by N. P. Martin
"Not to mention darker."
"Darker? Perhaps. It depends largely on what you use it for, like any magic."
I had to admit, the idea of staying a vampire was somewhat appealing, but at the same time, it just didn’t feel right. For a start, I didn’t like the idea of outliving everyone that I knew and loved. It also felt like I was betraying my parents’ legacy, not to mention their honor, by becoming the very creature that killed them both in the first place. No, the sooner I could kill my maker the better, so I could then get back to being the person I was born and raised to be, which is myself.
"So what happened after you were brought into the Ó Duinn fold?" I asked, prompting her to get back to telling her story, if only to distract me from the fact that I now knew she had knowledge that I was in need of, knowledge which she refused to hand over for whatever reason.
"Magdalena treated me as her own," she said. "To all intents and purposes I was her daughter."
"What was she like?"
"Fierce, uncompromising, beautiful, sometimes cruel."
"Cruel to you?"
"Not so much to me, more toward Constantine and Darick. I think they both reminded her of her husband, who was apparently cruel to her."
"And where was he at?"
"Dead, killed by another vampire king in some internal clan feud years before I came along." She paused. "Despite her near hatred of her husband, I think she was lonely after he died, which is perhaps why she turned me."
"For the company," I said sarcastically. "How nice."
"You wouldn’t be so judgmental after being around for a couple of thousand years. The loneliness is perhaps the worst part of being a vampire."
"You were recommending it to me earlier."
"I know. I suppose loneliness is something all creatures have in common."
"I think you’re right. It’s a curse of life."
"Anyway," she said, moving on. "Because of the way Magdalena treated me, it wasn’t long before my brothers got resentful and spiteful toward me, resulting in some very cruel behavior."
"In what way?"
She looked away for a moment as if she was debating whether to tell me. Then she just said it. "My brothers raped me. Repeatedly."
If I wasn’t a vampire, my shock probably would’ve been more than it was. "That’s…terrible."
"Yes. Darick especially could get very violent and sadistic with it."
"No surprise there. Why didn’t your mother stop it?"
"Magdalena didn’t know about it. I was warned that if she found out I would be killed, along with the entire Druid Church I belonged to."
I shook my head. "I can understand Darick doing what he did, but Constantine, not so much. It takes a certain mindset to want to rape somebody, and Constantine doesn’t strike me as the type, unless I have him completely wrong…"
"He usually isn’t that way inclined, but he wanted to punish me."
"Because Mommy wasn’t giving him enough attention?" I scoffed.
"Not exactly. Magdalena was grooming me to be a future queen, which meant I would lead the entire Ó Duinn clan, which used to be a lot bigger than it is now."
"I see. So Constantine thought he should be king."
"Yes."
"So why didn’t he just kill you?"
"He tried to eventually, once he got tired of all the cruelty." She shook her head as if the memory still haunted her. "He came to my room when I was sleeping and tried to stake me. The only thing that saved me was Magdalena walking in on him."
"Lucky you."
"She banished Constantine after that. Darick went with him of his own accord."
"So then what happened? How did your brothers end up back again?"
"They both returned about fifty years later, with an army in tow, laying siege to the castle. Constantine killed Magdalena himself."
I shook my head. "That’s cold, killing you own mother. How did you escape?"
"I fought them both. Constantine nearly killed me as well, but I used my magic to escape."
"And what, you’ve been on the run ever since? How many years now?"
She shrugged. "Centuries. I’ve lost count."
"And you’ve never returned to Ireland until now?"
"No."
I stared at her a moment as I processed everything she had told me. "So why now, after all these years?"
"Because I want what’s mine, what was supposed to go to me in the first place."
"Why couldn’t you have gathered an army of your own by now? You’ve had long enough to do it."
"I have. Twice. Both times I failed."
"So what makes you think you’ll succeed this time?"
She nodded her head slightly at me. "You."
"Me?" I said scoffing at the notion, especially now that I knew what the brothers were capable of. "That makes no sense."
"Maybe not to you at this point, but to others it does."
I frowned. "Others?"
Adrina nodded. "There’s much you don’t know."
"Fucking clearly! Maybe you’d like to fill me in then."
"I can’t."
Shaking my head, I gritted my teeth as I tried to contain my anger. "What do you mean you can’t? If there’s shit happening that concerns me, I have a right to know about it."
"Maybe, but it’s not up to me to tell you."
I suddenly flew out of my seat in a rage, shocking myself at the speed at which I did so, crossing the room to where Adrina was sitting in the blink of an eye. I could feel my eyes burning as I stared down at her. "Tell me who it is up to," I growled, my fangs partially down.
Adrina stared silently at me for a second, and then suddenly jumped out of her seat, her hand around my throat before I could do anything. The next thing I knew, I was being lifted into the air before being slammed down hard onto the floor. Adrina’s face was above me as she kneeled heavily on my chest, her hand still around my throat. Her own fangs were down now, and her eyes burned red. "Mind your anger around me child," she hissed. "I won’t hesitate to hurt you if you don’t start showing me respect as your elder."
My anger continued to course through me for another moment before I looked away from her. A second later, she let me go and I stood up to face her, the two of us staring at each other for a long moment. "You tell me you need me, but you don’t say why exactly," I said. "I don’t like being kept in the dark."
Adrina took a step closer. "The dark is all around you now, Corvin," she said. "You’d better get used to it."
Chapter 15
After our conversation, Adrina advised me to rest since my body was still getting used to the changes brought about by the virus running through me. She directed me to one of the bedrooms upstairs, then said she was going out for a while, and that she would be back later to discuss plans. I barely nodded at her, thinking it something of a joke that she would mention discussing plans when she was steadfastly refusing to give me the whole story. She must have sensed my frustrations, as she said before leaving, "Things will be made clear soon enough. Do I have your trust, Corvin?"
Despite everything, I nodded. "Yes."
"Good. Don’t leave the house until I get back."
When she left, I sat on the edge of the fourposter bed in the large room, staring hard at the floor as I tried to wrap my head around everything. Assuming Adrina wasn’t screwing with me—and I didn’t think she was—then it was obvious that she was a part of this group that seemed to have taken such an interest in me lately. Whoever these people were, they seemed to be Druids of some kind, and I was guessing the symbol on the medallion represented them. Are they a cult? I wondered. It was staring to seem like it, and if that was the case, then clearly my mother was involved with it as well. And if the cult referred to themselves as serpents of some kind, then that must somehow make me a 'serpent son'.
I shook my head, confused and frustrated. The whole thing sounded bloody ridiculous. Even if my mother was a part of this cult or order, that didn’t mean I was
a part of it as well. Or maybe it did, in their minds anyway, by some sort of default. If so, what was expected off me? What would happen if I just told this mysterious order or cult to go fuck themselves and leave me alone? Would they kill me?
"Jesus…" My head was spinning and I felt like I needed to lie down, which I did, climbing on top of the bed and closing my eyes, hearing the blood rushing in my ears as the gnawing hunger lurked in the background like an ever-present ghoul. How did vampires put up with it, the thirst that was like another presence inside you, especially the very old ones? I’d only been a vampire for al of five minutes and I was ready to go insane thanks to the thirst. The sooner I get back to normal, I told myself, the better.
But first I had to kill Darick, which would be no easy task, even if I was now more powerful as a vampire. Darick had been living a life of sadistic violence for millennia now. Violence came as easily to him as breathing, which made him a formidable opponent.
And yet Adrina seemed to think I stood a chance against him, even though she wouldn’t say why, like I was the bloody chosen one or something.
Somebody better have answers soon, I thought, or I’m going to have to start forcing answers out of people.
Not that I would be able to force much out of Adrina mind you. She had already proved her superior strength over me. But at least she seemed willing to help me with the matter, which I guess I should be grateful for, even if she was doing everything in her own time.
As I lay staring at the ceiling, I began to feel the hunger stirring in my belly once more. Pretty soon all I could think about was my thirst for blood, to the point where it seemed like there was crimson around the edges of my vision as though blood was seeping over my eyeballs. So not only was I thinking red, I was seeing red as well.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I got up and left the room, going downstairs to find the kitchen. Once I’d located it, I gravitated first toward the fridge, expecting to find bags of blood or at least a container full inside, but instead I found nothing, which caused me to grip the fridge door so hard the metal began to dent under my fingertips. "Goddamn it!"
I spent the next twenty minutes searching the downstairs of the house for blood, becoming gradually more worked up as it became clear that I wasn’t going to find anyway. The gnawing in my belly was getting so bad that it doubled me over in pain twice, causing my fangs to come through as I growled in frustration. Eventually, I forced myself to stop and closed my eyes for a while as I leaned back against the wall in the kitchen. When I had managed to calm myself down enough, I decided to go outside and get some air to see if that would help. In the living room, I searched through a number of drawers until I was able to find pair of sunglasses, which I put on before leaving the house. It seemed too bright around the shore of the lough, so I headed around the back of the house instead, eventually making my way into the oak woodland. It was better there, less bright, and the trees gave my light sensitive skin much needed shade from the afternoon sun.
I had barely stepped inside the woods when my phone rang inside my jacket. Pulling out the phone I saw it was Dalia calling, and for a moment I thought about not answering because I knew that I would have to lie to her if I did, which I didn’t like doing. But then I realized that if I didn’t answer, she would get worried and could possibly come up north here looking for me, and I didn’t want that. So despite how shitty I was feeling, I put on a fake smile and answered the phone. "D," I said, maybe a little too exuberantly. "How are things?"
"Are you okay?" she asked straight away. "You sound…off."
"Off?" I shook my head as I walked deeper into the woods. "I’m fine, just a bit tired. I think I drank too much after the gig last night."
"That doesn’t sound like you at all."
"Ha ha."
"Did any vampires pay you a visit yet?"
"Em…" I still wasn’t sure what to tell her. There was no way I was going to tell her I was a bloody vampire, that was for sure. "It’s been quiet here so far actually. If Constantine knows I’m here, he hasn’t let it be known yet."
"That doesn’t mean he won’t."
"I know, which is why I’m working on a plan."
"What plan?"
I shook my head. "It’s still in the early stages."
Dalia sighed. "You still don’t have a plan, do you?"
"No, not yet. I’ll think of something though, don’t worry."
"That’s what I’m worried about."
"You’re the second person to say that to me."
"Oh, who else said it?"
"Amelia."
"Meaning you shagged her before you left for Belfast."
I chuckled slightly, the pain in my stomach ensuring I finished with a slight groan. "What of it?"
"Are you sure you’re all right?"
"I just have a headache, that’s all. So what are you up to you? Working with Davey?"
"Yeah," she said after a second. "I’ve moved in with him actually."
"Really? Isn’t he a little old for you?"
"Shut up, you know what I mean. It just made sense if I’m going to be learning under him."
I smiled. "That’s great, D. I’m glad to hear you’re finding some stability at last."
"Yeah," Dalia said, which is all I heard because my eyes were now fixed on something about a hundred yards in front of me. A deer that was busy munching on the leaves of a shrub. As my eyes zeroed in on the animal, all I could hear was its heart beat and the blood pumping through its veins. It wasn’t long before I was gripped by the thirst again, and all I could think about was sinking my fangs into the neck of the deer so I could drink from it.
"Corvin?" Dalia was saying, her voice suddenly rushing back. "Are you still there? Hello?"
"I have to go now, D," I said in a slightly faraway voice, my eyes never leaving the deer up ahead. "I’ll call you later."
Before she could say anything else, I hung up and put the phone inside my jacket again, just as a sense of excitement overcame me. A thrill, to be more accurate. The thrill of the hunt.
Crouching down low, I made my way as silently as possible through the woods, staying close to the trees and as downwind as possible from the deer. Anytime the deer stopped eating to look around, I would freeze and stay hidden behind a tree or down low in the undergrowth. Then as soon as the deer resumed its munching, I would move again.
Eventually, I got to within ten yards or so without alerting the deer to my presence. I was on autopilot by this point, nothing more than a predator on the hunt for food, with no thought for what I was doing. It all felt completely natural.
Between me and the deer, there was a clearing. When I felt sure the animal couldn’t sense my presence, I made a mad dash across the clearing toward it. In the space of barely a second, I was soon on top of the shocked and frightened deer, wrestling it to the ground, holding its head down as I sank my fangs into its jugular, feeling the rush of warm blood as it exploded into my mouth and down my throat, feeling for all the world like a dying man in a desert who had just come across water after days of searching.
After gulping down at least two pints of the deer’s blood, I finally removed my fangs from its neck, coming up to take a lungful of air, wiping my hand across my mouth as I closed my eyes, sated at last. The blood didn’t taste that good. It was bitter, unlike the sweet taste of human blood, but it filled the hole in me, and at least it would keep back the thirst for another while.
The deer wasn’t moving much when I finally looked down at it. Shock had taken over and the loss of blood had no doubt made it weak. There was no question it was going to die, which worryingly, didn’t bother me that much. I was on the verge of just standing up and walking away, leaving the animal there to die, when a voice in my head told me not to.
"You’re not a monster," I said as if trying to convince myself. "You’re not like them…"
Not yet anyway. It would only be a matter of time before I was, though.
As though in defiance of th
e vampire persona that was slowly taking over me, I knelt down again and put my hands on the deer’s neck, uttering the words to a healing spell that brought a whitish light to my hands. It was the first time I had used my magic since becoming a vampire, and immediately I noticed how much less potent it seemed. I could only assume that because the magic wasn’t being used for darker purposes that it would therefore less effective. No doubt if I used magic to finish the creature off, it would be devastating in effect.
Despite the weakness of the light magic, however, it was still enough to bring the deer around and at least give it a fighting chance to heal itself. As I stepped back, the deer sat up slightly and stared at me, still frightened, but also seeming somehow understanding of my situation, although that could have been just me trying to assuage my guilt. "I’m sorry," I said to the deer, and then turned and walked away, heading back to the house again.
When I reached the house, I was just in time to see Adrina pull up in the Jag. "Inside now," she said, not even asking where I’d been or why I had blood around my mouth.
I frowned at her insistence, wondering why she seemed so on edge. "What’s going on?" I asked.
Slamming the car door, she looked at me through her dark sunglasses. "Darick is coming for us, that’s what’s going on."
When she said it, my stomach suddenly turned over.
Then I vomited up all the deer’s blood onto the gravel drive.
Chapter 16
"What the hell do you mean Darrick is coming for us?" I said in a panic as I entered the house behind Adrina, who stood in the center of the entrance hall, seemingly in deep thought. "How does he know we’re even here?"
"It was only a matter of time before he found out I was here," Adrina said, not seeming all that worried that her psychopathic brother was on his way here to kill her. To kill us.
"Have you spoke to him?"
"No, but according to my source, he went back to the hotel to kill you, after having had a change of heart about leaving you as a vampire." She took her sunglasses off and placed them on a nearby table, her eyes intensely focused as though she were turning over in her mind what to do. "He picked up on my scent in the room. That’s how he knows I’m back."