Vampyre Blue (Alternative Women)

by Davena Slade Nicolaou

*

  'Oh Daen.' Star chimed as she seductively slid out of the master bedroom in tight revealing underwear. She stalked around the Palace like a panther looking for Daen. He was in the library, studying books that the Oracle had left to one side.

  'What the hell had that sneaky old bitch been up to before I'd wrecked her plans?' He asked himself, 'Women!' He thought, 'You can't trust any of them.'

  He was looking through the tomes she had left open and with paged folded or with markers gently placed inside the pages. He wasn't stupid, he knew what she really didn't want him to know would be harder for him to find out. So he would have to poke about in her private rooms, rooms that he had barely entered in the Fifteen Hundred years he'd own the mountain.

  'Oh Daen.' Star sprang into the library.

  Daen looked up, he smiled to himself, maybe he could be wrong.

  'Hello beautiful. What are you up to?'

  'Looking for you my love,' She purred, 'I'm hungry.' She whined.

  Daen shut his eyes, breathed in and sighed. He should have known he would have created another whiny vampire. Not worth anything to him, not like Pierre. Just another distraction to anger him.

  'Have you drank from the help?' He asked her.

  'Yes and now they are all dead.' She pouted and sat like a spoiled child, she was worse than when she was alive he thought.

  'You're not supposed to kill them!'

  'How was I supposed to know? You didn't tell me that! You didn't show me what to do. Just bit me and left me on my own!'

  'Come here my love,' He said inviting her to him, 'Drink from me.'

  A vast smile spread across her lips and she believed she wasn't in trouble. Her greedy eyes stared at his jugular, she bounded up to him, sat on his lap and sank her teeth into his neck. She drank a couple of mouthfuls then suddenly passed out.

  'You've just got to love that ancient blood.' Daen said aloud to himself.

  He picked up Star and took her back to the master bedroom, there was a stone coffin at the foot of the bed, he put her in it and closed the lid. They'd be going back to England soon enough he thought to himself, so she can stay in there.

  Daen didn't like being in the Oracle's private bedrooms at the best of times, when she wasn't there it was if she were watching anyway. And Daen believed she probably could see him. He wasn't naïve enough to believe that such magic didn't exist. So if she was going to hide something where would she hide it he thought. Well it would have to be somewhere right under his nose, where she could laugh at him for being so stupid to not realise it so easily.

  'But where?'

  Chapter Seventeen.

  The snow started to fall faster as Cleo set the helicopter down on the mountain side runway. There was already a Jet covered with a tarpaulin that was fast becoming an igloo at the far side of the runway, half hiden under an outstreatch of rock, there was a tiny amount of arabic writing on the underside that could just be made out through the building snow. It couldn't be one of Star's Jets, none of theirs had Arabic writing on them.

  'I guess that's what they came here in. It must be one they hired.' Cleo yelled over the noisy wind.

  Pierre and Blue had covered their helicopter in their own tarp, to keep it servicable and free from debris. They gathered themselves and their gear together and set off up the mountain.

  Once they had started up the mountain pass they were surprisingly sheltered from the worst of the blizzard, it whirled overhead, but all they got was a fine dusting of snow every so often. They travelled through a vast crevasse that snaked up the side of the mountain side.

  'You could almost believe that this was built, couldn't you?' Pierre commented, 'Knowing Daen, it probably was and he's been here for years on and off.'

  Blue kept looking around as she was walking, taking in the sights, the vast ice walls, she'd never been further than the city limits, maybe a holiday or two to well vacationed sights. But she'd never been further off the beaten track, she'd never been on a real adventure. She smiled to herself under her faux fur coat, she was excited this was all so new. Cleo on the other hand, leading the trail up the mountain couldn't stop thinking about Jayne. About the fact she hadn't told Blue a word. She'd just kept it bottled up inside. But she didn't need a weepy unconsolable friend, she needed an ally that was together and in full fighting order. Cleo just hoped that when all this was over that Blue would be able to see why she had done what she had, kept it a secret from her. She gritted her teeth and carried on up the mountain, the wind in her face, she felt fierce.

  The monks were right, they really would find it hard pressed to miss the Palace, it was better than Petra, carved straight into the mountain itself. So elaborate and truely awe inspiring. The structure was gigantic, it must have taken an army to have built it, to shape it out of the rock. There were vast pillars with statues between them some of them beautiful and some completely grotesque, they were carved out of the mountain stone so subtle, a battle between good and evil played before their eyes on the front of this vast palace, Pierre looked up, taking in the huge vista.

  'Fuck! That's awesome!'

  Blue laughed and Cleo looked back at the both of them,

  'Let's see if anyone's home.'

  Dispite the huge regal entrance they didn't bother knocking. If Star wasn't allowed to contact them in over a week then there wasn't any real likely hood that they would be any more welcome here. The door was impossible to move.

  'Well that's that then.' Cleo said, after they'd tried opening the door she rubbed her gloved hands together.

  'Come on you knew it wouldn't be that easy, we can climb up there.' Blue pointed to a crag in the rock face, 'Maybe we could get in that way too.'

  The three of them climbed up the front of the palace and climbed in through the window shaped gap.

  'Not exactly up on the security around here,' said Pierre, 'But I guess when your palace is at the top of the world, you're not expecting guests.'

  Blue was the first into the Palace, she brushed the snow from her jacket and whistled through her teeth.

  'Now this is what I call a Palace,' She said aloud, 'Daen sure knows how to decorate, I'll give him that.'

  Daen walked through to where the three of them were climbing through the window and brushing the snow from their clothes.

  'Why thank you Blue, so kind, but this isn't my Palace. It belongs to a woman with much style and charisma.'

  'Talking of which, where is Star?' Chimed in Cleo.

  'Daen I told you to leave these girls alone!' Pierre hollered.

  'Oh Pierre, you're just a puppet on a string. Since when did you crawl from under your hiding rock?' Retorted Daen grinning malevolently.

  'Isis told me to go after Blue, tell her the truth, fight for my love, our love.'

  Daen's look turned cold, his jaw clenched, his eyes flashed with danger,

  'Poisonous lies!' Daen jumped and attacked Pierre at a lightening fast speed, Cleo didn't see it happening, but Blue saw it happen really slowly and so jumped in herself to intercept, stricking a mighty blow to Daen, he hit the wall and crumpled on himself. Blue hadn't expected to react so violently towards Daen in protecting Pierre, and neither Daen or Pierre had expected it either.

  'Never been hit by a girl?' Blue raised one eyebrow trying to make light of the situation.

  'They've never been quick enough.' Daen got up and brushed the pieces of wall and dust off his clothing.

  'He isn't lying you know,' Said Blue trying to reason with Daen, 'Isis is still alive.'

  'Blue, Daen isn't going to believe us. He has been looking for a reincarnation of his beloved for so long it would make your toes curl and he didn't even have the intelligence to go look for her in the Temple he last saw her!' Pierre shook his head.

  'Some true love, huh.' Blue added.

  Cleo was stood on the sidelines completely oblivious as to what was happening in front of her, she was sure she needed a catch up with Blue at some point, which she knew went both ways.


  'And yet more lies!' Said Daen, 'You don't know what you're dealing with. Even your parents,' Daen looked straight into Blues eyes, 'Didn't know what hit them!'

  Blue's eyes bulged, her whole body started shaking.

  'My parents?' Blue searched Daen's unwavering eyes.

  'You vile bastard!' Screamed Pierre, he had guessed that Daen had caused their untimely dimise.

  'My parent's died in a car accident.' Said Blue, the thoughts of that night when she was told her parents had died, the rain on the window, the lightening, they never came home, she was left all alone, a tear welled up in her eye.

  'Yes they did and their pretty, terrified faces as I ran them off the road,' he smiled, 'Of course there are many ways to skin a cat and many ways to get what I want.'

  Blue walked over to Daen and struck him across the face.

  'Ha ha ha ha ha,' Daen laughed, 'You've all been my little puppets over the years,' He walked over towards the window looking out into the storm, 'One day you might find out how much I've influenced your lives from the very beginning.'

  He turned and smiled before leaping from the window and disappearing into the blizzard.

  'Fuck you Daen!' Pierre shouted after him out of the window.

  Cleo turned from where she was standing, quite unnerved, she had just witnessed a Vampyre bitch slap rather than a full on fight and there was a sizable piece of wall missing in the room. Blue had been told by this monster Daen that he had killed her parents and she was holding up pretty well, Cleo's guilt had almost tripled in the last three minutes because she thought Blue couldn't handle bad news well and it was probably her that was the one that couldn't handle the news really. Cleo just wanted out of all this mess, she wanted to go back to Italy and forget her old life completely. If only it were ever that easy she thought to herself.

  'So where is Star then?' Cleo said aloud as she swept the room with her eyes.

  'We'd better have a look around.' Blue answered making her way to the door way and the rest of the palace.

  Pierre's sense of smell had developed over the years and he didn't have to go very far to be able to smell the fresh stench of death. Although humans can hardly tell. He led them to the master bedroom.

  'She's in here.' Pierre called.

  The coffin was at the bottom of an ornate bed,

  'She's in there.' He said pointing to the large stone coffin, 'But I don't think we're going to like what we find.'

  'Why?' Asked Cleo hoping with all her might that Star would be fine and this whole crazy adventure wasn't going to get any worse.

  'What's that smell?' Asked Blue.

  'What smell?' Asked Cleo, 'I can't smell anything.'

  'What's he done to her?' Blue said out loud.

  They slid open the stone coffin lid. She was still dormant, in a very deep sleep. Star was visably changed, the vampire teeth visable. The cold harsh look of her, a preditary harshness that could only be seen if you were looking for it.

  'Blue, she's not like us.' Said Pierre, 'She's got no soul.'

  'So how do we fix that?' Blue asked.

  'I don't know if we can, but if there is one person on this earth I imagine that could help, it would be a certain Nubian Goddess.'

  *

  The Oracle knew that time was not on her side, but maybe that Lady Luck was. She knew that she would struggle to get away from Daen like she so desperately needed to. She didn't need him anymore. She had everything she needed. With that book she could change herself into a Daywalker and please herself. She had enough money set aside to live like a queen forever. She had been taking money over centuries and setting aside investments, he had encouraged her to do so at one stage. Daen hadn't kept his eye on her though and she had accumulated a vast empire of weath since then. She had estates all over the world she could go to. The only problem was that she was still bound to Daen through blood. It drove her crazy. She could sense him in her head, if he knew how to control it well enough he would be able to read her mind and control her movements, luckily for the Oracle, Daen was ignorant to his true potential. And now she had found the key ingredient to get him out of her head for good.

  She went through the house getting all the items she could carry. Two large suitcases full of allsorts, books, ingredients, potions, lotions, tonics, concoctions. It would have taken some pursuading getting it through the airport security, but since she had enough money to pay for her own plane she needn't have anything to worry about.

  She just had to go back to Tibet to get a few of her very tresured possessions. And of course the tome that she required for the ultimate spell.

  It really was with all the luck in the world, as the Oracle got on her private plane, Daen stepped off his. He sensed her nearby, but not enough to alert him to her presence. She was trying to sever her link with him and it was working and she knew it. She even saw him and he didn't see her, she was elated.

  Daen got back to his mansion, everything of the Oracle's had gone.

  'Fucking Bitch!' He screamed.

  He smashed everything within reach, thousands of pounds worth of antiques came crashing down around him breaking into a myriad of tiny pieces. Plates smashed and crunched under foot, paintings were torn from the walls, he almost set fire to the whole building. Until he got to a statue of Isis where he stopped dead.

  'Right where I left you.' He whispered as he stared at her image chiselled in marble.

  'Egypt should be bearable at this time of year,' He said as he softly stroked her cold stone cheek, 'But I need your things with me.'

  He left the house just as quickley as he'd left Tibet and back to Tibet he went.

  *

  'She looks really dangerous.' Said Cleo, 'Like I could cut my fingers on her dangerous.'

  'Too right,' Said Blue, 'And don't you forget it.'

  'If she woke up Blue, you could easily outmanouvre her.' Said Pierre praising Blue's new capabilities.

  'She's my best friend.' Said Blue.

  'She WAS your best friend.' He corrected her.

  'Can we fix her then?' Asked Cleo.

  'There's only one way to find out,' Pierre answered, 'Isis will have answers.' He added as he slid Stars coffin lid shut.

  'Blue, you and I should be able to carry this.' Pierre motioned to the stone coffin by their feet.

  'Are you shitting me? We need a crane? Seriously?' Blue was shocked, 'I can't lift that, surely?'

  'I'm guessing you haven't taken your new Vampy powers for a test ride yet?' Pierre grinned.

  'Test ride?' Asked Blue.

  'Test ride?' Cleo looked confused.

  'Yeah. You know, pushed yourself in everyway you can think of, tried to break yourself?'

  Blue gave Pierre a puzzled look.

  'Okay, let me put it this way. Cleo over here would struggle to put you on your ass, short of cutting your head off, but she'd struggle to get hold of you to do that. All the same, you are faster, stronger and more able than any human that has ever existed.'

  Pierre pointed to the coffin,

  'Shall we?'

  'Okay, let's pick her up then.' Blue said to Pierre.

  Cleo giggled to herself and to her surprise they both lifted the stone coffin as if it were made from polysterene.

  Cleo blew an impressed whistle,

  'Wow, you guys are crazy strong.'

  Blue fixed her a big cheesy grin and Cleo smiled right back at them, it was a welcome moment in an extrordinarily mental few days.

  'Now let's get her fat ass down this mountain.' Cleo said.

  'Oh only if she heard you, she'd be turning in her coffin!' Replied Blue.

  'Oh and what did you pick up in there?' Asked Pierre to Blue.

  'You know, this and that.' She smiled back at him, 'I thought some things might come in handy.'

  Chapter Eighteen.

  The temple lit with a strange luminescence, could not be fully explained by the hundreds of flickering candles. Shadows danced across the walls and each and every stone seemed to r
adiate an indescribable sense of warmth, love and spiritual energy. A sense of goodness, so pure and so complete that it created an ambiance like no other.

  Isis had gathered the potions and ritual accoutrements needed and placed them in their rightful positions. She remembered the incantations and where each pot should be placed at what time. Eliza had gathered the information about the alignment of the stars and the exact location of the changing light needed for the the ritual.

  It was going to be the day after this night, the beginning of December for the modern calendar.

  'Are we ready then?' Asked Eliza.

  'As ready as we can be my child.' Replied Isis.

  'I hope it all goes to plan.' Said Brett, 'We've put enough work into this over the last few days. I think my brain is going to explode with all the incantations we've been repeating.' He smiled, 'Not that I'm complaining, it truly is amazing that I've been given this wonderful opportunity to be able to be a part of something that is so important.'

  'Shush Brett.' Said Eliza, 'You do go on when you worry don't you.'

  They all looked at one another in worried anticipation.

  'Only the Gods can help us now.' Said Isis. She looked to the stars and closed her eyes, she hoped that everything would work out, she hoped everything would go according to plan.

  *

  Blue, Pierre and Cleo had flown straight from Kathmandu to Egypt, they were in one of Star's private jets so there were no questions to answer in regard to the huge coffin they were carrying. Star hadn't even so much as murmured in her stone grave. As soon as they had landed Cleo had stolen a large Jeep from the airport security at Cairo International Airport, their security wasn't exactly up to scratch as far as Cleo was concerned and she figured they needed to be taught a few lessons, she would take it back at a later date and dress down their chief of staff if she got round to it. The coffin was really heavy in the back of the Jeep, it went down a couple of feet over the rear axle, but they were built for the desert and built for heavy usage so a mere slab of stone wasn't a tall order.