‘Yeah, is there bacon for us?’
‘Well I was making this for me but I can make you some too. What are your plans for the afternoon?’
Ollie sat down at the table and Ofelia followed him, sitting opposite. Half the table was covered in clutter, old newspapers, stationary, unidentifiable bits and bobs... While the bacon sizzled away, Ollie’s mum brushed the clutter aside in two places and fetched plates.
‘I dunno,’ Ollie began, ‘Maybe play some games, or watch a film? Might go out again.’
Ofelia looked around the kitchen. The sink was piled up with plates and saucepans. The floor was sticky, and the walls had a greasy sheen to them. She reached over the table and grabbed Ollie’s hand, whispering to him. ‘Ollie, we should help your mum this afternoon. I think she wants to sort the house out, but she can’t do it alone.’
Ollie’s facial expression looked as though she’d suggested eating a handful of slugs or setting his hair on fire. Before he could complain though, she gripped his hand harder and whispered again. ‘It’ll be fun. We do it quick. It’ll be worth it. I promise.’
His expression softened at this. Bacon sandwiches on fried bread was served, and they ate hungrily. Afterwards, to Ollie’s mum’s surprise, Ofelia and Ollie washed all the dishes, dried and put them away. Then Ofelia set Ollie onto wiping the tops down while she wiped the cupboards and the greasy walls with a damp cloth. As they worked, Ollie’s mum sat at the table and sifted through her papers. Ofelia was fast at cleaning too. She could remember the days of scrubbing copper pots with lemon and salt and blacking ovens, so appreciated that modern cleaning materials made the work a doddle. After that, Ofelia got Ollie to gather up his washing while she vacuumed the hallway, before putting a wash on. While the washing machine rumbled away, she took Ollie and helped him tidy the living room and his bedroom. After a couple of hours the house was looking a hundred times better. Their help with the cleaning had given Ollie’s mum the time and the inspiration to rid out papers, throw things away and the result was a house which was much more pleasant to inhabit. Ollie’s mum appreciated it too and offered to take them both to McDonald’s as a thank you treat.
Despite his early reluctance Ollie did feel good about it afterwards and was glad he’d agreed in the end. Especially seeing as it’d earned him a Big Mac meal. They got back and had been about to put a DVD on in Ollie’s room, when Ofelia’s phone beeped.
Ollie paused, with the DVD case open. ‘The home?’
Ofelia nodded and started texting angrily ‘Yes. Grrr, they picking me up in ten minutes?’
She’d hardly sent the text before her phone beeped again.
Smacking the ‘close’ button hard with her thumb, Ofelia groaned. ‘God, this is infuriating. I hate people treating me like kid!’
OIlie chuckled at this. ‘Yeah… Tell me about it. Sucks doesn’t it? I bet you’re the only five hundred-year-old who’s said that though.’
Ofelia scowled. ‘Yes. Except I seem to find myself saying it a lot more since I come to UK. In Brasov I can at least walk around minding my own business. The home and school start to feel like prison I think.’
‘Maybe you should take up this Victor on his offer then?’
Ofelia paused, then climbed off the bed and stood up. ‘I’m not sure. I don’t trust him. If he decides he wants to foster me or adopt me or something, I don’t know if I have choice. Come on, I better get my stuff.’
She didn’t wait for an answer. She picked up her jacket and made her way downstairs. Sure enough by the time they’d walked downstairs, been to the kitchen for a quick glass of coke and said goodbye to Ollie’s mum, Nina’s car had pulled up and she was tooting her horn impatiently. Ollie followed Ofelia to the door. ‘Hey, we’re going to see my Nan tomorrow, so I can’t meet up. See you at school on Monday?’
She gripped the silver crucifix he’d given her and smiled. ‘Sure, I have homework to catch up on anyway. Thanks again Ollie.’
They exchanged a wave, then Ofelia climbed into the back of Nina’s BMW and they were gone. Nina spent the entire car journey interrogating her, as to where they’d been and what they’d been doing. Ofelia told as much truth as she dared, including helping Ollie and his mum clean up and going for a walk in the countryside. Wisely, she omitted the sojourn to spy on Tempest House and look for Victor’s car. This seemed to satisfy Nina, but she clearly had a suspicious nature. If any of the carers she’d met so far were to spot any inconsistencies in her story, it seemed likely it would be Nina. When they got back to Harper House, another carer was cooking a fry up. Lucy and Kerry were already seated and eating ravenously, but Stoney was nowhere to be seen. He eventually turned up after Ofelia had eaten half her dinner and Lucy and Kerry had almost finished. He smelled suspiciously of smoke. Nina must have thought so too, because she ordered him into the office once he’d eaten. It was Ofelia and Lucy’s turn to clear up so, they washed the dishes, wiped the tops, then dried and put away. As they headed for the hall Lucy smiled at Ofelia. ‘Want to watch the telly? We might actually be able to put something on while Nina gives Stoney a rollicking?’
Ofelia shook her head and made for the stairs. ‘No, I don’t like TV. I’m going to read, then get an early night.’
As she began to climb the steps, Stoney emerged from the office and stopped her. ‘Hey Offers, I just got my allowance. Here.’
Ofelia turned and stared at the note and coins he was offering. Then she reached out and gently closed his fingers around the money, smiling. ‘Keep it. I don’t need it. You can owe me favour instead. Is good?’
Stoney, who’d been looking glum, brightened up. ‘Cheers Offers! That’d be awesome.’
She shrugged and headed for the stairs. She read for the rest of the evening and for once enjoyed a dreamless night’s sleep.
The next day it poured down constantly. Ofelia had considered asking to visit the charity shop to look for books. However, she had a week’s worth of homework to catch up on and it was tipping it down. She began with the two sides on the Great Plague of London for history, then maths, then English. It took her until lunchtime to complete everything, but in truth she could have finished by ten. She wanted to make a good impression, so she tried to make as good a job of it as she could. After lunch she watched a mindless American action movie in the living room with the others. It was distracting, but no more intellectually enriching than sleeping. The film was about robots from space that could disguise themselves mainly as vehicles, having some big battle on earth. The film was more special effects than plot and more wow factor than story. The others seemed to enjoy it though. After dinner, Ofelia spent the evening packing her bag for school and making sure she had all the right books and equipment.
Chapter 12 - The Doctor’s Cure
After another dreamless night, Ofelia woke and got ready for school. When she went downstairs Nina was in the kitchen, holding an ominous white envelope. She looked up when Ofelia entered. ‘Ah, Ofelia. This came for “the Guardian of Ofelia Arbore”. Looks like it’s from the hospital. I wanted to wait until you were here before I opened it.’
Ofelia scowled at her. ‘Why don’t you let me open it, seeing as it clearly concerns me?’
Nina smirked mockingly at this. ‘It says “Guardian of”. It isn’t addressed to you, as I’m on duty when it arrived... Well that means it concerns me.’
Ofelia sat and folded her arms tight. ‘Well? Open it then. What does it say?’
Nina pressed a finger to her lips. ‘Shh. Be patient.’
Carefully, she ripped the envelope open and took the letter out. She read it twice. ‘Hmmm, it’s from a Dr. Julia Sterling at the hospital. She’s shown your blood samples to a consultant. Apparently they think they can cure your blood disorder with an exchange blood transfusion.’
Ofelia frowned. ‘What is that?’
Nina shrugged. ‘I think it’s when they take all your blood out and replace it with healthy blood. The letter says something about this removing all the par
asites in your blood and-’
‘Let me read it!’ Ofelia snapped as she held her hand out.
Nina smiled. ‘It’s not addressed to you. It’s addressed to your Guardian. I’d heard something about you having some mystery blood disorder. Rita mentioned it. She wants you in on Tuesday at 10:00 am, but she might have to keep you in for a few days to monitor you afterwards. So she wants you to pack an overnight bag - pyjamas, toiletries and so on. I’ll ring the appointments line and accept it, then sign this consent form. If I write you a letter explaining your absence; can you hand it in to the school office for me?’
Ofelia was genuinely intrigued. Could it be so simple? Remove her Immortal Paradox infected blood and replace it with clean blood and she’d no longer be a vampire? This was a tantalising possibility. It almost seemed too good to be true, but it sounded plausible. ‘Sure.’
‘Great. Can you get your own breakfast while I type it up and print it?’
Ofelia nodded and began getting the cereal and a bowl out. As Nina left the kitchen, Stoney, Kerry and Lucy traipsed in, yawning and looking unkempt. Lucy noticed Ofelia smiling to herself. ‘Good news? You look like you won the lottery.’
‘Maybe I have? We have to wait and see.’
After breakfast, Nina took the children to school and as usual dropped Kerry and Lucy off first. Ofelia strode through the school gate with something of a spring in her step, leaving Stoney shuffling along way behind her. Ollie noticed her good mood but waited until first break before he asked her about it. They sat in their usual place, on the bench overlooking the sports ground. Ollie offered her a crisp. ‘What’s got you in such a good mood?’
‘Maybe my curse will be broken. Maybe by end of week I am no longer vampire.’
Ollie paused for thought, then asked her, ‘Have you found those instructions for that ritual you lost?’
‘No. But maybe I don’t need some mystic spell from ancient grimoire? Maybe medical science is enough? The doctor from the night I spent in hospital after car crash kept some of my blood. She think she can fix me by swapping all my blood for clean blood or something.’
Ollie munched a crisp, then pulled another out of the bag. As he was about to bite it though, a thought occurred to him. ‘Yeah, that sounds kind of plausible. But the thing is, the sensitivity to sunlight, the super strength, the not aging stuff... Well, surely that means whatever it is that makes you a vampire is in more than just your blood?’
Ofelia sagged, ‘You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.’
‘It might be worth a try anyway?’
At that point a year ten stormed up to the bench. ‘Hoi Webster! Our lunchtime match? Make sure you lose it or I’ll kick your head in.’
Before Ollie could respond, the rough-looking lad with scruffy black hair walked away. Pausing only to draw his finger across his throat while Ollie watched. Ofelia chuckled to herself, then turned to Ollie. ‘Want me to break his arms? He can’t fight if his arms are broken.’
Ollie frowned and gently clasped her hand. ‘Ofelia; just because you can break anyone’s arm, doesn’t mean you can go around threatening to break everyone’s’ arms.’
She shrugged. ‘Why not? It doesn’t do them any lasting damage if I break carefully, and it puts them out of action for a few weeks.’
Ollie shook his head. ‘Look, just... Just don’t. Much as I hate him, I don’t think any of them deserve to have their arms broken - even the total numpties like Nick Crossly there. Look, I’ve got a better idea...’
***
The rest of the morning went without incident. At lunchtime, when it was time for Nick Crossly’s chess match, he found his opponent had changed. Instead of Oliver Webster, it transpired he was playing Ofelia Arbore - the Romanian orphan. Mr. Sharp, the maths teacher who ran the chess club, explained that Oliver wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t concentrate. As Ofelia was in his house she offered to join the house chess team and play this match instead. As they sat at the table in the corner of the chess club and Mr. Sharp came to set the clock for them, she looked up innocently to Mr. Sharp. ‘I’m sorry, the horsey moves two squares one direction, one the other and he can jump a piece?’
Mr. Sharp, having seen Ofelia play Oliver smiled. ‘Yes, that’s right.’
Crossly looked on in smug anticipation. Ofelia had looked at the leader board before the match. The school was divided into two houses, Avon and Thames. If Crossly won this match, it’d take the Thames chess team into the lead.
They began to play. Crossly played white, moving his king’s pawn forward two squares. Ofelia quickly played her king’s pawn forward two spaces to match him. Crossly played his queen’s side knight to f3. Ofelia played queen to f6. Crossly smugly slid his bishop to c4. Ofelia picked up her dark square bishop and placed him neatly in the centre of the c5 square. This was Crossly’s chance. Eagerly, he moved his knight from c3 to d5 - threatening the black queen. Ofelia waited a long time and twiddled her fingers above the board as if considering different moves. Then, in one swift motion she plucked her queen off the board and dropped it on f2, picking up the white pawn at the same time. ‘Queen takes pawn - Checkmate.’
Crossly stared, open mouthed at the board. Once he saw it, it all seemed so obvious. Before he could complain, Ofelia raised her hand, alerting Mr. Sharp that the game was over. He tried but failed to hide his amusement at how quickly Crossly had lost. ‘That’s a point for Avon then. Well done.’
Ofelia stood and offered her hand to the red-faced Crossly. When he begrudgingly shook it, Ofelia gripped hard, making him wince. ‘Good game,’ whispered Ofelia grinning.
Crossly muttered the same under his breath and stormed out of the chess club. Mr. Sharp shook his head at Ofelia. ‘You shouldn’t have tried that you know. You should have played a good solid opening, claimed the centre and developed your pieces.’
Ofelia shrugged. ‘I know. But I see him and I suspect he thinks I can’t play good chess. If he’d seen it and stopped me, I would have just fiancettoed my light square Bishop, brought my knights out and castled queen side. This just meant I get more time to eat lunch.’
Mr. Sharp nodded. ‘Well that’s true, it’s barely twenty past twelve. Can I put you down for some more games?’
‘Sure. I think I’m off for a couple of days though. I have appointment at hospital tomorrow.’
***
She met Ollie for lunch as usual and told him about the chess game. He was pleased she’d won but a little worried about what Crossly might do. He wasn’t the sort to let things lie. They had PE straight after lunch, much to Ofelia’s dismay. She enjoyed most of the lessons. She got to sit next to Ollie and genuinely tried to learn as much as she could. They were doing netball in PE at the moment, while the boys did football, so they’d be separated. She also wasn’t a keen team player and didn’t find the sport remotely interesting. It was a rare lesson where she’d just go through the motions and do the minimum amount of work to avoid being told off.
***
Nina picked her up from school. The first thing she asked when Stoney and Ofelia got into the car was whether she’d handed the letter in. Ofelia told her she had, and they set off towards the home. En route, Ofelia leaned forwards. ‘Nina, can we stop at supermarket? I feel like cooking tonight. I’m sick of eating frozen food every night. If we can get stewing steak, flour, onion, green pepper, and some other things - I make Hungarian goulash tonight.’
Stoney made a lip-smacking noise. ‘Hmmm, sounds good.’
Nina wasn’t so enthusiastic though, she talked, keeping her eyes on the road. ‘Hungarian goulash? I thought you were Romanian?’
Ofelia shrugged. ‘I am, but I spend decades living in Hungary. I make Goulash many times.’
Nina shook her head, brushing off the impossible time-scale Ofelia had accidentally blurted out. ‘Well, we haven’t got time tonight. Gavin’s taking over at five. If you give him a list of ingredients, I’m sure he’ll get them in for you tomorrow.’
‘I’m
in the hospital tomorrow remember?’ Ofelia snapped.
‘Even if they don’t keep you in overnight, I can’t imagine you feeling like cooking.’ Nina muttered.
There was no more discussion. Nina drove them home and put dinner on. By the time Gavin turned up for handover, dinner was on the table. They ate. As usual Lucy, Kerry and Stoney expected her to join them in the living room; again she declined to. She went upstairs and read quietly. She felt anxious about the next day, but hopeful too.
When she eventually drifted off to sleep, she dreamt she was in a hospital again. It looked like the one she’d spent a night in after the car crash. Again, she was in a patient’s gown and lying in a bed, hooked up to all sorts of machinery, only even more than before. She had tubes in her arms, legs, and stomach. A plethora of beeping and whirring machines were stationed around her bed. She called for help, but only silence greeted her. The hospital seemed empty now. She desperately wanted to leave. She tried pulling at the tubes, trying to disconnect herself from the machines, but none of them would budge. Panicking now, she swung her feet off the bed and headed out of the bay, into the corridor. The machines were dragged along behind her on their wires and tubes. The corridors were dark and seemed to loom away into infinity. She looked one way, then the other. When she turned her head back, Victor was standing in the corridor. As she watched, he began striding closer. Now a low rumbling started. Every time Victor passed a side-door, it burst open flooding the corridor with gallons and gallons of blood. She tried again to free herself of the machines, but nothing would move. In fact, while she’d been watching Victor, it seemed even more machines had appeared, each one hooked up to her one way or another. Victor strode closer, and the corridor was a foot deep in crimson liquid. She collapsed to her knees and stared at Victor, screaming at him as he waded through the river of blood. ‘What do you want?!’
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