by N. P. Martin
"No…" he said shaking his head as blood spilled from his mouth. "This wasn’t supposed to happen…"
When I let go of the stake, Darrick dropped to his knees and tried to pull it out, but it was no use. As Hacknet had told me, once the stake was in, no vampire could pull it back out again.
Hardly able to stand, Adrina managed to limp around to the front of him so she could watch him die. "This…hurts me…more than it hurts you…" she barely managed to say.
For the first time, there was fear on Darrick’s face as he kept uttering the word no over and over again, until his body began to disintegrate as it burnt up from within. He managed to scream one final time before his face fell apart and what was left of him collapsed into a heap of burning ashes.
For long seconds, I stared down at Darrick’s remains, hardly able to believe that he was dead.
"Fuck you…brother," Adrina said, and then promptly fell over onto the floor and lay there completely unmoving.
"Adrina!" I went to rush to her aid, but only got as far as one step before I felt a crippling pain go through my body, and a sudden rush of sensation inside my skull that made me feel like I was being sucked down into some dark vortex.
A second later, I had joined Adrina on the floor as darkness overcame me.
Chapter 18
When I woke up my head was pounding and it felt like I had the worst hangover ever, and believe me, I’ve had some bad ones. My eyes were open barely a minute before I suddenly turned to the side and vomited, disgusted to see how red the vomit was. And when I realized it was because I had been drinking human blood, I vomited some more until my stomach was completely empty and all I was doing was dry retching.
Then I noticed Adrina lying behind me, surrounded by her own blood and the ashes of her dead brother. She seemed on the verge of death herself and I realized she would need blood if she was to survive. The Van Helsing stake, which was now back to its normal size, was lying amongst Darrick’s ashes, so I grabbed it and used the pointed end to puncture a small hole in my wrist. Then I held my wrist over Adrina’s mouth and let the blood drip over her lips. It wasn’t long before she stirred slightly and her mouth began to move as if she wanted more, so I put my wrist directly onto her lips and she began to suck, weakly at first, but the more she came around, the harder she began to suck. Pretty soon I started to feel faint from the blood loss, and I went to pull my wrist away, thinking she’d had enough. But as I went to pull away, her eyes flew open to reveal blazing red orbs and she grabbed my arm tight, holding it over her mouth as she began to suck on it even harder than before.
"Adrina!" I said. "Stop! It’s me, Corvin…"
Adrina went on sucking like she intended to drain me dry, leaving me no choice but to hit her in the temple with a small blast of magic that did the job of forcing her to loosen her grip so I could finally pull away. When I did so, she sat up quickly and hissed, her eyes still burning crimson as she glared at me for a moment like she was going to jump me.
"Relax, Adrina, it’s just me."
"Corvin?" she said, as if waking from a dream.
"Yeah. Are you all right?"
She nodded as she looked around at the piles of ash, and then at her brother’s remains nearby. "I will be, once I get more blood."
"You’ve tapped enough from me," I said. "You’ll have to find someone else."
She turned her head to stare at me. "You’re human again."
I nodded. "Yes. Thank god." There was no denying that it did feel good to be myself again. Most of all, I didn’t miss the continuous raging thirst that made me a slave to the blood. Looking back, I don’t know how I even considered staying a vampire.
"I wasn’t sure it worked, since I pushed Darrick onto the stake."
I shrugged. "Even if it didn’t work, I know a guy."
Adrina smiled. "You know a guy? What guy?"
"A guy who can work miracles. If anyone could’ve changed me back to human again, it would’ve been him." I held up my right hand. "See this hand? It was grown from nothing and attached to my body."
"You lost your hand? How?"
"A Celtic god cut it off."
"Oh really, which one?"
"Manannán mac Lir"
She shook her head. "You’ve really been around, haven’t you?"
"Lately I have. I feel like I’ve been through the wars."
Adrina stood up then, stretching her body. "Well, you have another war to fight."
"Constantine you mean?" I stood up now as well, my head still woozy, my body aching. "I feel like I need to sleep for a week."
"You don’t have time to sleep. Rest assured, Constantine knows that Darrick is dead. He’ll be coming for you, for both of us."
"So what do you suggest we do?" I asked.
Adrina thought for a moment. "I don’t think we have a choice. We need to go to the lion’s den, so to speak. There’s no point trying to run or hide, as Constantine will find us sooner rather than later." She looked toward the front door and the daylight beginning to stream in from outside. "I’m surprised he hasn’t shown up here already."
"Maybe he doesn’t know about Darrick yet."
"He knows. He would’ve felt it the moment the stake pierced Darrick’s heart."
It was my turn to think for a minute. The thought of going into battle against another vampire didn’t exactly fill me with delight, especially now that I was no longer a vampire myself. There was no question that walking into Constantine’s castle, filled as it was with vampires, would be an act of suicide. Unless of course there was some way I could get in without being seen, kill Constantine and then get out again, also without being seen. The more I thought about it, though, the more it didn’t seem like the worst plan in the world. Remaining invisible would be easy, so breaking into the castle unseen wouldn’t be much of a problem. The hard part would be killing Constantine.
"Does he sleep during the day?" I asked Adrina. "Constantine, I mean?"
"I’m sure he does," she replied. "We vampires have to rest like everyone else."
"He’d be at his most vulnerable when he was sleeping then."
"Maybe, though we are light sleepers in general. It wouldn’t take much for him to wake up."
"I just need him to stay asleep long enough for me to put a stake into him."
"If he wakes before you do, you’re dead."
"I’m dead anyway. So are you."
Adrina nodded as if she knew already. "That’s why I’m going to help you kill him."
I shook my head. "It’s better if I go alone. There’s no point in both of us dying, not that I intend to die anyway. This will be an assassination, not a fight."
"So you think."
"I don’t see any other way. Besides, you’re the one that said I was somehow destined to do this. Darrick’s dead, isn’t he?"
"Yes."
"Then maybe you aren’t full of shit after all."
She cocked her head at me. "You thought I was full of shit?"
"I didn’t know what to believe. I still don’t."
"As I said—"
"Yeah, yeah, it’s not up to you to tell me anything." I forced down the frustration that wanted to come. "Somebody better fill me in soon, though, or else…"
"You’ll fuck shit up?"
"Precisely."
Adrina laughed slightly. "I don’t doubt it."
"Anyway," I said. "What about you?"
She frowned. "What about me?"
"Well, let’s say I kill Constantine. How are you planning on taking over the clan again? Won’t all the other vampires be gunning for you as well?"
"Let me worry about that," she said, starting to head toward the staircase. "The other vampires will fall into line when they realize they don’t have a choice. I’ll make sure of it."
"I’ve no doubt you will."
"I’m going to get a change of clothes. You should probably do the same. You look like you’ve been slaughtering pigs all day."
I smiled. "I sor
t of have, haven’t I?"
"You calling us pigs now?"
"Just the ones that are."
"Come upstairs. I’m sure we can find you something to wear."
I followed her upstairs into one of the bedrooms, where she proceeded to strip off her clothes right in front of me, smiling slightly when she noticed my slight awkwardness.
"Are you always this casual about stripping in front of strangers?" I asked her, unable to keep from admiring her slender form.
"You’re not a stranger," she said as she went to the walk-in wardrobe and switched on the light to reveal racks of expensive looking outfits. "Besides, I’ve had long enough to get over any bashfulness I might’ve had."
As she stood inside the wardrobe, my eyes soon went to the large tattoo on the center of her back. "Oh my god, that’s the same bloody symbol!"
She looked over her shoulder at me. "So?"
I shook my head. "So you’re obviously a member of this cult or whatever it is."
"I thought we already established that I was."
"Not in so many words."
"Well, I am." She took a dark pant suit of the rack and brought it into the bedroom, laying it on the bed. "And for your information, it isn’t a cult, it’s an order."
"An order? Of what?"
She looked at me as she started to get dressed, pulling on pants and then a white blouse. "An order of good. That’s all you need to know for now."
I shook my head and sighed at her caginess. "Why all the secrecy?"
"Because it’s necessary, that’s why. We have enemies who want to wipe us out."
"What kind of enemies?"
"Powerful ones." She had finished dressing. "Come one, let’s go next door and get you some clothes."
We moved into one of the other bedrooms where Adrina opened up another walk-in closet, this one full of men’s clothes, which mostly appeared to be dark suits. Adrina picked one out and lay it across the bed, telling me to strip off. A slight smile appeared on her face as she sat on the bed and stared at me as I got undressed down to my boxer shorts. "You’re staring," I said, slightly uncomfortable.
"I know. Do you work out? You’re quite tight."
"Not really." I grabbed a white shirt and started to put it on. "Not in a while anyway."
"And no tattoos. Strange for a musician not to have tattoos."
"You’re slighting me because I’m not a cliche?"
"No, I’m just surprised, that’s all."
"Well," I said as I put the trousers on. "If things keep going the way they’re going, I’ll no doubt have the same tattoo as you soon anyway."
"I hope so." She stood up and helped me on with the jacket before beginning to do my tie for me. "I like you, Corvin. You’re one of the good ones, as they say."
It was hard to get lost in her beauty so up close, her brown eyes seeming dark and mysterious, her exotic scent enticing. It hit me then that I was probably no more than a child to her, considering how old she is. "I take after my mother."
"I’m sure she was a good woman." She had finished doing the tie now, and she stood back to admire me. "It suits you."
As I walked in front of the full length mirror, I saw she was right. The suit was a perfect fit. "At least I’ll look good going to my death."
She said nothing for a moment as she stared at me. "I have faith that you can do this."
I nodded slightly as I looked at myself in the mirror. She might’ve had faith in me, but the real question is, do I have faith in myself?
A question I wasn’t sure of the answer.
Chapter 19
I insisted we bury the body of the homeless man before we left the house to go to Belfast. I was already filled with guilt over the deaths of the two girls back at the hotel, which happened on my watch, though I knew there was nothing I could do about it now. I could, however, give the homeless man a decent burial. His blood had, after all, probably saved my life. So Adrina and I carried the man’s body out the back of the house and buried him by the edge of the woods. Adrina didn’t seem at all upset by the man’s death, but then I didn’t expect her too either. After so much time on this earth, death was nothing new to her, and nor was killing for food, even though she did her best not to kill most of the time. Burying the man didn’t alleviate my guilt much, but I felt slightly better knowing that he was at least resting in peace.
Adrina drove us in the Jag back to Belfast so I could pick up my own car. On the way, she explained everything I needed to know about getting to the Ó Duinn castle, and then finding Constantine once I was inside. She also offered again to go with me, but I again refused her. As much as I might’ve liked to have her by my side, I felt strongly that I had to go after Constantine on my own. Besides, at least if I died, Adrina would still be around to find another way to take down her brother. That’s what I told myself anyway, and her. In reality, this was just about revenge for me, and it was something of a personal mission that I thought I had to do alone.
When we got to Belfast, Adrina pulled up behind the Spitfire that was still parked not far from the hotel I’d been staying in. "What did your cleaning crew do with the girls’ bodies?" I asked her.
"Disposed of them, of course," she said like it was a strange question I’d asked.
"How?"
"Dissolving them in a vat of acid is the usual method."
I shook my head. "Jesus…"
"It wasn’t your fault those girls died, you know. Darrick killed them, not you."
"Yeah, I know, but I keep thinking of their parents, and how they must be looking for them by now, about how they’re never going to find them."
Adrina stared at me like it was difficult for her to understand what I was feeling. "There are casualties in any war. This is what happens. People die."
"I know that as well, but it doesn’t make it any easier to stomach."
"You’ll get used to it," she said.
I turned and looked at her. "I really hope not."
She nodded and then stared out the window for a moment, watching the people walking up and down the street. "You should probably go now. It isn’t safe to be sitting around here."
"Where will you go?" I asked her.
"I have a place in mind. I should be able to lie low there, for a short time at least."
"Hopefully that’s all the time you’ll need."
She took her sunglasses off to look at me a moment. "Be careful, Corvin."
I nodded. "You too, Adrina."
When I was out of the car, she started the engine and drove at speed up the street. As the car disappeared around a corner, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was ever going to see her again.
The Ó Duinn castle is situated just outside the small townland of Caledon (pronounced kaelidin) in County Tyrone. It took me about an hour to get there, and on the way I got a call from Monty.
"You’re still alive then," he said when I answered the phone.
I nodded as I thought of my recent stint as a vampire. "I’m alive."
"Glad to hear it. Ye getting anywhere with Constantine?"
"I’m making progress. Did you find out something about the symbol I sent you?"
"Yeah, that’s why I’m phoning. It took a bit of diggin’, but I eventually found the symbol on a deleted website from the early nineties."
"Okay," I said frowning. "How did you even…"
"Nothing is ever really deleted on the internet. With a bit of magic you can find anything almost."
"What was the website about?"
"It was more of a message board really. I wasn’t able to recover any of the messages, but I was able to at least pull up the bare bones of the site, which had your symbol on it. The site was run by a group called the Order Of The Serpent. Ring any bells?"
I nodded. "One or two, yeah. Did you find anything else? Any names maybe?"
"No names. The site was too old. Even I couldn’t find much more. Sorry, bro."
"No, don’t be ridiculous. Just the name is hel
pful."
"I’m currently running searches on the name, but so far no hits. I’m sure something will come up."
"Thanks, Monty. I appreciate it. You back in Dublin yet?"
"I am, got back this morning. I’m available to go up north if you need me."
I shook my head. "Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be fine."
"You’re sure?"
I hesitated for a second. "I’m sure."
"Grand then. You know where to reach me if things change."
"Will do, bro."
I was now sitting in the car after having parked up a narrow lane in between two large fields. From this vantage point, I could see across the fields and the forest beyond to the Ó Duinn castle, or at least the parts that weren’t obscured by trees. I had already decided to approach the place from the side, rather than the front. Even though I would be invisible, I still didn’t want to get too close to any vampires who may have been on security duty. Being vampires, they had heightened senses, and invisible or not, they would detect my presence eventually. Avoiding them as much as possible would be the best policy. It was approaching early afternoon so I still had a good few hours of daylight left to do what I had to do.
I didn’t get out of the car straight away. Instead, I sat for a while, staring over at the Ó Duinn residence, wondering if Constantine was really inside sleeping, or was he raging around, mourning the loss of his younger brother? Initially, I almost felt bad for the remaining prince, but then I thought about what he did to my father. At least now he knows how it feels to lose someone that means so much to you.
Speaking of which, I couldn’t help dwelling on what Darrick had said about my father; that he wasn’t the man I thought he was. What the hell did he mean by that? I wondered. Was he just trying to get inside my head, as Adrina had warned he would? Possibly, but a part of me couldn’t help but think that there may have been some truth in what he was saying. A vampire like Darrick seemed to me to delight more in throwing hard truths at people rather than outright lies. The truth always hurts more, and Darrick—sadist that he was—no doubt knew this full well. In any case, even if he was right and it turned out my father had his secrets, I’m sure he didn’t deserve to be killed for them.