it, stumbling as I regained my balance. I gazed up at the tower, at the cable cars travelling off into the distance toward the lighthouse.
That was where I'd last seen Evangeline. So that was where I had to go. I started in that direction, moving away from the dark forest behind me.
Fear bloomed in my chest. I gripped the gun tighter. I wasn't accustomed to guns, but it seemed fairly self-explanatory. Aim and pull the trigger. I could do that.
I quickened my marching pace to a jog.
Screams carried to me on the night air, making my blood curdle.
A howling wind swept across the plain before me. I was so exposed. If a Vampire was close, it would soon spot me out here.
I ran on, sprinting in the direction of the lighthouse.
A woman shrieked behind me.
I turned, spotting her flying toward me from the trees. She wore an ebony cape, almost as dark as her skin. She tore in my direction, the whites of her eyes like moonlight. I slowed my pace as she caught up with me, gripping my arm. Her nails were bloody and torn, the white stake in her hand caked with dark blood. She lifted it, slamming it toward my chest.
I cried out, knocking her arm aside, a wild glint in her eye. She threw her weight at me, trying to aim the stake again. “Devil!” she screamed at me.
In a moment of clarity, I realised she thought I was one of them. The Vampires.
“I'm human!” I snapped, blocking another blow and shoving her back with a ferocity I would never normally have used against a woman. But she seemed crazed with fear, diving at me again with slashing blows. The stake tore down my arm and blood spilled. I pushed her hard and she hit the ground.
“I'm not a Vampire,” I insisted, stepping back.
She gazed up at me, shaking her head, clearly not convinced. But as her eyes sailed over me, the truth shone in them. But before I could help her up, a shadow descended on us. The near-naked body of a woman dove over the girl, barreling into me. Her mouth clamped around the wound on my arm, sucking like a demon creature. I kicked out hard, trying to get her off, but her strength was unfathomable. Her nails raked across my skin as she drank from me. A powerful strike from her hand knocked me to the ground and she scrambled up my body like wraith, sinking her teeth into my neck. I shouted out in agony, bringing the gun up, pressing it to her temple. With a bang that made my ears ring, she fell atop me, dead.
I threw her limp body off of me. The girl in the dark cloak was gone. I spotted her sprinting off in the distance toward the lighthouse.
I scrambled to my feet, clasping my bleeding neck. I started running, growing woozy as the blood poured hot and fast down my front.
Panic snared my heart.
I stumbled in the direction the girl had taken, half blind as my vision clouded. The girl ahead of me glanced over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing. I nearly fell as my foot caught on a large rock.
The girl called out to me and I was just able to hear her on the wind. “Drink the blood! It will heal you!”
My first thought was that she'd gone mad. The second, that she meant my own blood. Then the answer came to me in a moment of clarity. Blackish blood was sprayed down my cape from where I'd shot the Vampire. I wiped a drop onto my fingers, my legs starting to give out.
I grimaced, unsure if this would work, but it was either that or collapse here and become food for the Vampires. I licked it from my fingers and a sickly, metallic taste rolled down my throat. I had to force myself not to spit it out, but after a moment, my vision began to clear. The throbbing ache in my neck eased away and I found my pace picking up.
Impossible.
Somehow, my body was healing and I was soon running flat out, charging directly toward the rocky black slice of land that led to the lighthouse. I caught up with the girl who'd helped me, panting a thank you. She ignored me, her eyes set on the lighthouse ahead.
Light poured over me as a cable car passed overhead, the cable running directly over the rocky o
utcrop.
Men called out to me, heckling me. And Abraham's booming voice followed. “Get out of my game you insolent boy!”
I didn't look back as I reached the lighthouse door, throwing it open. The girl followed me inside, panting heavily.
I sprinted up the stone stairs before me, lit by torches on the walls. The flames thawed out my frozen bones as I ran, hunting for my Evangeline. I tore into a large room, finding girls gathered around a table of food.
I spotted her amongst the group, her golden hair like a beacon to me.
“Eve!” I cried, running toward her. She turned, her eyes wide and alarmed. A slim cut ran across her cheek, but apart from that, she looked miraculously well.
“Jonah?” she gasped as I barreled into her, crushing her to my chest.
She let out a noise of relief, gripping me tightly. “Is it truly you? How is it possible?”
“Belmont brought me here,” I murmured into her hair. She smelt like fresh pine.
Her lips found mine and the world dimmed. Her mouth was puffy and cold. I kissed her until she felt at least as warm as me.
Adrenaline bled through my muscles. I needed to get her out of here. And fast.
“Have you come to save us?” a small voice asked and I broke apart from Eve, keeping her hand in mine. The girls looked to me with wide, hopeful eyes and my gut constricted uncomfortably.
“I -er-”
“No, he hasn't.” Varick strode into the room, looking fierce. He slammed the door behind him with a bang that echoed through the entire lighthouse. His eyes were pinned on me, full of hellfire. I pushed Evangeline behind me, my stance aggressive.
“Let us go,” I snarled.
Varick folded his arms, his eyes narrowing. “You can walk out of here without protest, or you can choose the more painful option. And trust me when I say, there is no one on this island protecting you. I make you this offer once. And once only. Life or death. Which will it be?”
Eve's nails tore into my arms. “Go with him, Jonah. I can't see you hurt.”
“You'll die out here,” I growled, shaking my head.
“Not for certain,” she breathed against my neck.
She was so strong, stronger than I ever knew. “I won't leave you,” I whispered, but Varick evidently heard.
“You will, or you'll die.”
Evangeline stepped around me, her stake raised, the white tip crusted with blood. What had she done already to survive? It pained me to think of it. A few more of the girls stepped forward, stakes raised, including the girl I'd met out on the plain.
“He's just one Vampire,” Evangeline said to the others and more joined her sides, some of their hands shaking as they raised their weapons.
I took the gun from where I'd stuffed it in my waistband, keeping close to Eve's side as I pointed it at Varick.
Varick sighed wearily. “You cannot wi-”
I took the shot - BANG.
Varick stumbled back as the bullet hit his shoulder. He clasped the wound, pain flaring in his eyes. His upper lip peeled back on a snarl.
“They're silver bullets!” one of the girls cried. “Shoot him again!”
I stepped forward, but Varick flew at me, a blur in the room, knocking me to the ground. The breath left my lungs from the force he used, my spine slamming into the floorboards. I clawed at his thick shoulders, but his skin was like iron. He cracked my head back against the floor and a groan left my mouth.
I managed to press the barrel to his side and took another shot. He lurched sideways, roaring his anger.
“Run, Eve!” I cried and several pairs of footsteps pounded through the room.
As Varick tore at his shirt, ripping it from his chest to reach the wounds, I got to my feet. I spied him digging his finger into the first bullet hole and I grimaced as he squeezed it out. The wound knitted over and I started running. As soon as the second bullet was free, I was done for.
Eve was waiting for me by the door, the other girls having evacuated, apart from one who was rocking back and forth on the floor. Eve tried to go to her, but I took her wrist, dragging her out into the dark stairwell. “There's no time to help!”
We fled down the stairs two at a time, barely slowing as we pushed through the door.
The girls were sprinting along the cliff edge. In the distance I spied the hulking shadow of the castle, the lights of the cable cars drawing closer to it as they returned to the station.
The whinny of a horse caught my ear and I tugged Eve to a halt, listening. In a nearby copse, I spied a flickering light. On instinct, I tugged Eve in that direction, shaking my head when she went to call out to the other girls.
“We need to split up, it's our best chance,” I hissed, smothering the guilt in my gut. I couldn't help them all. It wasn't possible.
Eve's brows pulled together, but she nodded, gripping my hand. We darted into the trees, slowing our pace. I spied a thick silver fence of bars ringing a large corral. Horses moved in and out of a stable, nearly thirty of them. The scent of manure filled the air.
Carefully, I laid my hand against one of the silver bars. It was icy to the touch. The bars were close together. I'd barely squeeze through them, but Evangeline would make it just fine.
“Can you manage?” I asked, but she was already halfway through, sliding under the lowest bar and into the muddy pen.
A snarl sounded behind me and shudder rolled down my spine.
“Open the gate,” I urged, gesturing toward it several metres away. I followed her along the fence to where the gate was, but it was bolted with a large padlock.
A crack of twigs made me turn toward the trees.
“Jonah!” Eve gasped just as a heavy weight collided with me. I was thrown back against the bars, my spine pressing hard into the gate. A bony Vampire slashed at me, his eyes bloodshot and desperate. His filthy nails raked over my arms as I tried to hold him off. But my strength started to fail.
I felt Eve's hands roaming over my sides, her frantic breaths in my ear. She pulled the gun from my waistband and a loud shot went off that reverberated through the gate behind me.
The gate swung inward and I hit the ground, throwing up my forearm as the Vampire fell atop me and sunk his fangs into it. Another shot was fired and the thing fell dead atop me. Eve came into view, the gun smoking at the barrel. She was more beautiful in that moment than she'd ever been. Wild and fierce. Something I'd never realised I wanted in a woman until right then.
I threw the Vampire from me and Eve tugged my arm to help me up. It was bleeding profusely and Eve quickly ducked down to the dead creature, pressing her fingers into the gunshot between its eyes. I grimaced as she stood, holding her hand up to my mouth.
“Drink,” she whispered, her hand trembling. I took her wrist, sucking the blood from her fingers, disgusted at the shameful act. But it was worth it as the skin on my arm knitted together and I heaved a sigh. I ran a thumb across Eve's cheek. It seemed suddenly apparent that we didn't know each other that well at all. That my time courting her had been pleasant, but we'd barely scratched the surface of who we really were. And Eve was turning out to be more amazing than I could ever have imagined. Not that I would have wished these circumstances on us for the world. But it made me more certain than ever of my feelings toward her.
“Come,” she said quietly, leading me into the corral. The horses were spooked by the gunshots, most of them gathered together at one end. I tugged the gate shut in case another Vampire decided to try its luck.
One of the horses had returned to eating hay from a bag hanging on the stable wall. He was white and large. I could tell it was male because of the enormously obvious reason hanging between its legs. He was clearly less frightened than the others, so he was probably our best bet. I'd ridden horses all my life. Preferred it to riding in carriages, in fact. But Eve seemed less confident as I led her toward the animal.
I searched the barn for a bridle and saddle, carrying them out under my arm. Eve rubbed the horse's flank as I s
addled it. The animal barely seemed to notice as he continued to eat.
“Where will we go?” Eve whispered as I locked my hands together to give her a boost up onto the horse.
“To the docks.” I couldn't think of another option. We had to get off this island. And fast.
“They'll expect us to head there,” Eve said in alarm.
I frowned. She was probably right. Perhaps it was best to lie low for a while until Abraham's men stopped looking for us. I lifted Eve up onto the horse. “We'll head to the castle then and find somewhere to hide out.”
Eve nodded. “Alright. I trust you.” She squeezed my wrist as I pulled myself up behind her, locking my arms around her waist as I took hold of the reins.
I turned the horse about, kicking his sides to get him moving toward the gate. We slid out of the corral and Eve leant down to close the gate behind us.
“They'll eat the horses,” she breathed and I pressed a kiss to her frozen cheek. Even now, she cared about such things.
I encouraged the horse into a trot, moving across the land toward the forest. We'd be safer under cover. And I could follow the line of the cables above the canopy to guide our way back.
We were soon moving at a good speed, but Eve began to shiver, taking the brunt of the wind. I wrapped my arms tighter around her, pulling her back against me, my cheek pressed against hers.
We soon broke through the trees and ahead of us the jutting stone walls of the castle rose up toward the night sky. I moved us into the shadow of the leering east tower, hugging the wall as we trotted around the shadowy edge of it.
I hunted for a way in, but the lowest window was at least two stories above us.
Eve ran her thumbs over my hands which felt frozen onto the reins.
“Keep looking,” she urged.
We'd almost reached the cable car station and I grew anxious about Varick out here hunting for us. The cars had stopped moving and the fire was burning low inside the building. I guided the horse toward it, slowing to a gentle walk. As we approached, I dropped down, creeping forward and gazing into the station through a small window.
Empty.
A Game of Vampires Page 4