Stoney stood. ‘Woah. That actually makes sense. Do you think they’re monitoring you here?’
‘They could be,’ Victor conceded, ‘But I don’t think so. You should all go now. If Ofelia gets in touch, I’ll let her know you called and that I explained to you what had happened to her.’
That was the meeting more or less adjourned. Victor led them back to the front door and ushered them out. He even suggested they make their way back across the lawn and into the country park as they’d came - in case agents or drones were monitoring the front gate. The story was completely plausible, but it somehow didn’t quite sit right with Ollie.
Chapter 29 - The Discussion
The others followed Ollie back to his house at Barley Crescent. Ollie’s mum was downstairs watching TV, so they trudged up to Ollie’s room to talk. Ollie slumped into his chair at the desk, while the others lined up, sitting on the edge of the bed. Kerry opened the conversation. ‘I don’t buy it.’
Ollie shook his head. ‘Yeah, it did sound a bit fanciful didn’t it?’
Stoney threw up his hands. ‘So what’re we gonna do? Break into his house and-’
‘I know where Ofelia is,’ Ollie said in a deadpan tone.
Kerry, Lucy and Stoney stared at him. ‘Go on,’ said Lucy.
Ollie sighed and lowered his eyes. ‘While Victor was off turning some African dictator into a vampire, we got rid of the servants for the day and snuck into his cellar. We found all sorts of weird stuff. There was a letter from the Nazis about Ofelia - written in nineteen-forty something. Then there was this old spell book. Thing is, there was this one locked door we couldn’t open. There were also a load of old prison cells, looked like they hadn’t been used in years. She’s either in a cell down there or she’s behind that door.’
Lucy leaned closer. ‘So what do we do?’
This question was met with silence, everyone racking their brains and playing out different courses of action in their heads. Again it was Ollie who came up with something. ‘I know what to do. You lot should get home. Ofelia is too valuable to Victor for her to be in danger. There’s one adult who knows about Ofelia and Victor. After school tomorrow I’ll go speak to them and see what they think we should do.’
That concluded the meeting. The others made their way back to Harper House, leaving Ollie to mull over what Victor had said and think about how he was going to broach this subject with Julia and Mike.
***
Ollie met Stoney at school the next day. Neither of them had heard anything from Ofelia. Her absence was particularly missed at break and lunch. Ollie had gotten used to spending his free time with Ofelia. Instead, he found himself hanging out with Stoney, who seemed happy to ditch his usual motley crew and discuss Ofelia, where she might be and what she might be doing. After school, Ollie made his way up to the hospital. Julia was working as expected. He found his way to Accident and Emergency and asked for her - but he had to wait half an hour before she could even speak to him. She looked pale and gaunt when he met her. A little haunted almost, perhaps by the experience of living with a newly created vampire. When she did speak to him, he outlined what was happening, and she asked him to wait for an hour so she could finish up, then take him home to discuss what to do with Mike.
By the time they left the hospital, the sky was pitch black, and it was bucketing it down. Once they were in Julia’s car, out of the rain - she started the engine. Ollie sat back and watched the dark streets pass them by through rain-splattered windows. Once they were onto the main road, Ollie turned to Julia. ‘How is he?’
She gave a short, sharp maniacal laugh at this - a laugh that betrayed sheer disbelief. ‘How is he? Oh, he’s well. He’s more than well. He’s got more energy than he’s had in years. It’s like living with a different person.’
Ollie stared straight ahead, pondering for a moment. ‘And that’s a good thing?’
‘I don’t know. I wasn’t looking forward to watching him slowly die. But... It’s weird. I don’t know how I feel yet. None of this feels real. It feels like we’re living some strange dream and we’re going to wake up any minute with everything back to normal.’
The rest of the journey passed without conversation. When they got back to the flat, Julia led Ollie from the car park to her place. Mike was inside. When they entered the room, Mike was in the hall exercising. He was upside down, leaning his toes against the wall and supporting himself on the index and middle finger of each hand. He was doing vertical press-ups on four fingertips, his socks sliding up and down the wall. Julia and Ollie stood watching him for a moment, before he turned to see them, then flipped himself impossibly onto his feet. ‘Jules! And... Ollie isn’t it?’
‘How are you feeling?’ Ollie asked, noticing for the first time that Mike was wearing what looked like a Karate suit.
Mike grinned. ‘Amazing. I feel fitter and stronger than I’ve ever felt! I’ve even been back to Taekwondo. I stopped a decade ago. Meant to go back earlier, but the illness... Anyway, I’m back now and I’ve never had so much fun. I’m far faster, stronger, more flexible. I can think faster. Everything just works better. I smashed three bricks with a knife-hand! At sparring, nobody could touch me. Not even the young guys who do the competition circuit. I reckon I might even go down to the MMA gym, see if I can get some professional-’
‘You can’t!’ Ollie interrupted. He continued when Mike turned and frowned at him. ‘Look, Ofelia has been hiding away for centuries. If you go showing off your hulk-smash powers in fighting contests... Well at some point someone is going to ask questions. What if you do well and get famous? People will notice that you’re not ageing. She’s given you this amazing gift, you can’t risk-’
Mike gawped, ‘But-‘
‘Look, I can imagine you’re having a riot right now. I’m not saying don’t have a bit of fun, but think about it? Not just for Ofelia’s sake, but your own. Do you want end up plastered over the tabloids? Or locked up in some government lab somewhere? Have your fun, but don’t make yourself so famous you can’t get out. Even if you don’t become a famous MMA fighter, if you spend the next thirty years at the same Taekwondo club – people are going to notice.’
Mike threw his arms up and shook his head. ‘You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll have to keep a low profile. What did you come for anyway? Why didn’t-’
‘Ofelia is missing.’
Mike stared at him. Julia put her hand on Mike’s shoulder, ‘He told me earlier, you didn’t give-’
Mike shrugged her hand off and stepped closer to Ollie. ‘What do we know? When did-’
‘She didn’t turn up at school on Monday. Some bull about going off to a private boarding school in Switzerland. That guy Victor told us a bunch of secret agents turned up at the house looking for her, so he got her out.’
Mike puffed his chest out. ‘I’ll go around there and rip his face off!’
Ollie groaned and shook his head. ‘No! We don’t even know where she is. I have an idea, but... The thing is this Victor guy has been a vampire for over three hundred years. You don’t know what he’s capable of. You can’t go breaking into people’s houses and attacking them, even if they are a vampire. We don’t know where Ofelia is or what she’s doing. He could be telling the truth for all I know, it just seems unlikely.’
Julia stepped forward now. ‘I am due some days off. I could go to Switz-’
‘I know what school she was supposed to be going to if that helps. She showed me the brochure. I think it was School Liebefeld Stein Holtzi? Something like that?’
Julia grabbed a pen and notepad from the sideboard and passed them to Ollie. ‘Write it down for me. I’ll do some research, then I’ll-’
‘No!’ Mike interrupted, ‘We’re wasting time. You said you had an idea where Ofelia might be? Tell me. We can meet up and watch the house, when he goes out we can break in and give the place a proper search.’
‘What about the servants?’ Ollie asked.
‘If I feed on them, they�
�ll be out for over an hour and they won’t remember a thing,’ Mike muttered.
That was that. The plan was made. Mike and Julia exchanged mobile numbers with Ollie. He’d get the others to help watch the house, and when Victor was out Mike would knock on the door of Tempest House. He knew where the place was and Ollie explained how to get to it through the country park. Tomorrow night, so long as Victor was out of the way - they’d free Ofelia. All this was assuming she was behind the locked door in the cellar where Ollie suspected she was.
Chapter 30 - The Raid
Victor didn’t leave the house the following day. For the next few days, the others and Ollie took turns to watch Tempest House. The sinister black Mercedes remained parked up by the side of the house. When the weather was fine, whoever was on duty heard the rhythmic thwacks of Victor playing tennis.
On the Friday, Kerry and Stoney were on duty. Unusually, considering it was a pleasant evening, the air wasn’t punctuated by the regular sound of ball on racquet. In fact, they’d gotten bored and almost missed the important event. What they saw was Victor scurrying to his Mercedes, carrying a small suitcase, then speeding off. As the gravel crunched under the wheels of Victor’s car, Stoney began frantic texting; Ollie was the recipient.
Almost immediately a reply came back.
Stoney and Kerry continued to watch the house, terrified the classic Mercedes would roll back up any moment. The car didn’t return. Eventually, Ollie and Mike turned up - both wearing jeans, boots and thick anoraks. Mike slowed and stared at the gargantuan home across the landscaped garden. ‘Is this the place?’
Ollie pointed to the left-hand side of the house. ‘Ofelia’s room is that corner, first floor. I reckon if he has her, he has her in the cellar though.’
‘I’d better text Luce and let her know what’s goin’ on,’ muttered Kerry, before frantically tapping away on her phone.
Seconds after she’d pressed send - her phone beeped.
Kerry clicked her phone off and slipped it into her pocket. ‘That’s it then. I suppose we might as well get this over with. God, I can’t believe we’re goin’ thorough with this!’
The moonlight trudge across the manicured lawns of Tempest House was the longest, most tense walk any of them had ever made. There were a few lights on in the house, suggesting the servants were still up. Did they take advantage of Victor’s huge mansion when he was away on business? They’d soon find out. They passed the massive fountain, crunched across the gravel drive and climbed the steps. Mike took the lead and rang the bell, with the others cowering behind him. It didn’t take long for the door to be answered. Ollie recognised the petite servant in a maid’s uniform as Amy. She stared at Mike and the three children with a look of sheer confusion. Mike smiled at her. ‘My apologies for calling so late. I need to see Mr Drake urgently. It’s absolutely critical I speak to him in person, this instant.’
‘Th-that’s impossible!’ stammered Amy, ‘He’s left to catch a plane to Zaire! He won’t be back for-’
That was Mike’s cue. He lunged forwards, held her in a vice-like grip and plunged his now elongated fangs into her neck. She went limp in his arms, but he didn’t let her fall. Instead, he carried her carefully over to a blue velvet chaise in the corner and gently laid her down. He healed the puncture wounds with a gob of spittle as Ofelia did. If Amy came round, she’d be likely to just think she’d fainted. That said; they didn’t have much time. Mike turned to Ollie, ‘Right, we’d better get a move on. Where do you think she’s being held?’
Ollie led Mike and the others to the wine cellar. Luckily, Victor hadn’t changed the code and Ollie remembered watching Ofelia punch in 1666 last time they were here. He entered the code, and the gate swung open. The conspicuous dust-free wine bottle was easy to find. When Ollie pulled the bottle, the latch clicked as before and the shelf swung open. The intruders crept through the eerie corridor, past the medieval-looking prison cells. They peered into each one as they passed, terrified of seeing Ofelia inside one - chained to the wall. However, Ofelia was nowhere to be seen. The large chamber with the bloodstone at its centre looked like it’d been tidied up somewhat since the last time Ofelia and Ollie were here. The steel security door looked as locked and secure as it did before. Ollie approached it and rattled the handle. ‘I think she’s in here!’
Mike stepped up and grabbed the handle. He yanked on it three times, each tug harder than the last. On the final pull, a smattering of dust fell from around the doorframe. Mike turned to the others, ‘It’s no good. It’s locked. Where does he keep the key?’
Kerry, Stoney and Mike were staring at Ollie now. He shrugged. ‘I dunno. I’ve only been here once. Look around!’
Stoney walked past Victor’s copy of ‘In Libro de Davoth’ and over to the shelves lining the left-hand side of the room, then began rummaging. Mike took the desk, opening drawers and shuffling papers. Kerry sat on the solid block of basalt in the centre of the room. While Ollie, Stoney and Mike scoured the room, Kerry just sat and watched, casting her eyes about the room. Eventually, Stoney glared at her. ‘Well? Why aren’t you looking Kezza?’
‘Shhh! Oim thinkin, you fat eejit!’ Kerry snapped.
Stoney sighed, exasperated, then returned to emptying the shelves and running his hands over the emptied spaces. Kerry continued her silent vigil, then she frowned and stood. Slowly, she approached the mysterious door and reached up. Sadly, Kerry didn’t quite have the height to reach the top of the doorframe. Mike noticed what she was trying to do and left the desk. He brushed Kerry aside and ran his fingers over the doorframe. There was a gap behind the steel doorframe, and when his fingers got halfway along he paused, eyes wide open. Ollie and Stoney were paying attention now too. They watched Mike pull a key ring down bearing three mortise lock keys. One by one, he tried the keys in the three locks on the steel door. It took a couple of attempts to match the keys with the right locks, but when he turned the final lock, the door clicked and swung open.
Chapter 31 - Ofelia
Ollie gasped when he saw what was beyond the steel door. The room before him looked like a typical room in a modern hospital ward. There, lying on a hospital-style bed, was Ofelia. She was wearing a patient’s gown and hooked up to various pieces of equipment. She had lines going into her veins, a blood oxygen monitor on her finger and a mask over her nose and mouth. Her wrists and ankles were secured to the rails of the bed with thick leather medical restraints. The formidable restraints, however, looked pointless. Whatever Victor had hooked her up to was pumping her full of drugs sufficient to keep her zonked out. A simple wooden chair with round legs stood next to the bed. Clearly Victor was at least occasionally allowing her to regain consciousness. Had he set things up to keep her knocked out while he was out of the country? While Mike and the others gawped, Ollie rushed over. ‘Come on! We have to get her out of here!’
Kerry darted in after him, almost tripping over the neatly packed suitcase, which Amy had believed she was sending to Switzerland. As they crowded around the bed, a sinister but gleeful voice echoed down the corridor. ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’
Kerry instinctively cowered back against the wall while the rest turned on their heels. Victor was standing behind the bloodstone, his eyes wide and his fangs protruding. His furrowed brow and snarling cheeks gave him an even more sinister appearance. He looked nightmarish.
Ollie and Stoney were closest. They should have been following Kerry’s example and cowering out of the way. But normality and sensibility had gone out of the window the moment they’d forced their way into Victor’s house. In a moment of mad bravado, Ollie and Stoney rushed Victor, fists held high. Ollie got there first. Before he was even in range, Victor’s hand shot out like a dart and held his neck in a vice-like grip. Stoney slowed at this, the sight of Ollie being choked and held six inches in the air stopping him in his tracks. Victor retreated, opened one of the medieval cells and threw Ollie in. Then he pulled the door closed and bolted it shut. ‘I’ve not kept a pant
ry for over a hundred years, on principle you understand. But perhaps it’s time I started again?’
Stoney was trying to back away. Mike was edging into the room now. Victor’s eyes flicked from one to the other. He seemed to settle on Stoney as the easiest target and lurched towards him like a pouncing cat. Stoney felt claw-like fingers bite into his shoulders and rip him off his feet. The next thing he knew, he was being thrown into the next cell along. He heard the bolt grind closed, but then he heard a thump and struggled to his knees to watch Victor staggering back past the cell bars. Mike was striding after him, head held high. He wasn’t afraid.
Mike kept his eyes on Victor, following him out of the cellar, into the wine cellar and up the stairs to the house. He considered freeing Ollie and Stoney, but didn’t want to take his eyes of Victor. It seemed, that though they were imprisoned, they were at least safe, at least so long as he could beat Victor. Mike also realised that Victor hadn’t seen Kerry, and taking the fight to the main house could be a good thing. It’d give Kerry a chance to bring Ofelia around and free Ollie and Stoney. In fact, as Victor was backing away into the main entrance hall of Tempest House, Kerry was frantically tugging on the stiff bolt holding Ollie’s cell shut. Victor had snapped the bolt across as if it was nothing, but when she tried to move it, the ancient iron was so stiff it felt like it’d seized completely. She gave up and tried Stoney’s but that was solid too. As she was swinging on it, Stoney appeared, gripping his cell bars. ‘Forget it! Wake Ofelia up! She’ll be able to-’
Ofelia (The Book of Davoth 1) Page 24