The Vampire's Captive (Tales of Vampires Book 4)

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The Vampire's Captive (Tales of Vampires Book 4) Page 16

by Zara Novak


  “Because they don’t blank minds at all. They never have. Natalie said the guards lined the servants up against a ditch in the forest. They were all given one last chance to join the Order at gun point, but none of them did. The Order… they… they executed them.”

  The pickup swerved across the empty road temporarily as Jack looked over at her in surprise. “Sorry. Continue.”

  “Well, Natalie was shot, but the bullet didn’t kill her instantly. She fell back into the mass grave, waiting to die, when a group of vampires showed up and attacked the Order troupe. As it turns out, they were Valentine vampires. Rourke was among them. They ended up killing the executioners and Rourke helped to save Natalie. She’s been a servant at the border ever since.”

  Silence beat between them, the only sound the hiss of the road under the pickup’s tires. Jack let out a long low whistle after a minute and finally spoke back. “That’s quite the story. Vampire hunters are killing humans now.”

  “And the Red Circle are trying to destroy all vampires,” Ellie said back. “Seems like the world has gone fully crazy.”

  Jack looked over at her, his red eyes searching into hers. Ellie felt her skin prickling slightly at the examination. She laughed nervously, brushing a hand through her hair, hoping that she could look better. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  She nodded.

  “What made you join these vampire hunting folk in the first place? What kind of person do you have to be to wake up one day and decide that you want to kill things for a living? Most humans don’t know about vampires, so I assume you had to have a pretty select upbringing to be in on the ‘secret’.”

  Tarmac hissed underneath as Ellie considered the question. It was true that her upbringing was more on the unusual side. As she sat there her mind traced back over the years that had brought her to right now. Try as she might it seemed as if she couldn’t avoid vampires, no matter how hard she tried.

  “What’s the matter?” Jack asked after a moment of silence. “That heartbeat of yours is getting all crazy again.”

  She checked and found he was right again. Damn. It wasn’t easy skirting the truth when you were stuck in a cab with a human lie detector. “It’s just a sensitive topic for me, that’s all. I know you’re bored, but I’d rather not talk about it.”

  “Why not?” he asked. “We’ve got a few hours until we get to this village at least, and I’m interested in getting to know you better.” He said the words so plainly, so matter of fact, that she could have sworn he was telling the truth.

  Her brow knotted in confusion. “You actually sound like you want to know.”

  Jack looked at her in confusion. “That’s because I do, ya idiot. Why would I lie about something like that?”

  “I don’t know…” She trailed off. Maybe because no one had ever shown any interest in her before like that? She’d spent her whole life living in the shadows. Forgotten. Unwanted. A burden. She could count on one hand the times people had asked her how her day was. Jack’s interest seemed sincere, which felt wholly unusual. “You really want to know? Where should I begin?”

  “I’m all ears darling, honest. Start at the beginning. Seems like the best place to me. What are your parents like?”

  She smiled at the faint memory pressing against the back of her mind. There was something there, but not enough to go off. “I couldn’t really tell you, but I do know that my brief memory of them was good.”

  Jack looked over, concern filling his face. “They’re dead? I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” She shook her head. “And yes. I assume they’re dead. It was a long time ago. It was the night the vampires raided our home. The night my life changed forever.”

  17

  Jack looked over at Ellie, barely able to keep his eyes on the road. “You were taken prisoner by vampires?”

  Ellie nodded meekly, sitting up straight in the cab as she found the strength to walk through those old memories that had lain undisturbed for quite some time. “I don’t really remember a whole lot about my real parents. I was young when the attack happened. And I never saw them after that.”

  “What happened?” Jack asked.

  Steadying herself, she took a deep breath and continued. “The only memory I have of that first place… the place I think you are taking us to, is that it was big. It was a labyrinth of stone. I always remember looking up at the arched ceilings and thinking how tall they were. There was always snow outside, crisp, white, never ending. I don’t really remember my parents, but I remember my childhood as being happy.”

  The few scant images of her real childhood flashed before her eyes and she tried desperately to hold onto them. There were kind faces. There were two girls in brightly colored dresses. She couldn’t remember their faces, but she remembered they would play together often. They’d even fight together too. Were they… were they the girls that would supposedly be her sisters? The other lost daughters?

  She put the thought to one side and continued. “I remember that other people lived there too. Not a lot, but this place was home to more than one family. I think we might have been servants. I think my parents served the people who owned that place, that castle.”

  “A castle in the mountains?” Jack asked for clarification.

  “Yes,” Ellie said, nodding in excitement. “Do you know of it? Does it mean anything to you?”

  Jack’s face twisted as he tried to reconcile the faint recollection in his mind. “I feel like it should, but again, amnesia isn’t being the best of friends to me right now, sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” she said. Disappointment made her hunch over a little, but she continued regardless. “Well, those were the early days, and I don’t remember a lot about them. All I remember is that everything was perfect, and I was happy, but then the vampires showed up.”

  “What happened?” Jack asked.

  The images presented themselves to her as they always did. A nightmare. A horror show unfolding in real time. She could barely remember that treasured place she knew as a childhood home, but the attack was imprinted on her brain fresh as anything. “It was just… horrible,” she said, trailing off slightly as she fought to control the images.

  “I was too young to understand, but I get the impression the attack came as a complete surprise. My mother dragged me upstairs and locked us in a cupboard to protect us.”

  “Us?” Jack said.

  “Yeah. There were two other girls in there. We were all crying, we were all holding onto each other.”

  “The other daughters…” Jack said ominously.

  “Possibly,” Ellie said, feeling some sort of excitement stir inside of her as she considered it. She’d played the memory over in her head many times over the years, but never thought those girls might be her sisters. It was the hair that must have thrown her. One with delicate brown pigtails, the other with curly red hair that looked like summer fire. “Anyway, we heard the commotion through the door. One of the attacking vampires broke into the room. I heard him kill my mother.”

  “Sorry Ellie,” Jack said.

  “It’s okay. We all tried to stay as quiet as we could, but we were so frightened. I think I was the one to cry out. That’s when we heard its footsteps across the stone floor. Slowly walking to the door.” She winced as she remembered the sound of the rattling door handle.

  “He tried the handle, found it was locked. A second later the door ripped from its hinges and the vampire flung it across the room. The three of us sat there, crouched on the cupboard floor, crying and holding each other. I still remember the mad glare in his eyes. He was going to kill us.”

  Jack stared over at her, barely keeping his eyes on the road long enough to keep the pickup in a straight line. “Then what happened?”

  “Another vampire showed up,” she said, remembering the silver-haired vampire that had swept into the room a second later. “He flew across the room and tore the first from the cupbo
ard, spearing it onto a piece of broken furniture. He went up in flames. I still remember the sight to this day. I could tell this silver-haired man wasn’t there to hurt us. He was there to stop the other vampires. He got us out of there. He rescued us.”

  “Silver hair…” Jack whispered the words to himself, looking as if he was trying to remember something.

  “Does that seem familiar?” Ellie asked.

  “Maybe.” Jack looked over and shook his head. “Sorry. My mind is just running circles on me again. Continue. You say this silver-haired vampire saved you. Is he the one that took you and your sisters prisoner?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “After that we left the castle. They took us somewhere faraway. The silver-haired vampire said he would take away all the bad things that had happened. I remember he lined us up and placed his palm against our foreheads. One by one. I was last, and when his palm touched my forehead I felt this deep well of warmth spread across my mind.”

  “Mind cleaning,” Jack said.

  Ellie nodded. “It seemed to work on the other two girls, but I think it only partially worked on me. I could still remember somethings, but it was like I was staring at the shadows of memories.”

  “It doesn’t work on everyone. Only truly powerful vampires possess such a skill.”

  “After that we were separated. Someone came and took my brown-haired friend, leaving me and the red-haired girl. I remember taking her hand and squeezing it tight. Neither one of us wanted to let go of each other. More people came, and they were the ones to take us. They were vampires too, but nothing like the ones that attacked the castle. They were patient. Warm. Friendly. We ended up at this new place. Another castle, one that was run by vampires.”

  Ellie paused momentarily as she remembered the brief time she spent there. It had felt like a lifetime back then but looking back she knew it couldn’t have been more than a few years.

  “How old were you when this happened?” Jack asked.

  She shrugged. “Three, maybe four, when I left the first place. We had been servants at the old castle, but with the vampires we were slaves. I think my friend and I were lucky, because we were only young when we first arrived. Our captors placed an importance on education, but after school was done we were required to help out a few hours each night. Cooking, cleaning.”

  “Who were these vampires?” Jack asked. “Do you remember anything about them?”

  “Yes, actually. They were blond-haired. I remember there were brothers with strong green eyes. I don’t think we realized the context of the situation at the time. My friend and I used to talk all the time about how good looking they were.”

  “This friend with the red hair?” Jack asked.

  Ellie nodded once again. What was her name? God. It seemed impossible now that she could forget it, what with all that time they spent together, but it was gone now, lingering in some forgotten space on the edge of her memory. “I wish I could remember her name. It’s just on the tip of my tongue. Maybe something beginning with J?”

  “I take it the vampires didn’t feed from you then?” Jack asked.

  “No,” she answered. “That’s correct. How did you know?”

  He tapped to his head again. “Another relic in my memory loss. Most vampire families won’t take child servants, but your case was different. You were refugees. Either way, if there are child servants they aren’t available for blood letting until they’re grown up. I dare say that happened when you were older, right?”

  “I… couldn’t honestly say. I was only at that second place for a few years before I moved on again. This time there was another rescue, but it was more savage than the first. I was out in the forest with some of the other servants. We were gathering wood for the stoves in the kitchen when a group of people in white broke out of the tree line.”

  “The White Order,” Jack said.

  “That’s right.” She nodded. “They took the ones that were willing to go and ran with us. I never had a choice really, only being a child. It’s strange but it felt more natural being taken a second time. I think I’d just started to assume it was something destined to happen to me.”

  They both glanced over at each other momentarily. Awkward silence filled the air.

  “Anyway, I wasn’t with the group long before I learned all about the horrible people that they had saved us from. Lyra told me they were vampires. She told me they were bad, and she was there to rescue me.” Fondness swelled inside of Ellie as she remembered the golden-haired woman.

  “Seems a little one sided,” Jack said, “but it sounds like this woman had your best interests at heart.”

  “She did. Lyra brought me back to the White Fortress along with some other children rescued from the vampires. She told me I was part of their organization now. From that day I forward I would be a child of the light. I would be a soldier of the White Order. Everything I did, I did to please Lyra. She was beautiful to me, and she appeared like an angel in the darkness, shining as a beacon of light, standing as a mother that had been so cruelly taken away those years before.”

  “You saw this woman as a mother figure?”

  “More,” Ellie said. “She did become my mother. I was only with the Order a few months when she adopted me officially. I, her top student. I thrived from the love she gave me. I moved out of my quarters with the rest of the students and went to live with Lyra and Valdis in the White tower.”

  “What’s that?”

  “As it turned out Lyra was engaged to be married with a solider of the Order named Valdis Thorn. Valdis was young, handsome and set to go far. All the women wanted him, all the men wanted to be him. Valdis was only in his late twenties and had already achieved the rank of general within the army. He was tipped to be the next leader when the time came. He lived in the tower with all the other officials who were high up in the Order’s ranks. Lyra moved in with him and brought me along too.”

  Ellie paused as she thought of that day. The day she met Valdis for the first time. “Lyra had been the first real ray of sunshine in my life for a long time, but Valdis… he was different. I could tell his whole heart and soul were committed to hunting vampires and nothing else. He didn’t seem too bothered by my being there. He was never a father figure to me, he simply tolerated me being there.

  “Having Lyra and me there alongside him helped strengthen his image as leader material. He was affectionate and loving in public, but when we were behind closed doors that turned to cold indifference. I guess for a while everything was perfect, but then Lyra died.”

  “He killed her?” Jack asked.

  “No. Vampires. She was out on survivor recon one day when they were taken by surprise. She came back to the fortress in a body bag. I think I cried for months. After that it was just Valdis and me. He couldn’t throw me back down to the quarters with the other students. I was his daughter now. Discarding me would only lose favor, so he tolerated me. In a way he hated me, because I reminded him of Lyra. He couldn’t bring her back, and he couldn’t get rid of me, so he tried to make me into something useful. He wanted a protégé, but I was never strong enough to be what he wanted.”

  “What did he want?”

  “Someone that hated vampires as much as he did. I must admit my past was checkered. Vampires killed my first parents, but it was also a vampire that saved my sisters and me. My time at that second place wasn’t happy, but it wasn’t sad either. It was better than being with Valdis. Finally, vampires came again and took Lyra, the woman I considered as second mother. I hated your kind Jack, and a small part of me always will, but I never wanted to hurt you.”

  “But the Order—” Jack pulled the wheel back, bringing the car over to the right side of the road. “They raised you. You became a student. They brought you up as a soldier.”

  “They did. But in all these years I have only killed a vampire once, and that was a complete accident.”

  “Didn’t they suspect you?” he said in disbelief. “Didn’t they realize?”
/>   “They did. And that’s why they hated me. Valdis eventually went on to become the leader of the White Order. The animosity between us had grown almost unbearable so I moved myself back into barracks and joined a team that would get me out of the fortress. Everyone knew I was the daughter of the greatest vampire hunter. Everyone knew what a disappointment I was to him. I was a reject, an outcast, a pariah.”

  Stony silence filled the cab, but Ellie continued. “I guess I’ve just always been looking for my place. I’ve always been looking for somewhere that I felt like I belong. I’ve never really had that Jack. And then you came along, and I was taken all over again. Dragged to the next unknown destination in my life.”

  “Ellie I—” Jack stammered. “I’m sorry. I wish I could you tell why I—”

  “It’s okay Jack,” she interrupted. “I know that you’re a captive in all of this just as I am. Two minds, struggling to control one body. I guess you’re just trying to find your place too. Trying to remember who you are. I just… I’ve never really had a say in my life. I’ve never had a choice.” A long silence filled the car as Ellie brought her story to a close. She dropped her head against the window, staring idly at the passing landscape once more. Choice. What would that feel like? Would she ever really know?

  For the next hour or so neither of them said anything. The silence said everything that needed to be said. The black road beneath the orange pickup swayed left and right every now and then, winding through the frozen landscape like a never-ending snake. In another hour lights pricked onto the horizon, giving them their first glimpse of the destined town.

  “That’s Skarvast on the horizon,” Jack said, finally breaking their long silence. “We should be there in half an hour.”

  Ellie nodded and gave a weak smile but had nothing to say in response. She already felt like she’d said enough tonight. Jack looked over at her, squeezed the wheel with both his hands, flicked his eyes around the cab. He took a large breath and straightened up. “Ellie, I want to thank you for sharing your story with me. I know it couldn’t have been easy. It sounds like you’ve had the short end of the stick all your life.”

 

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