Thicker Than Blood

by Shalini Boland

  One of the girls handed her a thin shift to wear, which she pulled on over her head. The other gave her a small soft ball and gestured towards the lake. Aelia sat on the ledge and carefully dipped her toe in. The heat of the water spread through her foot and she submerged both legs up to her calves. She looked at the small ball in her hand, lifted it to her nose and sniffed – soap. Reaching forward, she rinsed the grime off each foot in turn, massaging away the aches and then gingerly, she turned and lowered herself into the warmth, still gripping onto the side.

  The heat of the water was almost unbearable, but after a moment she got used to it and enjoyed the womb-like sensation. She’d heard about these types of natural warm springs before. Her mother had visited an outdoor one as a child, but this was the first time Aelia had ever laid eyes on such a place, let alone experienced it for herself.

  The wounds on her body burned and stung as the water’s minerals cleansed them, but she hardly cared. In a moment of bravery, Aelia let go of the ledge and struck out towards the centre of the lake. She flipped over and lay on her back, floating, letting her matted blonde hair fan out around her. Closing her eyes, she tried to block out where she really was and what she was doing here, but the awful images crowded into her mind, so she flicked her eyelids open again and stared at the cavern roof instead. Shards and ridges of glowing rock hung above her like the seaweed-tangled hair of a water goddess, cascading down the walls in irregular waves.

  Aelia didn’t know how long she would be permitted to remain in the lake and so began to wash herself, using the material from her shift as a wash cloth. It was tricky, as the lake was too deep to stand and she had to tread water whilst trying to scrub at her skin and hair with the soap. In the end, she swam back to the side and finished off her ablutions from the ledge. Now warm and clean, she felt much better, almost like a new person, instead of the filthy pathetic creature she had been twenty minutes earlier.

  The girls waited for her by the corridor entrance. They led her back into the passageway where they walked for several minutes. Aelia felt warm and sleepy from the hot lake. Soon, a faint whooshing sound came towards her. It grew louder, until it became a roar. She looked at the girls, but their eyes were on the ground. Soon the noise was too loud to attempt conversation.

  After a while they reached another cavern, smaller than the previous one, and at last Aelia saw the source of the noise. There were no glowing green lights in here. Instead, torches lit up the entrance and the walls. Straight ahead of her, a thirty foot high waterfall gushed out of the rock wall and fell into a small pool below. The cavern was filled with the sound of this crashing water. It was as noisy in here as the lake cavern had been quiet.

  Again, one of the girls gestured to her to enter the pool. She did so and gasped at the temperature of the water. It felt like ice after the heat of the lake, but the pool was fairly shallow and only reached up to her waist. Aelia made her way across to the waterfall to let the rushing water batter her skin and untangle her hair. She used the soap again and then just stood under the torrent, her eyes closed. Presently, she felt a hand on her arm and looked to see that one of the girls had come to retrieve her from the waterfall. Together, they waded back to the rock floor and left the cavern.

  Now, she was taken into a small chamber – another sumptuous room, this time decorated in deep blues and silver threads. The walls were painted with a seascape of long narrow boats on stormy waves and the ceiling twinkled with silver stars and a crescent moon. Lamps lit the space, their flickers bringing the paintings to life.

  A square of cloth lay on a narrow bench next to a pile of clothes. She presumed they were for her. Aelia removed her wet shift and dried herself with the cloth. Now that she was in a lighted room, she was able to properly examine the gash on her arm where she had rubbed in the infected matter. The skin had knitted together, but it was discoloured and dark with black and red blotches. She gently prodded it with her forefinger and winced at the pain. This was it then; the infection would move through her body and her blood would infect the demons. Aelia was glad, but she was also scared. Soon she was going to die a horrible death.

  To take her mind off what lay ahead, she examined the clothes set out for her. First she put on the white tunic which had long fitted sleeves and fell past her ankles. Next, she picked up a garment of light blue silk, like a billowing sky. She pulled it over her head and belted it, noting how it was trimmed with silver braid and encrusted with tiny sparkling jewels. She was dressed like royalty, but was in no state to appreciate it. She may as well be dressing herself in a funeral shroud.

  Once robed, Aelia sank down onto a deep floor cushion. The two girls remained outside. A carafe sat on a low table and Aelia poured some of the liquid into a silver goblet. Sniffing at it, she recognised the sweet scent of pomegranate juice. She took a careful sip. Other foodstuffs littered the table and she helped herself to some sticky dates and a small pastry. Why was she here in this beautiful room? She remembered the last time she had been offered the demons’ hospitality. Well, if she was going to endure that again, she might as well enjoy the luxury while it was on offer.

  But no. What was she doing? How could she just lounge here dressed in fine clothes, eating nice food while her family suffered? She stood and went to the entrance where the girls stood, one either side of the opening.

  ‘Why am I here in this room?’ she demanded. ‘Why was I given these clothes?’

  They said nothing in reply. One looked at her with an apologetic glance, the other looked away. Aelia grabbed the friendlier one by the arm.

  ‘I asked you what I’m doing here. Tell me. Is that demon coming back? Do you know your way around? Have you heard of Selmea? I’m looking for my family.’

  The other girl prised Aelia’s hand off her friend’s arm.

  ‘Well if you won’t tell me, I’ll go and find out for myself.’

  The girls both grabbed at her, but Aelia broke free and began to run down the passageway.

  ‘You can’t leave!’ one of the girls called after her. ‘They’ll find you and punish you.’

  Aelia kept on running. She knew she was at least six floors down from the room she had originally been held in. But if it was true and this place was big enough to house twenty thousand people, she would never find her family. And anyway she still needed to infect more demons. What should she do? What should she do? If only Widow Maleina was here to advise her. She slowed her pace and finally stopped, sliding to the floor with her back against the sharp rock wall. Tears rolled down her cheeks.

  ‘Why so sad?’

  Aelia looked up to see Mislav standing above her. She didn’t care. Just lowered her eyes and stared at her lap. His hand curled around hers and she let herself be pulled to her feet. The demon led her back along the passageway. Back to the beautiful room of silver and blue where the bobbing boats sailed away into a never-ending night.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Present Day

  *

  Maddy was out of options. She didn’t know what else she could do. She didn’t have Alex’s mobile phone number or any of the others’ numbers and she couldn’t get through to Ben at home. She was in a stranger’s house, stuck in a foreign country being pursued by vampires. She hadn’t eaten for hours, was freezing her ass off, had no reserves of energy left and all she felt like doing was sinking her head into her arms and crying. But she wouldn’t let herself break down in front of these people, no matter how nice they seemed.

  ‘You call England?’ the man said.

  ‘Yes. Yes, I tried to call England, but it’s not working.’

  ‘You have number for UK? You have code?’

  Code? Of course! She’d forgotten to put the UK code in. The man’s wife started talking again and the younger woman and the boy, who were sitting on stools near the fire, stared at Maddy with open curiosity. The man shouted at his wife and his wife shouted back. Then Maddy had a thought. She took the rucksack from her back and reached in, groping around u
ntil her hand closed around a few rustling notes. She thrust the money towards the woman.

  ‘For the call,’ she said, pointing at the phone.

  The woman smiled and took the money in her fist. The man went mental, shouting and pointing at Maddy and then at the money. Maddy turned to him.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Just for the phone call to England.’

  ‘No money,’ he said. ‘You make call. No money.’

  ‘What’s the code for England?’ she asked. ‘The number for the UK?’

  The man took the phone from her and punched in some numbers.

  ‘You call now. No zero. No zero.’

  Maddy called home, leaving out the zero as instructed. After a couple of clicks, she heard a dial tone. It wasn’t a normal ring, but it sounded more promising than before. Behind her, the couple were arguing again, but she tried to tune them out, willing Ben to pick up.

  ‘Hello.’

  ‘Esther!’

  ‘Madison. They got you out then? You alright, love?’

  ‘Listen, Esther. I need Alex to come get me. I’m being chased. Have you got his number?’

  ‘Hold on a minute.’

  ‘Esther?’

  No reply. She’d obviously gone off to get his number. She should’ve asked to speak to Ben; he’d have Alex’s number in his phone. Oh hurry up, Esther. Any minute, she expected to see vampires crashing through the door. Her bike had left tracks. She’d be easy to follow. She hoped the snow would start falling again to cover them over.

  ‘Right, here we are.’ Esther was back.

  ‘Is he in England still?’

  ‘Who? Alex?’

  Of course, Alex. Who else do you think I mean? ‘Yeah, Alex.’

  ‘No. He and the others have gone to Turkey with Morris to get you back. Me and Ben are holding the fort here.’

  Maddy exhaled and gave the faintest glimmer of a smile. Alex was here.

  ‘Is Ben okay?’

  ‘He’s been moping around a bit, but I got him helping me out with the housework to take his mind off things.’

  ‘Oh, hang on.’ Maddy turned to the man who was glowering at his wife. ‘Do you have a pen and paper?’ Maddy asked, miming a scribbling motion.

  His wife beat him to it and handed a small pad and pencil to Maddy. The woman was all smiles now.

  ‘Okay, Esther, go on. What’s the number?’ Maddy scrawled it down. ‘I’d better take Isobel and the others’ numbers too, just in case.’

  Esther read them out. ‘Do you want to talk to Ben? I can fetch him. He’s upstairs.’

  ‘I’d love to talk to him, but I can’t. I don’t have time. Tell him hi and I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

  ‘Right you are.’

  ‘Esther, can you take this number down too, in case you need to get hold of me here?’ Maddy asked the man for his mobile number and relayed it to Esther. ‘You won’t forget to tell Ben I said hi … and that I love him.’ Her voice cracked as she spoke and she willed herself not to start wailing in front of these strangers and especially not in front of Esther.

  ‘Course I will, love.’

  Maddy ended the call. She took a breath to calm herself. At least she’d stopped shivering now.

  ‘I need to make another call,’ she said to the man.

  ‘Yes, you make. My wife bring you food. Hungry yes?’

  ‘Thank you. Only if it’s no trouble.’

  ‘Trouble. No.’

  ‘Where are we?’ she asked the man as she punched in Alexandre’s number with trembling fingers.

  He frowned at her, not understanding.

  ‘This place. What is your village called?’

  ‘Ahh. My village Akarsuli’

  Alex’s voicemail kicked in and Maddy’s chest constricted with disappointment.

  ‘Alex, it’s me. It’s Maddy. I’ve been in the underground city but I got away. They’re chasing me, Alex. I need you to come. I’m in …’ She turned to the man. ‘What’s it called again? Your village?’

  ‘It Akarsuli.’

  ‘Alex I’m in Akarsuli. In someone’s house halfway down the valley. Please come as soon as you can.’

  Maddy ended the call. Maybe he just hadn’t got to his phone in time and he’d call her straight back. But she couldn’t wait. She punched in Leonora’s number. A delicious smell permeated the room. If that food was for her, she couldn’t wait to eat it. Leonora didn’t pick up either. Nor did any of the others. She left messages for all of them, but this was hopeless. What was she going to do? The phone rang in her hand. She answered it straight away with a breathless, ‘Hello?’

  ‘Maddy, that you?’ It was Esther.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Thought I’d better let you know that Morris and the others, they’re staying in the Vadi Hotel in a place called Ayvali.’

  Maddy asked Esther to spell it for her and she wrote it down, thanked Esther and said goodbye.

  As Maddy raced through the possibilities left open to her, the wife brought her a bowl of some kind of stew. She took it in both hands, the pottery warm and smooth.

  ‘Thank you so much. This smells amazing.’

  The woman smiled and so did her husband. It looked like they’d got over their argument anyway.

  ‘I name Eren,’ the man said. ‘This my wife, Derya.’ Then he pointed to the other woman and the boy. ‘My sister and my son.’

  Maddy smiled at them. ‘Hi, my name is Madison.’

  ‘Nice to meet you, Madison.’ They all smiled and laughed.

  Maddy spooned in a small mouthful of the stew. It was as delicious as it smelled and she savoured the warmth as well as the taste.

  ‘Amazing.’ She turned to Derya. ‘This is so good. Thank you.’ The woman beamed. ‘Where is Ayvali?’ she asked Eren.

  ‘Ayvali very far. You want go. I take you tomorrow. You stay here now. Food, sleep. In morning we go to Ayvali.’

  ‘I have to go now. I have to.’

  Eren spoke rapidly to his wife. Obviously telling her of Maddy’s plans. She let forth a torrent of words, some aimed at her husband, but most aimed at Maddy.

  ‘My wife too, she say, no. You not go tonight. Weather not good. More snow coming.’

  ‘I know, but I’m in danger.’

  ‘Yes. Is danger in snow.’

  ‘No. I’m in ... Never mind. I have to go.’ Maddy slurped down the rest of the stew. ‘Do you have any water please?’

  Eren translated and his wife fetched a glass. Maddy downed it and stood up.

  ‘Thank you so, so much,’ Maddy said again. ‘You saved my life, but can you point me in the direction of Ayvali? I have to find my friends.’

  They protested again, but Maddy wouldn’t take no for an answer. Eren told her to keep his phone, just in case and she said she would return it as soon as she could - hopefully tomorrow or the next day. Derya gave her a thick hat and an extra jumper and put some more food and water in her rucksack. Maddy was overwhelmed by the generosity of these strangers she had only just met. She couldn’t imagine this happening back in England. She’d be told to bugger off.

  Soon she was back outside, more warmly dressed this time, Derya’s stew heating her from the inside out. The woman was still protesting, but Maddy couldn’t worry about that now. She had to put as much distance between her and the underground city as possible and try to reach the hotel. Eren walked with her to the main track and pointed her in the direction of the closest petrol station, several kilometres away. She would have to hope the bike would get her there and then she would ride on to Ayvali. She must’ve been in Eren’s village for at least an hour, maybe more. That was plenty of time for the vampires to track her.

  ‘Thank you so much, Eren.’ She hugged him, swung her leg over the bike and started the engine. Then she set off, alone again, back into the night.

  *

  After a while pacing the cavern, Alexandre’s skin had finally healed from the UV burns but his heart was still sore and angry. He didn’t even know if Madd
y was still alive or whether they had recaptured her? He couldn’t think like that. Knowing Maddy, she’d be halfway back to England by now. And what about Jacques and Isobel and the others? What would they do when he didn’t return by sunrise? He couldn’t believe had he had allowed himself to be locked up like this.

  Suddenly, he sensed someone outside the cavern. The millstone rolled aside and Alexandre backed into the furthest corner to escape from the deadly UV light outside. But the light had gone and instead, a vampire stood at the dark cavern entrance. Alexandre didn’t stop to think. He hurled himself at the figure and they both flew backwards, crashing into the passage wall. He grabbed the vampire by the throat. However, it was not fighting back as anticipated and appeared to be scared. Good.

  ‘If you don’t want me to break your neck and throw you into the sun, you’ll tell me how to get out of this place,’ Alexandre snarled.

  The vampire stared back at him, a mixture of fear and anger in its eyes. It was a young woman. Alexandre relaxed his grip a fraction.

  ‘My name’s Zoe,’ she said. ‘I came to free you. I helped Maddy escape.’

  ‘You did?’ He didn’t let her go just yet.

  ‘I saved her twice. And now I’ve diverted the guards to get you out. Told them Sergell wanted to see them. They’ll know I lied soon enough. We have to leave.’

  Alexandre didn’t reply. At this moment, he had no choice but to trust her, so he let her go, inclined his head and followed her through the corridors until they reached a ventilation shaft which led outside.

  ‘What happened? Where is she?’ Alexandre asked, looking around. They were standing on a snowy plain which seemed to stretch for miles in every direction. Far in the distance, lay a small mountain range.