by Helen Harper
I glance at the sleeping body. It’s a gaunt-looking man with pasty cheeks and the pallor of death. ‘Let me guess. That’s you? The original you?’
McIntyre appears annoyed that I worked it out before he could tell me. ‘Yes and…’
I take an educated guess. ‘Cancer?’
He scowls. ‘You don’t know everything,’ he spits. He reaches over and raps sharply on the glass. A small figure emerges from the back of the room. She’s instantly recognisable, despite the dyed, cropped hair and mature clothing.
‘Alice.’
‘Well,’ he demurs, ‘not as you know her. We call her Eliza.’
I watch as the freak in Alice’s body strolls up to the mirror. A small smile plays around her lips. My body is rigid with rage.
‘You see,’ McIntyre says quietly, ‘you can’t win. If you destroy us, then you also destroy Alice. And,’ he waves a hand at himself, ‘whoever this body belongs to.’
My lip curls. ‘You don’t know?’
‘Why would it matter?’
I want to punch his smug, self-satisfied face but I can’t. It’s not his body that I’d be punching.
‘You’re angry,’ he murmurs. ‘You shouldn’t be. This body enjoys a better standard of living that its original inhabitant did. We took him off the streets in broad daylight and nobody cared.’
‘Aliens?’ I ask, trying to buy some time. William throws me a strange look.
McIntyre claps his hands. ‘Why, yes! You have been busy, haven’t you? We wore masks to cover our faces in case we were spotted but there were some fabulous side effects.’ He leans towards me. ‘The first person who saw us reported us to the police. They wouldn’t even take a statement!’ he crows. ‘We didn’t need to use magic. People are so stupid sometimes.’
From the other side of the mirror, Alice/Eliza’s head jerks upwards. I smile. ‘You’re right. People are stupid.’
Michael, O’Shea, Rogu3 and Hope crash down from the ceiling. I wince as Michael seems to hurt himself in the fall but he gets back to his feet quickly enough. In fact, he’s the first one to grab hold of Alice’s body and hold her fast. I watch O’Shea’s lips move as he no doubt makes some daft quip. His stance is ready and his eyes are alert, however.
MacIntyre’s jaw drops. ‘What’s going on?’
It’s satisfying to see the first hint of panic in his eyes. I lurch to the side then spin and kick the gun out of the adult male’s hands. It clatters to the ground and William scoops it up.
‘Hey,’ the man says, holding up his hands. ‘Now hold on a minute…’
William shoots before I can say a word. In slow motion, the man drops to the floor. William grins and darts over, grabbing hold of him and sinking his fangs into his throat. Scarlet reacts, throwing out magic at both of us. One bolt smacks William on the forehead, making him to drop the man, while the other sears into my arm.
‘Uhhhh,’ William groans.
I glance at the limp body on the floor. ‘You deserved that,’ I tell him.
‘I’m a vampire!’ he protests. ‘It’s what I do.’
I consider this. ‘True.’ I leap towards Scarlet.
She goes into a frenzy, magic bursting out of her. I’m forced back several steps and I crash into McIntyre as I move away. The other vampires tense as if they’re about to join the fray. I wave to them to keep back for now.
‘I’d stop that if I were you, Scarlet,’ I gasp. ‘There’s a witch on the other side of this glass who knows exactly how to suck out all of your magic. Black and white.’
She frowns as if she’s confused. Her eyes are glowing but there’s still a glimmer of awareness in their depths. ‘What…?’ she begins, stumbling over words as her head swings from me to Hope. Her magic fizzles out.
MacIntyre curses in disgust. ‘You can attack all you want but you can’t hurt me. And you can’t hurt Eliza.’ Despite his brave words, there’s a tremor of uncertainty in his voice.
I gesture to the nearest vampires. They come into the observation room; two of them grab Scarlet and two grab MacIntyre. Neither try to struggle.
‘You can’t reverse the process without me. Unless you let me negotiate my freedom, all those children will be trapped without their own bodies.’ He licks his lips. ‘Some are already on the point of death as it is.’
I tap on the glass. ‘That’s a powerful witch out there,’ I say casually.
‘So?’ he sneers. ‘We used more than magic to create the transitions.’
‘And,’ I add with a small smile, ‘a very skilled computer expert.’
We watch as Rogu3 and Hope go to a nearby monitor. Rogu3 turns it on and it flickers into life as Alice/Eliza continues to struggle against Michael’s grip. Michael might only be a human now but she’s in the body of a kid; she doesn’t have the strength to fight against him, even in his weakened state.
I take the gun from William and fire four bullets into the glass. Shards fly everywhere. Scarlet shrieks and McIntyre ducks but everyone else ignores it. I kick away the shattered glass as O’Shea peers in.
‘Bo,’ he says plaintively. ‘You do realise you could have just opened the door, right?’
I shrug awkwardly. ‘It seemed more dramatic this way.’
McIntyre strains against the vampires who are holding him. ‘Stop this!’ he yells. ‘You can’t…’
‘Got it,’ Rogu3 says, sounding satisfied. He stands up and walks down the room, stopping at one of the beds. ‘This is her.’
Eliza/Alice’s eyes go wide. ‘No, no, no, no, no.’
‘Hope?’ Rogu3 says. The witch smirks and joins him. She holds her hands over the inert body and murmurs an incantation while Rogu3 attends to the monitor above her head. I forget to breathe.
There’s a yelp and Michael jerks. ‘Electric shock,’ he mutters.
‘What?’ Alice/Eliza mumbles. ‘What’s going on?’ Her smooth brow furrows and she looks around. ‘Where am I? What’s going on?’
Michael doesn’t release his hold. ‘How do we know it worked?’ he asked.
‘You’ll never know,’ McIntyre hisses. ‘That’s why you need me.’
‘Tell Beth to bring Maria in here,’ I order.
One of the vampires in the far corner nods and vanishes. Moments later, Beth and Maria appear and the crowd of vampires parts as they walk towards us. Maria stares through the two shattered windows at the slight figure in Michael’s arms. I grab her arm. ‘Don’t say anything,’ I warn in an undertone. ‘Not yet.’
My words are unnecessary. Alice’s gaze has already fallen on the tall teenager by my side. ‘Maria?’ she whispers.
Michael releases his hold and Alice runs forward. I shout out to her to be careful of the glass but she doesn’t notice. She jumps over and flings herself at Maria. ‘I thought you were dead!’ she sobs.
I look back at McIntyre. ‘That’s good enough for me.’
He begins to shake. ‘No! It’s temporary,’ he babbles. ‘She won’t stay like that unless I…’
The body in front of Rogu3 and Hope begins to twitch. ‘I think she’s arresting!’ he yells.
‘Of course she is!’ McIntyre shouts. ‘By reversing the transition you’re going to kill all these people! Do you want their deaths on your conscience?’
I look at Michael. He raises his eyebrows. ‘This one is your call,’ he says. ‘I have no argument with whatever you do.’
‘Me neither,’ O’Shea, my daemonic conscience, says.
I nod at them and turn to MacIntyre. ‘I’m trying to be a good person,’ I say softly. ‘But it’s hard.’ I touch my chest. ‘There’s a darkness inside me that will always be there, no matter what I do. If rescuing the children means letting the bastards who stole their lives die, then so be it.’
Hope reaches down to Eliza’s body, feeling for a pulse. ‘She’s gone.’
I exhale. Reversing the process means a lot of sudden deaths. I examine my feelings, wondering if my guilt should be heavier. ‘So be it.’ I point at MacIntyre�
��s original shell. ‘Do that one next.’
‘No!’ he screams. ‘You can’t!’ With a show of sudden strength, no doubt fired by adrenaline, he lunges for me with his hands curved into claws. ‘You can’t! You can’t do this! We did what you bloodguzzlers do! All we wanted was more time. You can’t kill us for that!’
‘We’re not killing anyone,’ I say. ‘We’re rescuing them. Unless you want to tell us how to reverse the process without killing the original souls?’
He stares at me. ‘You can’t.’ His body sags. ‘You’re a bloody monster.’
I think about this. ‘Yeah,’ I agree. ‘I probably am. But my heart is in the right place.’ For the first time in a long time, I actually believe it is.
***
We emerge into the fresh air, a ragtag band of vampires and human children. The area is surrounded by blue flashing lights.
‘You know,’ William comments, his arm round a limping Billie, ‘that was a lot of fun.’
I raise my eyebrows. ‘Fun?’
He shrugs. ‘Yeah. And I feel all warm and fuzzy inside too.’ He purses his lips as if he’s never experienced that kind of emotion before. ‘I like it. I think I’m going to do more of this.’
I’m thoroughly confused. ‘Attack subterranean laboratories?’
‘No. Help people. Humans.’ He gestures at some of the children. ‘I’ll fight crime. Stop any child anywhere from being vulnerable enough to have shit happen to them. That kind of thing.’
I think of the woman I overheard in the witch-owned newsagent’s a few days ago. ‘Maybe,’ I suggest, ‘you should find a local community and integrate yourself. Help them out and live amongst them so you really get to know what’s going on.’
He nods thoughtfully. ‘I like that idea.’
We smile at each other. Maybe there is hope for a vampiric future after all.
Foxworthy approaches from the mêlée of police officers. ‘You know I don’t approve of vigilantism,’ he begins.
I sigh, exasperated. ‘Oh come on.’
‘You didn’t let me finish. I don’t approve of it but you did good.’ He pats my arm. ‘I’ve been getting reports from MI7. They suddenly have a lot of bewildered teenagers in their custody and that’s down to you. I’m proud of you.’
I blink rapidly. I’m not convinced he’ll be singing the same tune when he see what we left behind in the lab. ‘Er … thank you.’ Behind him, Nicholls roll her eyes. I try not to smile. Some things never change.
‘Someone’s here,’ he says.
A woman appears from one of the waiting police cars. She takes a halting step, then another, as if she’s not sure whether she’s doing the right thing. Her husband, holding baby Hope, gets out as well.
Alice chokes out a sob. ‘Mummy?’
That’s all it takes. Mrs Goldman starts to run and stretches her arms out wide. Alice’s father is right behind her. The second she reaches us, she swoops down, grabs Alice and pulls her into a tight, warm hug which speaks of unfailing and unreserved love. My cheeks feel wet. I blink furiously and clench my teeth. Then Michael makes a strange noise. I glance at him. Okay. It seems that everyone is crying.
‘I knew it. I knew you were still alive,’ Mrs Goldman gasps. She holds Alice to her as if she’s afraid to let her go. As if releasing her will mean that all this is nothing more than a dream.
‘Mum, I can’t breathe.’
Mrs Goldman blushes and relaxes ever so slightly. ‘Sorry, baby.’ She looks over her shoulder at me. ‘Thank you.’ Her voice catches. ‘I’m not sure I can ever thank you enough.’
I snatch a look at Maria, who’s watching the reunion with a blank, impassive mask. ‘Actually,’ I say softly, ‘I think there is something you can do that would cover it.’
Chapter Twenty-Three: Today
‘So what feels better?’ my grandfather enquires. ‘Seeing all those children rescued and returned to their families or re-homed, or seeing Stephen McIntyre and his cronies dead?’
I roll my eyes. He merely shrugs. ‘By the way, Maria left you a present when she came back to pick up her things. I took the liberty of putting it in the fridge.’
I frown. ‘She shouldn’t have done that.’
‘It was her choice. Young Alistair took his things as well. I rather think that, now they’ll be living on the same street, he’ll have less time to spend on his criminal hacking activity. I’m not sure Maria approves of what he does and the pull of young love can be strong.’
‘Not just young love,’ I murmur. Kimchi comes up and noses at my hand. I stroke his ears. ‘Speaking of packing up, we should probably go ourselves.’ I look round the warehouse. ‘We can’t stay here forever.’
‘Well…’ he demurs.
My eyes narrow. ‘Well, what?’
‘I might not have told you the entire truth when I said that MI7 didn’t know we were here.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘You’re excused.’
I put my hands on my hips. ‘Arbuthnot Blackman, you need to explain right now what’s going on.’
‘They’ve been monitoring your actions and they’re quite impressed. They are prepared to offer you the premises and their contents if you agree to help them out from time to time.’
I glare. ‘I thought you said I’d never make a spy.’
He throws back his head and laughs. ‘Not as a spy. As a … consultant. Now that you’ve shown you can play nicely with all the other little tribers.’
‘The other vampires aren’t staying. They want to head off and make their own lives. Join other communities.’
‘Yes.’ He scratches his chin. ‘There will be a few problems with that, you know.’
‘We’ll deal with them if and when they occur.’ I feel remarkably serene ‒ until one of the sirens suddenly goes off. Kimchi whines. I whip my round to the camera feed and grit my teeth. It’s show time. Bugger.
***
Three gulps of Maria’s blood swirls round my body as I go out with O’Shea and Michael flanking me. The Kakos daemon has been outside for half an hour. I’ll give her this – she’s bloody patient.
‘Well,’ she says, tapping an immaculately manicured fingernail against her mouth. ‘Have you come to a decision, Ms Blackman?’
I smile coldly. ‘I don’t respond well to ultimatums.’
‘You haven’t answered my question.’
‘The tide has turned,’ I respond. ‘Maybe you saw the news? We’re responsible for rescuing more than a hundred children. The vampires are the heroes of the hour.’
‘You know as well as I do that public opinion turns on the toss of a coin. As you said, you’re the heroes of the hour but what happens in the next hour? It wouldn’t take much for everyone to remember that you’re nothing more than a bunch of bloodsucking fiends.’ She regards me steadily and switches tactics, apparently desperate to do anything to rile me. ‘X pretended to be your friend but he manipulated you. He used you.’
I shrug. ‘He didn’t enter my mind like you did. He didn’t force my own thoughts against me.’
‘He didn’t enter your mind because he didn’t need to. You were only too happy to fall into line.’
‘I used him as much as he used me,’ I say frankly. I step forward. For the first time, I realise I’m not afraid of her and I’m not afraid of X. ‘Tell me, do you consider yourself evil?’
‘That’s an absurd question.’
I cross my arms and wait. The daemon sighs, as if under a great imposition. ‘No,’ she answers, sounding bored. ‘I do not. The things we have done are necessary.’
‘You massacred the Families because you were afraid of them.’
‘We massacred the Families because they pinned the blame on us every time they needed an excuse to kill someone.’
I meet her eyes. ‘Everyone is afraid of you. We’ve always known that Kakos daemons were to be feared. If you had simply communicated your displeasure to the Families, they would have stopped.’ I flick my finger at an invisible
piece of lint. ‘But you chose to act first, to kill rather than communicate. I’d call that evil.’
‘Please,’ she scoffs. ‘Evil doesn’t exist. Everyone has the capacity to do bad things, just as everyone has the capacity to do good things.’
‘That’s bullshit. Evil does exist.’ I smile. ‘You and I are perfect examples of that.’
She raises an eyebrow. ‘You don’t really think you’re evil.’
‘I think I have the capacity for it but I have people on my side who will keep me right.’
‘The half-breed.’ She scoffs. ‘And Michael Montserrat.’ There’s no denying the sneer in her voice. She doesn’t even glance in his direction. ‘You do realise why X turned him to a human, don’t you?’ Her lip curls. ‘He was jealous. He still is. He wants you to leave Montserrat. In a way X is right. A vampire mating with a human will never work.’
‘Maybe it will and maybe it won’t.’ I raise my arms nonchalantly. ‘You know, X also saved Michael. He would be dead otherwise.’
‘Am I to take it that you do not wish for X’s head?’
‘I’d love his head. I’d love to rip it off his shoulders myself.’ The daemon smirks and opens her mouth to speak. She doesn’t need to read my mind to know I’m telling the truth.
I hold up my index finger. ‘I’m not finished. Yes, I want him dead. Maybe I always will. I want you dead, too, and every other Kakos daemon in London. There’s part of me that also wants to be human. Part of me that still wants to attack every black witch I see, despite the pact I’ve made with them. I want to see Magix go bankrupt. I want Vincent Hale to die very, very slowly. I want a lifetime’s supply of blue raspberry lollipops. I want to be able to fly. I want unicorns to exist and no child to ever suffer again. I want happiness and sunshine and smiles for the entire world forever.’ I toss my hair. ‘But it’s not about what I want. Reality isn’t always perfect, in fact sometimes it’s sodding terrible. But we manage. We get through it. We live to fight another day.’
She rolls her eyes. ‘Spare me the philosophical sermonising.’
‘Fine. This is the deal. I will not leave London. The vampires will not leave London. You got what you wanted and the Families are dead and buried. It’s a new age now. You will no longer find yourself blamed for a trail of corpses. But if you or X or any other Kakos daemon ever lifts a finger to harm us or manipulate us again, then Magix will receive a vial of Romany blood and instructions about what to do with it.’