Vampyre Blue (Alternative Women)

by Davena Slade Nicolaou

  Blue burst into the Mansion, an eerie silence fell upon her. She felt panic spread through her body. The vast mansion felt like a mausoleum as she stood there, alone in the vast empty house. It was dark outside by the time she had gotten there, Pierre had come with her, after a few seconds he'd followed her in.

  'Hello? Shouted Blue, 'HELLO?'

  Cleo walked out of the upstairs hallway to the top of the stairs and looked down to them. She looked really tired.

  'Hi Blue honey, I’m just up here looking after Jayne. She’s in a right state, I'm glad you didn’t see her before.'

  Blue rushed upstairs to see Cleo,

  'Why aren’t you in Italy?' Blue asked.

  'Because of her.' Cleo pointed to the bloody mess on the floor nearby.

  Blue looked over at Teresa’s body on the floor.

  'Oh my God! What the hell happened?'

  Cleo let out a huff and then went on to explain,

  'I think Teresa was a mole from the very beginning, Jayne was her way into our group. The agency must have hired her to terminate me, the party being her way in, but then she got a smell for the cash. She wanted my money after she'd poked about my finances, so she got greedy, not to mention sloppy. She was a good enough fighter to have given me a good fight, but she’d clearly not read up on me. I’m quite insulted to be honest with you.'

  'So are you cleaning her away?' Blue asked hinting on the immediate removal of the dead body stinking up the place.

  'I will now, I didn’t want to leave Jayne on her own.' Cleo said, she started to walk away, then turned and added, 'I don't think she's safe on her own.'

  Blue returned with a knowing look of concern.

  Cleo went about moving Teresa’s body with the help of Pierre. Blue went to see Jayne in her room. She pushed open the door to find Jayne laid in her bed, asleep. She was clearly not having a comfortable relaxed sleep, she was tormented with nightmares and horror. Blue stroked her hair and face, this seemed to calm Jayne and she became serene.

  'Psst.'

  Blue looked up.

  'Hi Blue.'

  'Hi Amelia,' she said, 'long time no see.'

  'Well you’re a Vampyre now, I was scared.' Amelia started to shift clumsily in her shoes chewing her bottom lip.

  Blue gave her a ‘dumb ass’ look.

  'Yes okay, I shouldn’t have kept myself hidden.' Said Amelia.

  'You’re right you shouldn’t.' Replied Blue, 'So what exactly is going off? Am I right to assume the shit has or in-fact is about to hit the fan?'

  'I warned Jayne you know… but she ignored me.'

  'She can’t see you!' Blue said through gritted teeth, 'Why didn't you tell me?'

  'Jayne knew I was there, she even said so out loud, but she still ended up like that.' Amelia pointed to Jayne. Blue went out to grab Amelia's ghost like presence, but then went up real close to her instead and said to her through gritted teeth once more, 'If you'd have warned me, when you tried to warn Jayne, then none of this would have happened. You stupid little bitch!'

  'It's not my fault.' Amelia pouted.

  'No, it isn't. But I'm glad you're dead, because I would have killed you for this.' She paused, ' And thinking about people looking out for each other, where's Colin? He should be checking in on the girls from time to time on the estate.' Blue looked worried, she got up and walked to the hallway.

  Pierre and Cleo were walking towards her,

  'Look who we found tied up outside.' She produced a very tired, very cold looking Colin.

  'Oh honey, are you okay?' Blue rushed up to Colin giving him a hug.

  'F… F..F.F…Freezing.' He replied.

  Cleo told Blue that she’d warm him up properly so he wouldn’t get hypothermia or pneumonia and check if he didn’t have any other injuries.

  Pierre sat with Blue next to Jayne.

  'I can’t believe I left her here just two days ago. I thought nothing of it, I thought she’d appreciate being alone with Teresa. How wrong was I?'

  'Don’t beat yourself up babe.' Pierre told her as he put an arm around her, 'You weren’t to know.'

  'And Cleo’s back from Italy already!' Blue felt deflated, 'It’s all a mess!'

  Cleo walked in halfway through Blue’s last sentence,

  'Well I tried cleaning her up best I could, but I think we’re just going to have to burn it all and re-decorate.' Then Cleo asked, 'Where’s Star?'

  'Last I knew she was with the Prince.' Said Blue, 'She rang me and we spoke for a few seconds and then the line just went dead. That’s why Pierre and I came back here. I thought she was back here, but with Jayne and everything I got sidetracked and haven't given Star another thought.'

  Cleo looked concerned, she pulled out her phone and dialled Star’s number, it went straight to voice mail.

  'Now let me see,' she said as she started clicking loads of numbers into the internet from her phone, hacking the system. 'Ah here, what network, oh right. It says here that the last call she made was to you, it was one minute and forty two and it was at co-ordinates 25.9°N, 45.35°E and at 30,000 feet. She was on a plane?'

  'What the hell are you hacking to get that sort of info?'

  'Nothing you need to know about.' She looked up at Blue, 'Seriously, you really don't want to know anything about this stuff, the less known the better. You can't unlearn things about people Blue, you can't undue killing someone either.'

  'Big brother gone wrong?' Blue gave her a wry half smile.

  'Gone wrong, definitely. Who watches the people who watch, it gets really twisted. I am absolutely done with all of that.'

  'So where is Star now?' Asked Blue bringing Cleo's paranoid tangent to a close.

  'She was somewhere over the middle east, but at that altitude and co-ordinates I’m betting she’s a lot further away by now.' Cleo looked puzzled.

  'What the hell is she doing on a plane that far away?' Blue saw the look on Cleo’s face, she hadn't seen that look before.

  'Beats the hell outta me.' Cleo was worried, she really didn’t know. And Cleo always knew everything.

  *

  Star’s head hurt like crazy, she couldn’t move. She felt groggy and terrible. Her hands were bound behind her back and her legs were tied to a seat on the plane.

  She lay there. Still. Slyly opening one eye, peeking to see if she was being watched. She started remembering the events leading up to her unconsciousness, she started to get angry. There was no-one around her, or at least in her peripheral vision. She started to listen closely to everything around her. At first she could just hear the plane noises, the engines, the air con. She listened more intently.

  'You can land 31°4′0″N, 81°18′45″E there’s enough room to set her down, there’s practically a runway.'

  'But that’s nigh on the side of the mountain!'

  The first voice changed and became more intimidating.

  'Would you like me to fly the plane!?!'

  'Sorry sir, I didn’t mean… I’m sorry. We’ll land the plane no problem.'

  'See that you do.'

  Star kept still on the floor, pretending to be still unconscious. Daen walked through to where she was laid, he sat himself down opposite and made himself comfortable with a glass of scotch on the rocks.

  'Oh Star, if it were only you Star.' He let out a sigh, 'Blue was always the one on my mind, well for the moment, no one could ever replace Isis, not really.' He stared at his scotch, sloshing it around in the glass with the ice pieces slowly melting into it.

  Star listened quietly on the floor, she began to get angry again, she couldn’t take it any longer,

  'YOU MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!' she screamed, she kicked out trying to kick Daen, 'LET ME GO AT ONCE! I demand you let me go!'

  She turned her head to face him. He looked down at her.

  'I’m sure a spoiled brat like you isn’t used to being spoken to or treated like this.'

  'You fucking bastard Daen!'

  'Most definitely.' He smiled a serene calm smug smil
e.

  He moved closer to her and punched her in the face, knocking her unconscious again.

  *

  Blue excused herself from everyone’s company and went to her room.

  'Amelia.'

  Amelia appeared in a shimmer.

  'Hello Blue.'

  'Hi Sweetie, so what on earth is going off?'

  'Well, just like that, no ‘How have you been?'

  'I’m sorry Amelia, how have you been?'

  'Enough of that! Eliza sent me to see what was happening.'

  'Where is Eliza?'

  'She’s okay. She’s in a big Ancient Temple with some ancient Nubian lady.'

  'Seriously? What on earth are you talking about?'

  Amelia rolled her eyes.

  'Eliza. My Sister. Your friend. She went to Egypt. She snooped around a dig site, she got taken hostage by an ancient black woman in a subterranean temple, any further questions?'

  Blue looked wide eyed at her.

  'And she asked you to come see how I was?'

  'Yes, she’s fine there. In her element! They’re deciphering some ancient prophecy, all to do with you apparently. Getting rituals ready and what not.'

  Amelia paused then went on.

  'Don’t worry she’s not on her own, that nincompoop Brett is with her.'

  Blue smiled,

  'Did she ask you to go back with information?'

  Amelia stood (or rather floated being a ghost) and thought to herself,

  'Yes.' She answered.

  'Right. I think there will be a lot to remember, so we better get started.'

  *

  Cleo stroked Jayne’s hair, she seemed to be quieter now. Jayne had been asleep for a couple of days now, everyone taking it in turns to watch her sleep. No-one wanted her to wake up on her own after everything she’d been through.

  'Okay honey, you’ve got to be okay.'

  Jayne stirred, she moved about and then began to open her eyes.

  'Hello sleeping beauty.' Said Cleo.

  Jayne smiled,

  'Wow, how long have I been asleep?'

  'About two days, straight through.'

  'Where’s Teresa?'

  'Can’t you remember?' Asked Cleo.

  'No, the last thing I remember was making dinner for us both and then… nothing.'

  Cleo stared, she was in two minds about this. Clearly the trauma had made Jayne’s brain shut out the last two days. She wanted to tell her, but also wanted to ask everyone else.

  Jayne asked again,

  'Where’s Teresa?'

  'I’ll just be a minute.' Cleo said as she exited Jayne’s room and quickly scampered to the kitchen, where the rest of the household were.

  'Hey guys, Jayne is awake, she can’t remember the last two days and she’s asking for Teresa. The last thing she remembers is making dinner for her. What am I going to tell her?'

  Everyone looked up, they were shocked.

  'Seriously?' Asked Blue.

  'Yeah. What should I tell her?' Cleo asked.

  Pierre spoke up,

  'I think that at the moment if Jayne has protected herself by blocking out the last two days then we should leave her be.'

  'I’d go with that.' Agreed Blue.

  'And where the hell has Teresa gone in the mean time?' Cleo asked.

  'We don’t know, just say that.'

  'Okay, but I’m more inclined to just tell here the whole story right now, so she can deal with it. Instead of pretending everything is okay.' Cleo grimaced, completely torn with what to do.

  'We need Star and Eliza back to help her, they always know what to do.' Blue said, as she lent on the side board in the kitchen with her head in her hands, 'Or at least Eliza does. I guess we’re in a Catch 22.' She pondered further, 'Whatever we do you just know it’s going to backfire.'

  *

  'So you’ve been here all along?' Brett asked.

  'Well yeah.' Replied Eliza.

  'So what have you been doing?'

  'Finding out what is happening, what's going to happen. Isis thought I could help her, a fresh pair of eyes on all the texts. I think, well she thinks, she may have missed something.'

  'And has she, you know, missed something?' He asked intently.

  'I’m not entirely sure. You see the thing about prophecy is that it never turns out quite how you would expect it to, but giving her a fresh perspective from a very different point of view, she says has given her more of an advantage in seeing the future, or the prophecy.'

  'So what is this prophecy?' Asked Brett.

  Eliza had gotten so far but she felt it necessary to explain to Brett.

  'What I’ve got so far is that there used to be a lot of supernatural occurrences happening in the world, many supernatural beings, these beings were considered Gods. They were inherently good and the people who worshipped them found they were blessed and lived good lives. They had food, water, animals and they were happy. It isn’t clear what happened, but whatever did happen knocked all that. Evil came to power and those that lived in the light were no more. Darkness prevailed and the people became frightened to go out at night, people would die horrific deaths if they went out at night.'

  'What the hell happened?' Asked Brett curiously.

  'It just talks of the Evil. Then everything came to a head in one single event, there was a massive explosion or something that destroyed a massive chunk of the nearby landscape and everything changed.'

  'So how do we all end up being involved in this?'

  'Well, that’s kinda what I’m trying to work out. Isis has a few volumes missing, they're kinda key to this whole thing too. What I'm assuming from the texts so far is that something similar is going to happen again and whoever comes out the other side will be the one who is to lead the world to balance, but like I said I'm missing texts.'

  'Damn. So where are they? These missing texts?' Asked Brett.

  'They were stolen from my library by an evil woman.' Isis announced as she glided into the room, her emerald eyes shone with malice. 'Many years ago now, I can not see her either, she eludes me.'

  Brett and Eliza looked at each other dumbfounded.

  Chapter Fourteen.

  The Himalayas were breathtaking. Daen still loved the beautiful majesty of these mountains, this was one of the only places that had barely changed in over two thousand years. Tibetan monks and the addition of adrenalin junkies were the only change he had noticed. Fortunately he was in a very remote location.

  The small Jet had set down on a small runway on the side of the precipice. The Sherpa's in his employ had emptied the plane and had started up the peak with their yak. Star was tied up in a basket attached to some such creature. Daen had been kind enough to cover her in furs, so she was kept reasonably warm. The destination was a particular mountain pass, high up on a private trekking path, forbidden for centuries and steeped in legend, danger and intrigue. No intrepid traveller would ever get a local guide and no map had ever been drawn up of the mountains of the area, Daen and the Oracle had made sure of that over the years. Daen and his party were on their way to meet the Oracle in her Palace, a Palace that had been carved out of the mountain itself. Her home was truly as breathtaking as the scenery in which it was situated.

  'Welcome home Daen.' Said the Oracle, she was in her element here and very content.

  'How have you been Mistress?' Replied Daen.

  'Good, good,' she ushered him in, 'We have a guest?'

  'Yes, it’s Star.' He replied.

  The Oracle huffed, she dropped things about her and noticeably became more cranky.

  'You are insufferable Daen, Insufferable!' She cursed him frowning and waving her fists.

  'Oh come now, she’s leverage.'

  'For who Daen? She’s a thorn in my side,' she scowled, 'She will bring nothing but trouble! Mark my words!'

  'She’s tied up in a basket, she’s a mere human and she’s spoiled. She couldn’t fight her way out of a brown paper bag.'

  'Let’s hop
e you are right.' She said.

  The Oracle walked towards her personal chamber, turned to Daen and said,

  'Come now Daen I have so much to show you, leave her and her basket.'

  She led him into her ritual room.

  *

  Star woke up with a start, she could feel a great bruise growing on her head. The pain was throbbing.

  'Oh crap where am I now?' She thought to herself. She noticed she was wrapped in furs and that the air around her was freezing cold. She was also cramped up and in total darkness.

  'I’m in a coffin, I’m in a fucking coffin!'

  She started freaking out, she wasn’t by any long way used to being treat like this. Star was claustrophobic and struggling to keep herself together. She had never been mistreat in her entire life, the whole twenty eight years had been delivered on a veritable silver spoon, the best of everything, she never had to worry about anything, her life was served to her on a silver plater with pretty garnish on the side.

  She wriggled about, her hands and feet bound tightly, she couldn’t move at all. Star started to scream, she was scared, tired, she couldn’t move and she was about to completely give up.

  'Help me,' she whimpered, 'Oh Blue, Cleo, Eliza help me… Jayne help me… Help me.' And with her last breath she fell unconscious once more.

  *

  'So what is so intriguing to rush me here my dearest Oracle?'

  'Well Daen, it is interesting. Come look.' She beckoned him over.

  A huge book lay before them opened on a page with an immense diagram of a complicated ritual, long lost in time. It was what Daen had been searching for, even before this ritual had been performed on him millennia before.

  It was the ritual to turn a mortal into a day walking Vampyre, it had every detail imaginable, the specific items required for such a task and the alignments of the cosmos that make the ritual possible.

  'Good God, where on earth did you find this?' Daen gasped as he rushed toward the book.