by R A Browell
Lily opened her eyes. It had been such a strange dream. One minute she’d been drying her hair before the open fire in a castle bedroom, singing to herself. The next… Well, all she could remember was the sound of beautiful music and the sensation of the wind in her hair.
The light seemed different, brighter than she’d expected, with a pink hue, and the air was warm and breezy, with the salty smell of the sea as it wafted in through the open windows. Even though they’d reached Pergamont in the evening, this didn’t feel like the same place at all. The cold, damp smell of stone was gone, replaced by something fresher; the clean scent of the open sea, and she could definitely sense the moon-led movement of the tide, which was close.
She opened her eyes properly, stretching out as she looked around the room. Gone were the dark heavy furnishings of Pergamont, with its deep rich velvets, woven brocades and historical tapestries as, once again, she found herself in unfamiliar surroundings. She was lying on a large comfortable bed, in an airy, white room, with smooth marble floors. Lily sat up, slowly drawing her feet to her body as she wrapped her arms around her long, shapely legs and took a proper look around the room. The thin light voile at the open windows wafted in and out of the room, the gentle breeze playing with the fabric, as though spirits were quietly slipping in and out. She closed her eyes and squeezed them tight before opening them again and blinking in the bright sunlight. She was still here. She wondered whether the whole thing was some kind of surreal dream. Maybe she’d never moved up to Carfax Hall at all. Maybe she was still a regular human living in London with her dad and they were now on holiday in Greece, a change from the unsophisticated beach house at Drumgarth Bay and the temperamental weather of England. She pinched herself as she glanced down. She was still wearing the long, thin cotton nightshirt that had been left for her on the heavy four-poster bed at Pergamont. She ran her fingers across the Pergamont emblem; the reality of the closely woven fabric and rich embroidery didn’t lie. Lily lay back and sighed as she accepted that this place was not going to have any normal explanation.
Everything was quiet, peaceful even, with only a stray seagull calling from the blue sky. She lifted herself off the bed and walked barefoot towards the open windows, peering through them onto a wide balcony. Her head was pounding. All she could remember was the music; first her own voice and then the harmonies that filled her head entirely, becoming louder and louder and more and more beautiful by the second. The music had been sublime, so awe inspiring and so powerful that everything else was forgotten. All she could remember was the sound and the heady feeling it gave her, like too much wine. Admittedly, the room didn’t quite spin, but she remembered feeling as though her whole body were smiling, filled to the top and brimming over with happiness.
She recalled the sensation of cool mist on her face and of thinking how so very cold it was and then the sensation of falling very slowly and being caught by many cool gentle arms which seemed to reach out and caress her; protecting her, stroking her whole body with their multitude of calming fingers. The same deliberate fingers had then laid her down and watched over her until she had fallen fast asleep. Last night had been an all-pervading, sensual and comfortably cool sensation, but most of all she distinctly remembered feeling happy and the memory made her smile again as she looked out over the balcony to the clear blue water and the faint horizon far away.
She stepped outside.
It certainly looked like Greece. The sun sparkled on the ocean’s surface, which reflected that particular Mediterranean radiance. The cliffs were high, white and barren and seemed to be holding back the land and stopping it from falling away into the sea. She took a deep breath and filled her lungs with the warm, salty sea air, craning her neck to look all around. Her room was part of a villa set into the top of the high cliffs but partly built into the cliff face so that it overlooked just blue sea and sky. Lily leaned out over the balcony, her eye drawn towards a narrow path cut into the jagged rock that led down to a small cove far below. There was a small sandy beach and a wooden jetty where a large boat, a yacht of some description, was moored.
Lily thought hard.
‘What on earth was she doing here? It was magnificent, but what had it to do with her?
And where exactly was she? Was she back in her own world in her Pergamont nightgown, or was she still in Farisia? And where were the boys?’
She thought back to the conversation she’d had last night with James. He’d wanted to sleep in the armchair in her room to make sure she was safe but Silky had chased him away. She smiled as she thought of James and the others. Maybe they were here too? Maybe Pergamont was some kind of metamorphic realm – Gothic castle by night, Club Med by day… But she had a strong feeling that wasn’t the case, that the boys weren’t here and that she wasn’t supposed to be here either.
She concentrated, trying to tune into their presence but there was nothing. All channels were empty. She peered down at the rocks below and watched as the waves smashed relentlessly against them, spraying their white foam over and over – a kind of watery ground-hog day and then she turned her attention back to the villa and the other balconies that were dotted in the white walls all around her. There were windows both above and below and what appeared to be a wide, open veranda perhaps two or three stories above where she was standing, but no movement or sign of life. She watched the yacht move gently with the ebb and flow of the waves, bobbing up and down like a toy boat in a park pond. Someone was bound to come and find her and explain why she was here. Yet she felt reluctant to leave the room or call from the balcony. Her feet felt warm against the sun-drenched tiles and she was just turning to go back into the room when there was a gentle tap on the door.
Lily braced herself.
‘Come in,’ she called, in little more than a whisper, wrapping her arms around her body, suddenly conscious of the thin nightgown.
She watched the door, holding her breath as the knob turned and a tall regal girl entered the room. She was smiling and was followed by another and then another, each of them dressed in long figure-hugging corseted gowns, with plunging necklines.
‘Lily, we’re so glad you’re awake. We hope you slept well. We’ve brought you clothes,’ said the first girl who looked about nineteen. Lily watched her glide across the room. She had the most wonderful blonde-white hair, far surpassing Lily’s in length and colour, so that it looked like rays of moonlight were shining from every strand. Lily was mesmerised.
‘Lily,’ continued the girl in a velveteen voice, ‘perhaps you don’t quite remember us. I am Aurora and these are my sisters, Venetia and Mareena.’ She nodded towards the two other girls. ‘We were unsure of your style, so Mareena insisted we bring you a selection.’
They each floated across the room, carrying an armful of colourful clothing.
‘We’ll just leave them in here shall we?’ Aurora suggested as they carried their gifts gracefully across the bedroom and into the spacious dressing room.
‘Thank you,’ Lily managed to mumble.
She watched as the three girls glided across the expanse of white marble. Her arms were still wrapped firmly around her body and she could feel her toes twitching nervously as she desperately tried to make sense of where she was and of the three beautiful strangers who seemed to know her. There was something about them. Something in the way that they moved that was familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it; these girls, who knew far more about her than she did of them.
‘Do I know you?’ Lily asked hesitantly. She could feel her face reddening. ‘I mean, you obviously know me and you’re being very kind and everything, but I’m not sure who you are and where I am… My friends,’ she added, shifting awkwardly, ‘are they here too?’
The girl called Venetia glided towards Lily, her long, smooth, dark hair falling luxuriously over one eye as she swept it up with a kind of sensuality that Lily had never seen before. She pushed the mahogany locks behind her small delicate ears and reached out with her arms.
‘Lily,’ Venetia began, ‘can you not remember our meeting last night? You called out into the night for us and we came and then we sang together; songs, many beautiful songs. Surely you must have some recollection?’ she asked, softening each consonant and extending each vowel with her honeyed breath. Lily returned the smile, she couldn’t help it. There was just something about these girls.
‘Lily, you must know how your voice complements ours like no other,’ continued Aurora. ‘You agreed to come here with us, to see our home, here on the Isle of Aldrovanda. You left your friends at Pergamont Castle. Don’t you remember?’
Aurora was smiling. Her gilded words were filled with the promise of friendship, family and the fulfilment of every desire.
Lily nodded slowly. ‘I can sort of remember the singing. It was very beautiful and peaceful,’ she said, hesitating. ‘It seemed to become part of me; it made me feel really happy but…’ She shook her head and furrowed her brow. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t remember leaving Pergamont and the others. I remember feeling sleepy and the music, but not coming here,’ she admitted awkwardly.
Venetia nodded sympathetically. ‘Perhaps if you dress and join us upstairs it’ll come back to you,’ she said. Lily wrapped her arms a little tighter around her body. ‘I can sense you feel slightly under-dressed.’
‘And I really hope you find something you like,’ added Mareena excitedly, her ruby red hair shimmering in the sunlight. Lily looked carefully at the girl. Her pale complexion was delicately speckled by tiny red freckles as she stared intently at Lily with the most bewitching green eyes that Lily had ever seen. ‘We hope so much that you’ll like it here,’ the red-haired girl continued breathlessly. ‘We’re so excited. We’ve been waiting so long for you to come.’
‘Little sister,’ said Venetia, gently touching Mareena’s arm. ‘We must leave Lily to dress.’ Mareena turned to follow the two older girls, almost skipping as she headed towards the door.
‘Funnily enough you’re not the first person to have said that,’ Lily thought to herself.
Mareena turned back. ‘Yes,’ she exclaimed, ‘but we’re the first ones to really mean it!’ she replied, frequencing silently with a beaming smile as she caught Lily’s eye.
‘You heard that?’ asked Lily, forming the words in her mind.
‘Of course,’ smiled Mareena, looking confused. ‘Why wouldn’t I?’
‘Because I didn’t actually….’ Lily started to reply and then the penny dropped.
‘Hang on a minute,’ she called out loud to the three girls. ‘You’re not telling me I’m actually able to communicate with you by…. You’re not?’
‘Lily, you need to dress and then we’ll speak, but know this; singing creates a wonderful affinity,’ smiled Aurora, speaking with a natural air of seniority as she ushered her two sisters through the door and closed it softly behind them.
Lily started to shake as she thought about what had just happened and tried to remember back to the previous night.
‘Isle of Aldrovanda? Where on Earth was that? And in which world?’ she asked herself as she stared at the closed door. ‘And why did I agree to come here with three vampires that I’ve never met before and without the others?’ She wondered about the boys. Maybe this was part of finding the Elementals, but what about everyone else back home; her dad and Gran and Silky? They’d be wondering where she was. Lily began pacing the room. She needed to keep a clear head and to find out exactly where she was, who these sanguin sisters were, and, if she really was here alone, why they hadn’t extended the invitation to Hari, James and Charlie?
Minutes later Lily was sorting through the clothes, groaning as she looked at what the girls had brought for her. Lots of silk and chiffon and every item of clothing, ultra-tight and revealing. ‘Well, I guess if they are real life vampires,’ Lily sighed to herself, ‘although, if you ask me, this stuff is a teeny bit predictable!’ She flicked through the dresses a couple of times, longing for her faded jeans and creased t-shirt and eventually found a dress that seemed to be the least revealing of the bunch and pulled it from the rail. Removing her nightdress, she stepped into the crimson gown and tightened the laces on the shape-defining bodice, then stood in front of the great gilded mirror and sighed again as she looked at her reflection. The long diaphanous skirt shimmered as she lifted it and let it fall, the silk floating against her long legs like an open parachute. She reached up and instinctively brushed the little featherstone pendant with her fingertips, feeling somehow reassured as it moved unfailingly towards her touch. ‘Gran would have a fit if she saw me in this and I don’t even want to think about what dad would say!’ she thought to herself as she gazed at her breasts, squeezed tight by the corset. She imagined parading down the staircase at Carfax Hall and then her face fell as she saw the reality of the reflection in the mirror. She was transformed into a real-life vampire, one of four female vampires in a villa on a Mediterranean island and not a Transylvanian castle in sight… How very contemporary!
The girl gazing back at her from the mirror was barely recognisable as the same girl who’d moved to Carfax Hall, on a windy night, seven months earlier. Lily thought about the notes in her mother’s pink notebook. ‘She was right, at least the bit about vampires not having reflections in mirrors!’ she said, smiling to herself as she smoothed down her skirt, which automatically reminded her of Silky. ‘I wonder what she’d do?’ she asked herself, ‘and more to the point, I wonder what my mum would have done?’ Lily stared at her reflection; she had become the image of her mother. ‘My mum was good and strong and clever,’ she mused. ‘She’d think. She’d focus. She’d try and gather as much information as possible and work out what was going on, before she did anything.’
Lily moved back into the bedroom and sat down on one of the crystal chairs.
‘Okay, so they said they’ve been waiting for me for a long time,’ she said to herself, focusing on the facts, ‘and I don’t get the impression that they want to feed from me or kill me, at least not yet, but they do like singing with me and clearly they want me to be like them.’ She glanced down at the tight-fitting bodice as she mulled over what had been said. ‘So why have they brought me here?’ she said, ‘and am I free to come and go or am I some kind of toy - an imprisoned doll who’ll have to dress up and sing on demand for the rest of eternity?’
Lily moved back to the mirror, unfastened the corset laces and then stood up even straighter as she pulled them tighter. ‘Well,’ she reasoned with herself silently, ‘if I’m going to do this, I might as well to it properly and play the game. If I really do want to get more information I need to look the part.’ She wondered what the boys would think if they could see her now? Vampire vamp without a doubt she concluded with a smile, and she kept on smiling as her mind drifted back to Valens and the way he’d looked at her as they walked up through the castle grounds. Admittedly, she was now wearing a tightly fastened corseted gown and could hardly breathe, but as she thought back to that conversation and the way that he’d looked at her, she felt her stomach flip and her heart quicken as once again she struggled to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and savoured the feeling and then dragged herself back to the here and now of this strange place.
*
‘Lily, it really is quite simple. What we’re saying is that we brought you here because you’re one of us. You’re our natural sister and because of that, you’re far better and more comfortable staying with us, here at our home in Aldrovanda, than in that dark, dirty castle. We’d be honoured if you’d share all this with us,’ Aurora said, her smile designed to dazzle, as she raised her arms and pointed to everything around them. Lily couldn’t help but notice her tousled moon-white locks of hair and her long, manicured nails. Everything about her, in fact everything about all three girls, oozed sophistication. They were beauty personified, an extreme example of perfected maintenance, from their glorious hair to their polished nails and soft flawless complexions.
‘Permanently?’ asked Lily
.
Aurora nodded. ‘That’s the plan.’ Her smile was brilliant.
They were sitting on a wide, shaded veranda overlooking the ocean. Around them were crystalline pots of varying colours, filled with fragrant honeysuckles and eye-catching wisterias and bougainvillea. Their climbing shoots twisted around the white wooden trellising, wrapping their soft strangulating tendrils around the posts and along the arbour slats, so that their bright, fragrant blossoms filled the air with heady perfume and vibrant colour. Mareena sat cross legged on the sofa next to Lily, gazing at her, consuming every inch of the newcomer with adoring eyes, whilst Venetia and Aurora sat opposite, observing Lily closely.
‘But why me?’ asked Lily.
She thought of mentioning the others, but something held her back. These girls seemed to know too much already and she needed to know exactly why they wanted her here and why they seemed to think they’d been waiting for so long for her to appear.
‘Lily, you are our new sister. We are three girls, alone together in this place but we used to be four. We have been guests in Kelpasia for longer than we care to remember and were told that a child of our kin would appear; someone with the voice of an angel… Never for a moment did we think that we would find you so near to us in Farisia and singing out to us, like a lost chick calling to its mother. We’d been led to believe that you would be found in the other world and so we listened out for you on our travels over there, but when we heard you and so close...’ Aurora blinked away a single tear from her sapphire blue eyes, catching the droplet on her long elegant finger.
‘But I can’t be your sister. Not your real sister,’ Lily replied.
Venetia smiled. ‘Lily, you are a sanguin, you have the gift. That, and your voice, confirms that you are our kin-sister and kin is much wider than you can possibly imagine. It means more than a mere mother or father, it’s about kin-blood Lily, and your blood makes you our sister. You are one of us, Lily. You are Seleni.’