Distract my hunger

by X. Williamson

  He seemed almost choked by his own words yet he tried to mask his feelings. He seemed to be loosing the fight to bury them deep inside him when he finally continued:

  “I was hurt, and copper poisoned, I thought I wouldn’t make it. But I still tried. I had tried to contact The Order before, but they never answered, and that is what saved my life. I fled from the place and had nowhere to go. The stars were favourably aligned for me though. I was being followed.

  The Order had decided to investigate me before they engaged in any kind of contact and they sent Terrance here” he said and pointed at the Asian guy “to follow me.”

  Terrance suddenly looked very proud and nodded with a wide friendly smile on his face.

  “He was following me and when at a point I passed out, he saved me.” A glance full of camaraderie was sent in Terrance’s direction making him even prouder.

  Ok he answered part of the question, but not all of it. Terrance had saved him, which was pretty clear. They seemed to have formed a strong bond between them which was pretty obvious. But something was still unsaid: how did Terrance save him?

  Did the huge guy have other special and hidden gifts? These people were all full of surprises . . .

  “But how . . . ?” James started to say when Terrance interrupted him and spoke for the first time.

  His voice was soft and almost honeyed. For some strange reason, it made me think of liquorice and cinnamon. He had a friendly voice, so much that at times it almost mismatched his menacing looks.

  “Our order has a special recipe for cuts and deep wounds. It doesn’t always work, but when the wound inflicted with a copper weapon is deep enough it is the only hope. A strange flower that comes from Jordan is its main ingredient. It seems to counteract copper’s poisonous effects on vampires somehow. This special and unique flower names our order, for it’s thanks to it that we manage to survive. It is the source of our strength.” Terrance said and extracted a small glass vial with a foul looking paste in it from his pocket.

  It looked as if something had rotten in there almost. A blackish uneven looking custard lay at the bottom with some tiny drops of a greenish liquid on top. I looked at it and could only be thankful that the cork was on and that he seemed to have absolutely no interest in removing it. I honestly hoped I would never have to have someone use it on me.

  “So you call yourselves The Order of the Black Iris because of some plant?” Asked Ginny completely amazed.

  “Yes.” The dark-haired woman snapped and continued, “It is the only way we survived so long against the council members. Most of us are not ancients, and though we train, we are not their perfect match if you know what I mean . . .”

  It was the first time she spoke, and to be honest, I wasn’t very sure I wanted to hear her much more. Her voice was sour and bitter. She appeared to have a huge resentment inside her and it simply became way too evident every time she spoke. She seemed much nicer when she was quiet.

  I imagined she was probably a victim of the Council’s ways somehow, and all that amassing of hatred made her so bitter. I remember wishing I never became like her and vowed to myself I would not let bad things corrode my soul. The truth is I had discovered there where too many things around me to push me to be like her, but I decided I would never allow it.

  Jonathan suddenly smiled and squeezed my thigh. He had been listening to my thoughts all the time . . . I realized I still was unable to keep my mental mouth shut. I blushed all over, it was simply too embarrassing! Who knows who else heard what I’d been thinking . . . I was so ashamed . . .

  He kept on looking at me and extended his mind to mine: “Don’t be, thinking like that is what makes you a true leader . . . and makes me love you more each day.”

  My heart started beating faster in my chest as I locked my eyes with his. I wanted to kiss him so badly! I bent towards him, making the distance between our lips smaller each time . . . until we where no farther apart than a couple of minutes in a clock’s orb. He’d closed his eyes to kiss me, and as I started let my lids veil my eyes the twins startled me.

  They started talking as suddenly as they had grown silent. They had found him.

  “A castle, it’s ruined. Many humans walk about, they get there in a small cruise. In many small cruises . . .” They said taking turns with each word.

  Their eyes were blank and looking at the girls I noticed they were still seated where they were before. They sat very straight and held hands. Energy moved from one to the other, it was not really visible yet it was almost palpable. Once again I looked at them and felt they were sharing one soul.

  “Look around June. What do you see? Can you find any useful markings Summer?” Corbin said to them. He was trying to guide their vision, to find out more useful information.

  The girls sighed at the mention of each of their names and rolled their eyes once again. The sight was quite disturbing . . . they looked as if they were on the verge of a convulsion.

  “Water . . .” They said and tilted their heads from side to side. “There’s lot’s of water around the castle you can see from the house. The water is dark, almost black at times but when the sun touches it, it becomes nearly silver.”

  They looked exhausted. Tiny drops of sweat started appearing at their temples. Their breathing had grown heavy, and for the first time I wondered if it wouldn’t be dangerous for their health.

  “A sign. Yes, there is a sign near the castle. It says . . . Urquart, yes! It says—Urquart Castle-. Liam is in a house, it is blue, and from it you can see water and Urquart Castle’s ruins.” This time when they ceased speaking I knew they would utter no more words for a long time.

  The twins had suddenly relaxed and gone limp on their chairs. Their faces didn’t look strained anymore and their breathing was even and relaxed. They had fallen into deep sleep.

  “Hmm . . .” The old guy murmured almost under his breath, “They were describing the surroundings of Loch Ness if we’re not mistaken. There’s a very old castle that’s now an important tourist attraction with the name they mentioned. So they must be living in a house on the same lake.”

  He was crossing his arms over his chest and looked very thoughtful. We all looked at him and said nothing. Our next step would be his call.

  After a few unending seconds he finally made up his mind.

  “It’s time for a road-trip fellows!” he said and motioned for the door. “Hurry and get your things!”

  In less than half an hour later we were on the blue SUV once again. I still had no idea of the driver’s face or sex, yet I was by then completely resigned with things being somewhat unknown and unexpected.

  Our party had slightly increased in number, and I was sure that each of our new helpers would be most useful.

  Before we had started our journey in search of the council members the old guy had made a few phone calls. I eavesdropped somewhat and overheard that he was telling others where we headed and why. He was preparing a complex ambush. The war had truly started.

  The trip there was tense. We all kept completely quiet and just checked and rechecked our weapons. I still had my scimitar, and each and every one of us was ready to fight. We knew we might not make it alive after the fight, and that maybe some of our friends would not tell the tale. Anxiety and fear kept a tight hold of us, yet we knew that this ambush was our only shot.

  Terrance made sure before we left that he had many of the sickly-looking vials and hid them safely inside his combat clothes. He looked deadly with his combat boots and brown cargo pants. A simple khaki shirt covered his chest and hid a couple of weapons that where secured tightly under it. He seemed to feel no cold, and that seems completely impossible in January in Scotland.

  We got to Loch Ness just after twilight. The sun had dropped and the night gave us a soft invisibility cloak. Vampire powers are at its fullest during night time. It was a fact that soothed me almost as much as it troubled me. We would be at our fullest, but they would be with their heightened senses too.


  My vampire eyes where very quick to spot the blue cottage by the Loch, yet I said nothing. I was sure that they all had seen it too. It was the only blue house near the Loch.

  We parked a long way away from there, yet we were at certain walking distance. If we managed to surprise them we would have a clear advantage. After we parked we started walking between the snowy trees. We managed to be uncannily silent like ghosts. Not even the snow beneath our feet seemed to take notice of us.

  We moved fast, too fast for a human but not to our full speed. Adrenalin and instinct guided our senses and The Hunger waited silently for the fight. My hands felt cold even though I could feel heavy drops of sweat running down my back. This was it. It was my chance to get nearer to my parents’ mystery and live up to the prophecy. It was time to fulfil my destiny.

  No other vampires could be spotted in the tracks. I wondered if any would actually join us, or if they would leave us to our fate. I decided it was best to wait for some before we attacked once we got nearer. It would increase our odds.

  Was I supposed to be leading them in this battle? I had no clue, and I didn’t know if I would be able to do it. I didn’t even know if I would manage to make my mind stay quiet enough to continue unnoticed. I was trying my best to stop myself from recklessly broadcasting my thoughts and getting us all killed.

  We moved on for about fifteen minutes, until finally we where almost there and decreased our speed. I looked around and saw Corbin doing the same, we where searching for others . . . but nobody seemed to have come. I could hear no sounds and realized that Corbin couldn’t catch any vampire or human sounds either. We where the only ones there . . .

  Lucrecia looked ravishing and as dangerous as ever. She was ready and stood to the old guy’s left. Those two would surely be essential for our survival, without them on our side we would never stand a chance against three of the oldest Ancients and who knows how many more vampires. I swallowed hard and tried not to think about our odds; they were not promising.

  We finally stopped at a safe distance from the blue cottage. Snow-covered bushes hid ourselves from the house and made it the perfect spot. Nobody spoke but I knew we would act in unison. A special force seemed to bond us together, it was the desire to change things, to make things right. It was the only real chance anybody had ever had against The Council, and though it hung by a thread we knew it was time to start believing in prophecies.

  My breath came hard out of my lungs. The air was freezing yet my hands felt hot with blood and my heart pumped fast. I looked for Jonathan until I found his gaze, he was beside me. Our eyes met and I felt butterflies dancing in my stomach. This was it. Whatever happened, this was the moment that would change our lives forever. If we lived, I was not really sure what my part was supposed to be in all this, and if we didn’t this was the beginning of the end.

  I could see fear and bravery at the same time in Jonathan’s eyes. They looked so perfect that night, its green and gold flecks blazed like embers. He looked ready like a hungry panther. Suddenly, with his gaze still locked with mine he held his hand to me. I held it and felt a strong wave of energy flowing between us. He could have been kissing me for all I knew, I felt the exact same way . . . yet he only held my hand.

  “I love you, just remember that.” He said to my mind and softly let go of my hand.

  My eyes filled with tears. Emotions burst inside me, I could not turn back now yet I was scared. I wanted to avenge my parents, wherever they where and know more about them . . . and I wanted to be with Jonathan. I wanted to tell him how much he meant to me and how my life meant nothing now without him, but there was no time.

  “Come out; come out, wherever you are!” A voice playfully whispered from the clearing and made a chill run down my spine. It was a male voice, and it made me feel like a mouse falling in a cat’s trap.

  I moved forward and looked between the crooked, frozen branches and saw them. A single line of five vampires was standing there.

  They seemed to be waiting to play a game of some sort. They simply stood there and smiled.

  In the middle of the line stood a tall vampire, he had a severely deformed face. A long, finger-thick scar crooked from his temple, over his right eye and all the way to his upper lip. It made his mouth slightly drop on that side of his face and his eye opened only half way. His other half of the face was intact, and could have even one day have been handsome. The difference was so great between the two halves that they seemed to belong to two different beings. It was a quite ghastly sight, believe me! He looked menacing and deadly . . . and somehow he reminded me of Batman’s “Two Faced Harvey”.

  I assumed that the central vampire was the vicious Liam. To Liam’s right stood the only woman of the group. She looked fragile and even somewhat petite, but I remembered what I read in my mother’s journal and I knew better. I recalled she had been described as very lethal and dangerous . . . I made a mental note not to let her out of sight.

  To his left, was the other dreaded council member: Aidan. From what I had understood so far Aidan was sort of their leader, yet he seemed to be slightly less bloodthirsty than the other two. I wouldn’t count on making him change sides though . . .

  The three central vampires where therefore the most dangerous I dared to guess; but who were the other two at their sides?

  They were both male vampires and looked deadly. The one further to the right, beside the vampiress I guessed to be Gwen, was the tallest. He was taller than any of the others and was massively muscled. His dark skin seemed to melt in the darkness of the night, only glistening under occasional beams of light. The whites of his eyes seemed to glow under the night sky burning with fury. A copper scimitar, much like mine, hung from one of his hands while the other though bare was tense and ready for action.

  The other guy though not as massive looked just as deadly. He was quite slim but I guessed his deadliness did not lie in his brute force. He looked extremely agile, and I imagined that his speed and agility were the pillars of his strength. Two Japanese swords were his weapons. Their blades glistened and waited to find new sheaths.

  Though we knew we outnumbered them, we also knew it was quite likely that we would die there. Those vampires were experts and we were no match for them.

  Lucrecia had tensed like a cat. She was ready for action and looked even more dangerous than she ever looked before. I could not restrain myself and swallowed hard at her sight. Her molten-silver eyes glowed with rage, and I couldn’t be happier to have her at our side! She would be one of our strong points.

  “Oh come on little rats!” Liam shouted losing his temper, “I know you are here, I can smell your fear. Come on, try our fangs and let us taste your flesh . . . and don’t be mistaken, we will sink our fangs in your flesh. You have no chance.”

  My breath streamed out of my nostrils in very visible white puffs. He was trying to scare us, and we had to do our best not to succumb to our fear.

  I could hear them sniffing the air like hounds. It was most disturbing; a most macabre sight: it made me feel like a rabbit just about to be hunted. I almost froze at the sound. They sniffed the air and tasted its scent. There was no way back now, even if we wanted to run they would follow our tracks. The only way out was to fight.

  CHAPTER 15

  The Final Battle

  Several minutes passed by without anybody making the first move. They kept on savouring the air and we seemed to freeze in our places. I could feel the cold Scottish air trying to dig into my body but my new vampire metabolism fought it endlessly. It was only us against them and the odds where not good . . . we had expected other members of The Order of the Black Iris to meet us there but we where alone.

  Strategy and faith in a centuries-old prophecy were our only hopes for survival, and looking at it thus . . . believe me, it was not a promising scenario!

  “I always knew you to be a coward, Morgause.” Liam hissed like a snake. “You came all the way out here and you just stay there, like you stay
ed put when we chased Juniper. You only know how to duck and run!”

  Liam was trying to play with our emotions to their benefit, and he was now targeting our strongest fighter.

  The old guy emitted a deep rumble down his throat. I turned to face him and realized he was trembling, not with fear or cold but with rage. His fury had built up for who knows how long and suddenly seemed too much for his body to contain.

  Without a single notice for the rest to follow him he leaped forward like a predatory lynx and his target was right in the middle of the clearing. His fangs pressed tightly against his lips and his hands like claws held his sword ready for combat.

  Liam had accomplished what he wanted, and if we simply froze there the old guy would be ancient history. And that was something I could not let happen!

  A mere fraction of second later I leaped forward holding my scimitar high like a crusader would have held his sword. I felt no fear, only adrenalin pushing me forward and burning my muscles. Jonathan followed me as soon as I moved and I saw other bodies following us in unison. It was time for the truth . . .

  The council members simply stood there with a mean smirk pasted across their faces. They seemed to feel absolutely no menace from our attack for they stayed still as statues.

  I didn’t get a metre’s distance from the deadly Gwen when I felt a blow to the side of my head. I had no idea of where it came from, but it knocked me down. When I finally managed to open my eyes again I saw Gwen smiling at me and I suddenly knew . . . she had not moved a finger.

  Lucrecia got to where I lay as fast as lightning and stood in front of me like a vampire shield. Jonathan was a bit slower but got there a few seconds later and threw an arrow at her. This made her move and I suddenly felt lighter and managed to stand up. Gwen was a very dangerous vampire indeed! She knocked me off my feet without even moving a muscle. Things would be tough for us . . .