‘Aecia!’
It is Uncle’s voice. ‘Help the others carry them to the van; I will finish the last row. Hurry, there are more Vumes coming. Is your gun armed and ready?’
I hadn’t even realised how many we had freed, it’s the Vamps, they can move ten times faster than we can.
‘My gun is ready Uncle. Where are my friends?’
‘Outside, they are not strong enough to carry the Clones, but they will defend us from the Vumes.’ I am racing now to the nearest group of Humans, and I realise my strength is coming back. I can easily carry two Humans at once and get them to the second truck. There are more Vumes appearing from everywhere, and I can hear the pulsating of the UVA guns being discharged; random explosions of light confuse my eyes, and the smell of burning flesh and ashes assault my nostrils. People are shouting instructions to others, with no idea of where they are, and I’m not sure who is friend or foe anymore.
‘Amica.’
‘I am here, carry the Humans to the trucks and don’t stop. That is all; carry the Humans to the trucks.’
‘Yes, yes, that is all I have to do; that is my job; carry the Humans to the trucks.’
My arms and shoulders are aching and I can see the last two Humans, unconscious, at the back of the warehouse. There are Vumes in here fighting with the rebel Vampires, and they have machetes, the like of which, I have never seen before.
‘Ignore them, get to the Humans.’
‘All right Amica, I’m going, but I’m afraid, it is coming over!’
‘Your gun?’
‘My gun,? Yes. It is standing in front of me. It has human eyes, not Vampires, but vacant, I….AAAhhhhhh, my leg it’s slashed! The pain…’
I am firing the ray gun from my position on the floor, and the thing is turning to black skeleton and crisp ashen skin. It is writhing in pain and I hate myself, even while knowing that it would have killed me.
‘Aecia, I have you child.’ Mother is carrying me, she is hurt, and there are burns on her face and arms.
‘Mother, you’re hurt.’
‘Let me get you to the trucks. I will stay with you inside; the medication is wearing off on me.’
What is happening? I can see more Vumes than rebels, and I can see an Elder! Kasen, it’s that monster Kasen, and he is looking at me.
‘Mother hurry, there are Elders here, how did they know, and how are they out in the daylight?’ She can’t answer, she is in agony. We are falling, everything is fuzzy and dark, and I…
‘Where am I?’ It’s dark and there is very little air, just the sounds of many people breathing in here.
‘You are in the last truck.’
‘Anne? Is that you, switch on the torch. Is my mother here? She was hurt, burnt.’
‘Your mother is dead!’ The torch is on and I can see the truck is full of Clones, and Anne is in front of me. ‘No, Anne, she can’t be!’
‘She didn’t take her tablet.’
‘She did, I was with her when she took it, and I saw her.’
‘How I have longed for this moment.’ What is the matter with her? She is smiling, my mother is gone and she is pleased?
‘Your mother took a placebo. I took her tablet.’
‘But why would you do that? You don’t need it. You are not a vam..? YOU ARE A VAMPIRE! No, stop!!!’ She has my arms, she is going to bite my throat Amica, help me!
‘GET OFF HER!!’ She has been lifted off me, is that Uncle? The door at the back of the truck is open and the light is streaming in. ‘Uncle?’
I recognise the voice, but it’s not Uncle; who is it?
‘She is not for you Anne, she is mine.’ It’s KASEN! That son of a rotting leper! I am not his! I’ll die first, before I let him touch me! If I could just get the strength to find my gun.
‘She is not yours!’ That is Uncle, and he has just punched Kasen and pulled the doors shut. ‘DRIVE!’ We are moving, we are really moving. Does this mean it’s over? ‘Uncle, are we safe, is everybody safe?’
‘Rest chid.’
‘But Mother.’
‘Sshh.’
There is a loud bang and I can feel the truck skidding. There must have been something sharp on the road. I am clinging to Uncle, and everyone is screaming and being thrown everywhere. I can taste blood on my lips. I must have passed out again, every bone in my body is screaming at me, and my head is throbbing with pain. Someone or something is jabbing at my cheek, I must open my eyes but they are sticky.
‘Ow! Quit jabbing me! I’m awake.’ It’s hard to see, my eyes are blurred with blood dripping from my forehead. Is it Orianna? Two bright blue eyes are staring into mine and still poking my face. ‘Stop it!’
My God, it’s a little Watcher, there are hundreds of them! They are picking up the Clones and carrying them off the road, into the fields. They are so fast! What are they doing? ‘No, don’t take them, where is my Uncle?’
‘We help.’
It spoke to me with a child’s voice, squeaky, it has tiny fangs, but what is it?
My God, four more are here and they are picking me up! I have no power to move, I think my arm and leg is broken. They are twittering on to each other and I haven’t a clue what is going on. Where are the rebels, Uncle, Orianna, Lupe and Sebastian? I can hear the ray guns going off behind me, and fighting, I can hear people fighting. ‘Turn me around, I can’t see and I want to help.’
‘You are broken, we help.’
They are too fast; I can’t even hear anything behind me now. The fields and the trees are just a blur, it feels like we are flying, but we are too close to the ground. I’m going to be sick. I don’t recognise any of the scenery; we are deep in the Barren land, far past the outer rim of the Sector. Is that Mount Ignifer? It looks like it. We learnt of the Fire Mountain in Geography. Why are we going here? Nobody has been here since it erupted a hundred years ago. It’s just molten rock, and cracked, dead land. Amica, what if they are going to sacrifice us, or eat us like the ancient cannibals and voodoo chiefs.
‘They are helping us. They are friends.’
‘How do you know?’
‘I feel it. You can sense it too, you can always sense it.’
‘Can I heck Amica! I’m not a flaming Guru or something! Most of the time I haven’t a clue!’
‘How do you feel about the Watchers?’
‘Well, ok, I’m not afraid of them. I sense they want to help, but I am afraid of going near a raging Fire Mountain!’
‘Wait and see.’
I am so tired; the motion of being carried is closing my eyes. I want to stay awake but it’s just too hard. There is no pain in sleep. The anxiety twisting my soul for the fate of my friends will fade away for a while. I just hope that they are all safe, and being carried alongside me, to a hideout that is larger than the stature of the Watchers I have seen. No offence to their species, whatever that may be, but a whale couldn’t live in a fish tank, and that’s a fact.
Chapter Nine
MOUNT IGNIFER
I feel really hot, it is so warm in here; the air is thick with warmth but I am not overpowered. Every part of me is numb except for the warmth on my face, and it tells me I am still alive. The light is as an evening lamp in our lounge at the end of the night, before we would go to our pits. My aching eyes are glad it is a soft glow, and it gently reveals the room in which I am lying. The bed I am lying on, if it is a bed, is made out of stone and is part of the wall, the floor, and everything else in the room! There are many more beds lined up beside me, and carved out of the same stone in exactly the same way. We are resting only six or seven inches from the floor.
There is a large footstool with benches in the centre of the room, or is it a table, for beings whose world exists much closer to the floor? The Watchers! I remember now, this must be where they brought us. Where are the others Amica, and why can’t I move my legs? I’m trussed up like an Egyptian mummy, with both my legs heavily bandaged and my left arm. This is going a bit far, I wasn’t that broken surely? Altho
ugh I do remember that ugly little blue-eyed face saying, ‘You are broken,’ in his little voice. He looked kind though, didn’t he friend, but then why can’t I feel my legs? Just goes to show that ugly people like me are nicer, and help when others have broken things for some reason. I’m not absolutely sure that I am awake or asleep Amica, and I don’t appreciate you laughing at me! There are three of you now and you’re still in pyjamas so I’m going to sleep.
This time I think my head is a bit clearer friend, I’m not sure what that bang on my head did to my brain. I keep merging one thought with another, and ending up with random, nonsense sentences. If you dare to say, ‘What’s new,’ well then, there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it!! I swear they must have put me on drugs! Seriously friend, it is so quiet here, but I can just about hear gentle breathing. The person lying next to me is sleeping. She is obviously a woman, even though her hair is thin and her body painfully thinner. How can her heart still be beating when she is already an inch from death?
There is someone kneeling beside my bed I think; my eyes are closed so I must have slept again. I can feel a cold hand brush the hair from my face, but his breath is warm as he kisses my eyes, my nose, and he’s resting his lips on my own. ‘Garok! I’m so happy you’re alive!’ I have opened my eyes and he is gone, if he was ever here at all. The Watchers are all around and the room is buzzing with life, this time that my eyes are open. People are sitting up next to me in their beds and gazing in awe at each other. I can see their fear, joy and confusion as they realise there are warm, tangible beings with them. Some are daring to stretch their arm across to the next bed and touch the person there. I don’t know why but my eyes are filling with tears. I just feel so happy for them when I think where they came from. Why do I always cry? Deliriously happy or bone wrenchingly miserable, I always cry.
The Watchers are zipping here and there, and handing out drinks and some kind of food that I don’t recognise. I must talk to them, if they would just stay still for one second.
‘Hey! Hey Mr Person! Could I talk to you for a minute?’
Oh, that’s a bit unnerving Amica! There’s about seven of them now, standing around my bed, absolutely still with their eyes open wide.
‘Eh, my name is Aecia.’ Silence from them, Amica, I wonder if they speak my language? ‘Do you know someone called Rauul?’ Now they have all shot out of the room! Did I scare them? Do they need the toilet? What? This is infuriating, my legs are bound tight and I can’t get up. I should be looking for Mother, Orianna and Uncle, everybody! Oh I can hear someone talking outside the room. It’s my uncle! I want to shout out loud but my throat is still sore. ‘Uncle.’ That sounded like a strangled squirrel, and I haven’t a clue why my throat and neck are so sore.
‘Aecia! You’re awake! Don’t speak, you hit your head hard and jerked your neck.’
‘But Uncle, what happened to Mother and everyone else?’
‘I told you! Don’t speak! I know not speaking is the most difficult thing in the world for you to do, but do it! Here.’
He has given me a pen and paper, and I would shout, ‘hooray,’ if I was allowed to speak. My left arm is rigid and useless, but my right arm is quivering with excitement at the prospect of putting pen to paper and writing again. Just holding the pen invites me into your world and we are closer. Uncle is speaking.
‘I will tell you where we are and who is with us for now. If you feel too upset or agitated I will have to administer something to calm you down, because it’s very important that you don’t move too much Aecia.’
I know. My body is broken. I remember someone saying that to me recently friend.
‘Yes, your legs are broken and your left arm, but you will heal quickly. You have strong blood running through your veins Aecia.’
There is a sharp pain in my chest, as the look on my Uncle’s face has just told me what he is going to say. I remember what has happened to my mother and father. Whatever delirium that was shielding me from that memory has dissolved into reality, and I remember.
Mother and Father are dead.
‘Yes, and I am so sorry child, but they both died trying to do something incredibly dangerous, and incredibly important. They were the bravest people I have ever known.’
Will they be with Leandra and Baran?
‘Yes, they will all be together child, and they will all be at peace.’
Uncle, it was Anne that killed mother, did you know? She is evil, and she swapped mother’s tablet and took it herself. She is a Vampire!
‘‘I know that now! I am a fool for not realising it sooner. She was planted in that house to gain my sympathy, and get into our ranks as a Rebel. Do you see now my reasoning, when I refuse to reveal every detail of our plans to every person? Anne had only the information about this particular raid, and because of that, all of the rest of the information about The Rebellion is still unknown to the Elders.’
I thought you were paranoid to be honest Uncle. I see now, that your caution is absolutely necessary to our survival as a group. Can I ask you about Orianna, Lupe and Sebastian, or will your reply make you have to sedate me?
‘I don’t know; you seem to have coped reasonably with the death of your parents. Your friends are sleeping, and hopefully healing, in another part of the mountain.’
Will they live? Are their bones broken?
‘I don’t know, they are very ill, but I have hope.’
Can I see them?
‘Not yet.’
Uncle, how many Humans did we save?
Uncle is smiling through all of his anguish Amica, I want to hug him tight but I only have the one arm.
‘With the unexpected arrival of your Watchers, I haven’t thought of a name for them yet, but G.., somebody told me that you had called them that. Well, with their help, we managed to save 213 human beings from the farm!’
So many more must have died Amica; I wonder if it was in the crash, or were they killed by The Elders or the Vumes? I am so glad at least half of them were saved though. We will definitely do better next time.
‘I am going now Aecia, which is all you need to know for the time being. Sleep now and I’ll see you later.’
What! I haven’t even started yet but he’s going. He can see that I want to write some more, but he’s off. These legs better heal quickly, or things will be happening and I won’t be part of it! I wanted to ask if he had seen Garok again, or was I dreaming before. I wanted to know what exactly happened at the raid, in every detail, and most of all I wanted him to stay here with me. I can’t stand lying here, with my own head torturing me with the loss of Mother and Father. All I can remember is my last argument with father, and the way I had neglected my mother in favour of Uncle, when we were in the Haven. There are so many things I want to say to them, now that they are gone. I want to tell them I am sorry for being moody and ungrateful all the time. I really do love Zak, and I will be there for him always. I want to tell them how much I love them both, and that I always felt how much they loved me. All that time I wasted being a brat is crucifying me now. Do you think they know Amica? Do you? Zak, poor Zak, he’s an orphan now and he’s just a baby. I am an orphan too! Don’t let me cry friend, I’ll never stop. Don’t let me!
‘Let it out.’
I knew you’d say that, and I am letting it out, I’m crying and so are you. They are gone, they are really gone, and all I can see is the vast hole in my life where my mother and father used to be. It’s not fair! Why can’t they just walk in the room? They could a few hours ago, why not now? Where did they go? I will follow them. I will close my eyes and they will appear to me, in a wonderful rich, green meadow which is bathed in warm sunlight. They will be free of the curse damning them to darkness now that they are in heaven, and it will be heaven because Vampires began with Humans, and they can share our heaven. Well, the good ones can, can’t they friend? I’ll sleep now so that I can be with them for a while, and tell them all the things I should have said before they went to sleep in death.
Well Good morning to you Amica! I can start my journal again properly now that my mind is clearer, and I have made my peace with my parents. Their loss, as with all the others, is a wound that is now part of me, but I have no doubt what they would expect me to do in their stead. Get up, dust myself down, and continue! That is exactly what I am going to do! The Watchers have said that my bandages can come off today and I can try to walk! Try to walk! Are they kidding me? I’m going to run like a lunatic and investigate every single inch of this fire mountain, and every living thing that is in it! I’ll find Uncle, and pin him down until he tells me every minute detail about everything I have missed, and then I’m going to eat till my stomach looks pregnant. I am starving!!
The lady that was lying next to me is sitting up and she looks a bit better. I wonder if anyone has given her a name yet. If not, then this lady should be called Lillie. She looks skinny, but kind of graceful, in the way she holds herself. She has brown eyes, and they are like saucers in her head, because her poor face is still so thin. I’m going to shake her hand and see if she responds.
‘My name is Aecia.’
‘‘I am Linda.’
Well, you could knock me over with a feather, she knows the language already, and she shook my hand. Nice one! They are so clever these people; it’s exciting to see them develop into what they were meant to be. Where are the little guys, I want to get out of this bed. ‘Hey, could anyone help me off with these bandages?’
Wow, they just appear out of nowhere, and line up waiting for you to tell them what to do. That’s cute, but I’m not having it all the time. They are too subservient and humble, they’ve got rights too. I will just let them help me though, this time, and then we’ll talk about the not being subservient idea, at a later date. I can get a closer look at them now that they are unwrapping me. They’re really unusual looking, and each one is different. Some have wispy clumps of hair, in various shades. They all have two eyes, I think, except for one I’ve seen, but each eye isn’t necessarily the same shape or colour as the other one. No Watcher is covered with the same colour skin all over its body; there are patches of black, yellow, brown, and pinkie white. Some of them have tiny fangs with cat like eyes, and others have human teeth. I used to have a book when I was a child, which had each page cut in half. The pictures on each page were of Vampires variously dressed, mythical creatures, and animals and so on. You could mix up a different top half of each page with a different lower half. This book is what the Watchers remind me of Amica, but with a more complicated mix up than merely their top and bottom half. I must ask Uncle what their species is called. If they were a word they would be, ‘supercalafragalisticexpialadoscious.’ Now do you understand what I mean? They don’t make sense. They are very weird and sort of ugly, but really adorable and cute. They chatter on to each other as well, but at such a speed it is impossible to recognise or understand the language; they have to stop abruptly to speak at our speed, and then their words are stilted and abrupt. I think they are AWESOME, and I want to become good friends and find out about their culture and so on.
Only Human Page 14