Blood Queen

by David Horrocks

  "I see that she has already reached you, my poor child." Renée sounded almost apologetic, sensing the memories swirling around Alice's mind.

  "Yes, she has." Alice confirmed. "Katherine has to be stopped by any means necessary."

  The response that came was surprisingly full of worry, the woman's tone that of a concerned parent. "I am deeply sorry… It was never meant to be this way."

  "Then how was it meant to be?" Alice snapped at her maker, the frustration she felt causing her blood to boil. She had almost forgotten how it felt to be angry, her emotions now free to remind her of what she had been missing.

  "You were meant to be the child of prophecy; the one with the gift of foresight needed to destroy Katherine Louviere." Renée continued, her words full of regret. "Katherine controlled every aspect of my life for so long, and her lust for power brought her to strip me of everything that I held dear. She drove me to the brink of madness and then left my body to rot... And in my desperation, I sought out a way to defeat her. A way to make sure that no one else had to suffer as I had."

  "It seems that your plan backfired." Alice interrupted, struggling to reign in her emotions that wanted to run free.

  "And that is the unfortunate truth of it." A brief silence followed. It seemed that Renée was still grief stricken by everything that had happened to her. The so called 'fanged goddess' was as normal a person as anyone else, but she had been broken beyond repair, and that was something that they both had in common.

  "What about my mother?" Alice asked with fervour, feeling sorry for a woman whom she couldn't bring herself to hate despite her anger. "What about the McKays?"

  It took a few seconds for Renée to gather her thoughts before proceeding. "I had no choice but to flee. I ran as far as I could, but Katherine found me still, and so I decided to seek refuge out in the countryside. It was there that I had an encounter with a travelling oracle. She told me of what was to come, of the Blood Queen and the child that would have the power to defeat her. Unsure of what I was supposed to do, she guided me towards a family that had fallen on rough times. I promised to help them in exchange for shelter, and they surprisingly accepted. For generations they offered themselves to me and I fed them my own blood in turn. And for a time they prospered, their descendants coming to revere me as a god. In my madness I became convinced that their beliefs were in fact the truth; as such they became my devout followers."

  "But why me?" Alice desperately wanted to know the answers that she had been seeking for years. "What made me the chosen one?"

  "As I said, an oracle led me to your family. I gave them my blood for years and then came the day that you were born. There was something vastly different about you from the start, I could sense it. My blood had changed you in some way and I believed that you were the one who had been promised to me; the one who would kill the Blood Queen." As wild as it sounded, Renée's explanation made a weird sort of sense to Alice. She didn't appear to be holding anything back, clearly aware that this was the last opportunity that she had to impart any information.

  "I see... What happened next?" Alice's thoughts were wild with anticipation. She needed to know what events had led to this moment.

  "Katherine eventually discovered our encampment. We tried to fight; we tried everything to resist her, but all we could do in the end was flee. You were a babe at the time, barely old enough to walk, and we lost sight of you amongst the chaos. With no sure sign of what had happened or where you had gone, it was presumed that you had perished…"

  It was comforting for Alice to know that her family had actually wanted her, no matter what terrible people they had turned out to be. They may have been crazed religious zealots, but they had never abandoned her as she had originally thought, and although she had been lost within the wilderness for far longer than she could remember, she had eventually found herself with another home where she had been happy at least for a time. Perhaps it was for the best that she hadn't been raised by her real family, as there was no telling what terrible acts she would have committed in their name. She liked to believe that she would have been a good person all the same, but there was no way to know whether or not nature would have won out against nurture.

  Renée continued the story without interruption as Alice was content to just listen. "It was by chance that one of my followers found you, a Forsaken who was blessed with the ability to travel under the sun. He was meant to scare you towards the compound, but things did not go quite as planned."

  Alice remembered the bestial man who had climbed out of the wreckage of his truck after forcing her car off the road. She remembered that he had been the one who had killed Bill and Martha Delaney, the kind people who had taken her into their home and treated her as if she was their own.

  "That monster killed my parents!" Alice exclaimed in resentment as she lost her temper. The pain that she felt at their loss was still very real and she couldn't hold back, not this time. "Was that the plan? To kill two innocent people?"

  "No, it was not." Renée said quickly, trying her best to sound warm and soothing. "He was a wild card and did far more than he was asked…"

  "And Jolee? Was his death an accident too?" Alice felt rage for all that had been taken from her, for all those who she had cared for and had lost along the way.

  "That was your mother's doing... Caitlyn never could stand betrayal, especially from her own family. It was never my wish to see him suffer. To her, the blood was a sacred gift for the privileged few." The pitiful response wasn't much of a comfort, nor did Alice entirely believe it, although it did serve to lessen her anger for the moment. "I am so sorry, my precious child. I am sorry for everything that I did to you and for everything that has happened to you since."

  Unsure as to what she should say, Alice struggled with her thoughts for a minute. It took a lot of effort to speak after that, but she somehow managed to string together a sentence. "It's okay… I know… I know why you did what you did. I just… I don't necessarily agree with your methods. The end doesn't justify the means."

  "Perhaps I was wrong." Renée noted. "Perhaps you were never the chosen one that I was seeking, and that everything I did to you was for naught. If that is the case, then I am well and truly sorry."

  "I still have to try and stop her." Despite her mixed emotions, Alice hadn't lost a single ounce of her determination, the new found knowledge doing nothing to dampen her will to fight.

  "I know…" Renée said with sadness. "Although there may yet be someone else out there. Someone who is destined to defeat the Blood Queen."

  "Maybe..." Alice didn't know whether she believed in this oracle or her predictions of the future, but as someone who had experienced visions herself, she wasn't about to dismiss them outright.

  "There was something else that the oracle told me, something that has yet to come to pass." A slight pause followed as Renée tried to recall the exact words that had been spoken to her so long ago. "The Blood Queen will consume the world and everything within it."

  With those final words, Alice could feel her maker slipping away as the last of her precious vitae was taken from her. She wanted nothing more than to stop herself before it was too late, but she had no control over her physical form. Unlike the ancient being that she had previously consumed, this time she felt a great deal of regret. She knew that it would matter very little in a few moments, as the beast thrived and took charge, but that didn't change how she felt right now.

  It was impossible for Alice to differentiate between the girl that she had once been and the creature that she had become, the last few nights little more than a blur. She could no longer tell where one ended and the other began, and wondered if she ever would be able to again. It was more than likely that the most powerful of them would feast upon the other. That meant that the person that she once was would be no more, and that the beast that she had once tried to lock away would reign supreme.

  Even though she had been given the chance, Alice couldn't bring herself to mention
the death of Nathalie, Renée's first child and one time lover. She knew that they would be together soon enough and that there was no need to cause the woman any undue grief in her final moments. All vampires grieved in their own way, depending on their religion, culture and the decade in which they were turned, yet Alice had no wish to be the cause. She may never know why her brothers killed the woman of their goddess' affection, be it jealousy or Katherine's direct influence, but she concluded that she was better off not knowing. Some things were meant to remain secret, and she would rather let the dead rest in peace.

  Alice opened her eyes with a start, her mind left in a state of shock as her consciousness snapped back into her body. It was there that the beast ran the show and it wouldn't be long before it enslaved her again. She could already feel her emotions draining from her as she began to fall under its sway, and she knew that it wouldn't be long before she felt nothing at all. There was precious little time left for her to tell Matty how she felt about him and to let him know that she still cared. It was something that she had to get off her chest before she found herself trapped and helpless to express herself once more.

  As Alice gathered her thoughts and looked around for her loving companion, she found that the entire room had been left in darkness. It wasn't an empty space like the one that she had just returned from, but a regular wooden basement that had since been witness to quite the battle. The tables were overturned, their candles snuffed out, and the painted shrines were nothing but splinters. At first Alice wasn't sure whether this was something that she had done or if something else had gone down when she was caught in the moment. The only thing still intact was the open sarcophagus, the contents of which were now beginning to crumble to dust. Renée Girard was no more; her remains already unrecognisable.

  Turning on the spot, Alice soon caught sight of what had caused all the damage. Matty had been forced to his knees by a surprise attack, his large and lanky form appearing smaller than usual as he found himself at the mercy of another. His assailant was an exotic woman with olive skin who held a shortsword to his throat, her athletic form clad in tight black leather.

  From the destruction around them, it was plain to see that the attacker hadn't managed to take the soldier down without a fight, his arms and legs bleeding from various cuts and slices that had been inflicted by her blade. As strong and resilient as Matty was, he was no match for the skill and finesse of Katherine's personal assassin, a mute who served her mistress without question.

  "Shani, wait!" Alice stayed the execution with her obvious words of panic, her feelings for Matty still present for the moment. "Don't harm him, please. If you spare his life… I… I'll come back to Calgary with you." She meant what she said, at least for now, as there was no telling how her mind would change in the next few minutes. If she could exchange her own life for his, then at least some good would come from what she had done to him.

  The assassin turned her head to stare at Alice with mysterious viridian eyes, her dark hair tied back to reveal the emotionless expression upon her face. Alice wondered if this was how she herself looked these days, the loss of her humanity visible for all to see. It was the look of someone who had been jaded by their past and had little trust for those who had not yet earned it.

  "Get out of here, Ally! Save yourself!" Matty pleaded from where he was kneeling. He no longer had the strength to fend off his assailant, but he still had his words. However, Alice couldn't leave him behind as she knew the truth of the situation. If she left now, then his death was assured and his blood would be on her hands as much as on the hands of the one who killed him.

  "Not this time... I won't leave you to die. I love you, Matty." Alice forced a slight smile, trying to reassure him that everything would be alright even if she didn't believe it herself. With those precious few words, she could see the hope restored in his eyes. It was all that he had wanted to hear and was enough for him to regain his will to survive.

  Satisfied that Matty was ready for whatever came next, Alice turned her attention back to Shani who waited in silence, the edge of her sword pressing deep into her hostages' neck. "Take me to Katherine and let him go. If you harm him, you'll lose us both."

  The exotic assassin inclined her head to one side as if she was questioning Alice's motives. Her gaze lingered for a short while before she too managed a smile. It wasn't a warm or welcoming gesture however, but the chilling look of someone who knew that they had the upper hand. She never raised a hand to strike, but it seemed that she didn't have to. Shadows began to expand from the corners of the room without a sound, no longer trapped in a two dimensional layer as black tendrils formed and stretched out towards their unsuspecting victim.

  Alice couldn't react in time as the shadows took on a solid state and wrapped themselves around her like vines, restraining her limbs as they held her in place. She soon found herself incapacitated, unable to move an inch while she watched in horror as Shani raised her sword over Matty's head. Any attempt that she made to beg for his life was choked from her by the tendrils that continued to tighten around her torso and neck. They squeezed until anything more than an incomprehensible gargling was impossible, the sounds that she made unintelligible to all.

  There was nothing for Alice to do but watch as the sharp edge of the blade came down towards Matty's exposed and vulnerable neck. It just wasn't right, this wasn't how things were supposed to go. She couldn't let events play out this way, there was no way that she would let it happen. She wouldn't leave him to die, not now; not after everything that they had been through together.

  Glancing at the headless bodies of her two brothers, Alice couldn't bear to see her companion in such a state. She reached out with all the energy contained within her veins, forcing the ancient blood inside of her to do its part. She willed it into action, pushing back against the shadows that held her at bay. There were precious few seconds before Matty met his gruesome fate and Alice had to do everything within her power to stop Shani from making the killing blow. She somehow managed to make the tendrils loosen their grip; not by much, but it was just enough for her to do what she had to do.

  "Stop!" Alice screamed with everything that she could muster, the weight of her command causing Shani to freeze mid swing.

  It was clear from the look on the assassin's face that she had been taken by surprise. She was trying so hard to fight against the invisible force that halted her strike, but her body had been paralyzed and she didn't have the strength to break free. Matty had closed his eyes, waiting for a blow that never came, his head still firmly attached to his shoulders.

  Alice didn't stop there, her primal yell striking fear into all who heard it. "Go away!"

  Shani's eyes opened wide, a look of dread crossing her face as arteries and veins began to protrude from beneath her skin. A web of black lines began to crisscross her flesh, the blood within her forcing its way to the surface. Even as her body began to pull itself apart, she found that she couldn't move a muscle, her mouth twisted in harrowing agony as she silently begged for release. The horror in her eyes would leave a stain on Alice's soul for eternity, the memory a permanent scar upon her psyche. A few seconds later and her eyeballs began to bulge in their sockets, the pressure building until she was unable to hold herself together any longer.

  A sanguine shower of gore erupted from where Shani had been standing, the steel shortsword clattering to the ground. Red vapour seemed to hang in the air for just a moment before it fell to the ground like rain. The entire place was splattered with blood, a pile of ruined leather the only evidence of the vampire who had been wiped from existence. Matty opened his eyes once more, visibly stunned by the explosion of blood that had drenched him from head to toe. He had no words to describe what he saw before him, the whites of his eyes standing out against the crimson backdrop.

  Alice didn't know what she had done, only that she had been the one to do it. If she had the power to utterly destroy another being in this manner, then she may have achieved what she ha
d set out to do, and that meant that she could save everyone that she cared about from the tyranny of Katherine Louviere. The ancient blood that filled her veins had made her incredibly strong, so strong in fact that she could overpower all that opposed her. She felt no guilt for what she had done, in fact she no longer felt anything at all; the only thing that crossed her mind was that she was ready to face her old mentor. Soon she would be able to stand up against the Blood Queen and would undoubtedly emerge victorious. Now there was nothing that could stand in her way.

  Chapter Fifteen: A Broken Psyche

  "So Harold Fletcher is dead? That's something that I had never expected to hear in all my years, but it is welcome news indeed." Queen Marquette sounded pleased by the news that Vincent brought her, but nothing brought her more joy than seeing the face of her beloved Antoinette who she now cradled in her arms.

  Sam felt awful about his first reaction to the spymaster's appearance. After all, he was no prize either and had begun to wonder if he might look similar over time. He watched in silence as the queen knelt on the hard ground and brushed thinning hair out of Antoinette's face, her friend nestled safely in her lap. Sunken red eyes searched the cave ceiling in confusion, features twisted in bewilderment as if she couldn't comprehend what was going on around her. Whatever had been done to the poor woman, there didn't appear to be much left of her mind as she whispered in gibberish that no one appeared to understand.

  "Shhhh... It's alright. You're safe now, my love." Renita spoke softly as she began to rock Antoinette back and forth, her friend not seeming to understand where she was or even who she was with.

  The queen's dress was draped over the rocks, the fabric damp and dirty from where it had been dragged across the floor. She had removed her silk gloves, allowing delicate fingers to touch grey, mottled flesh with great care. Her own skin was the colour of snow, closely matching the porcelain mask that she still wore upon her face. The two women clearly shared a deep connection, the queen seeming to care for this wretched being far more than anyone else in the world. There was no telling how long they had known each other, but it was clear that theirs was a relationship that had spanned generations.