by Simon Cantan
“Have you accepted who you are?” Rans asked.
“I have,” Jaden said. “I’ve no choice now, anyway.”
“It takes everyone a while, but we all accept it in the end. If we’re going to defeat Caterina, you’ll have to eat before we fight her. Your strength is all potential right now. You need blood to feed that power.”
Jaden nodded. He searched inside himself for that slight pang of doubt, but it was gone. He was hungry and someone out there would be his first meal. The thought made his fangs grow in anticipation.
“By midnight, you’ll be one of us,” Rans said. “We’ll go out right after. I’ll need to teach you how to hunt without getting caught.”
Jaden nodded.
“You have an invitation into your friend’s house,” Rans said. “But that might be too much for a first feeding. We’ll start with something easier.”
Jaden didn’t reply, he just opened the front door of their house and walked inside. He went to his room and sat on the bed. What his father had said was true. He might have trouble killing Katie now, but in a month, maybe less, the idea would grow on him.
He turned on his computer and put on the latest episode of his favourite show, looking for a distraction. But after ten minutes he had to admit it wasn’t the plot holding his attention. All he could see was the blood pulsing in each actor’s neck. He shut the show off and realised for the first time why their house was filled with books.
He got up and left his room, going to his father’s study and pulling a book from the shelf. The characters in the book were more dead than he was. They wouldn’t remind him of how much he needed to feed.
Once back on his bed, he lay down, cracking the book open and reading. It took him a minute before he realised he hadn’t turned the light on, and he was reading in the dark.
***
A few minutes before midnight, he put a bookmark in the book and closed it. He sat up and looked around his room. Everything was black and white, but otherwise as visible as in daylight. He put the book on his nightstand and got up, reaching out to touch his chair. It was exactly where it seemed to be.
He took a step toward the door and instead sprang into the wall, careening off it. He struggled up again, not hurt but confused. This time when he moved, he barely pushed off on his foot at all. The step took him to the door.
He opened the door gently and found his father waiting outside.
“I heard the crash,” Rans said. “You’re ready.”
Rans took Jaden’s hand, guiding him like he used to when Jaden was a boy. He helped Jaden walk down the stairs and outside, stopping him each time he moved too quickly.
He led Jaden to the garden and then let go of his hand. “You need to learn to walk again. A pureborn has far more power than a vampire usually does after they turn. You have as much as me, but you got it all in one go.”
Jaden nodded and tried to walk to the far side of the garden. Each step took concentration. His impulse was to push harder, and each movement worked differently than he expected. He realised why vampires skipped along. Even light steps pushed him into the air.
He turned and walked back, reaching his father again without falling.
“Keep going,” Rans said. “If we’re going to fight Caterina, you need to move efficiently.”
Jaden nodded and turned to skip across the garden again. He wondered what power he had. If he jumped as hard as he could, how high would he reach? He decided perhaps it was better to keep learning to walk before he leapt tall buildings in a single bound.
The thought he’d become Superman made him smile. He kept walking, over and over for an hour, until he was sure he could manage it without too much thought.
“All right,” Rans said. “Follow me. We need to find you a meal.”
Chapter 32
Feeding Time
Jaden trailed his father, skipping along the path behind him. They kept their movements slower, more believable, while among the suburban houses. Once they got closer to town, though, Rans leapt high onto the first apartment building they came to.
Jaden stared up after him, five storeys up where his father was beckoning. Gathering his strength, Jaden jumped as hard as he could, rocketing up through the air over the top of the building. Then plummeting down to the car park on the other side. He turned and realised he’d done what he’d thought he could: hurdled an apartment building.
He jumped again, this time putting less effort into it, and landed on the roof near his father.
“Good,” Rans said. “You’ve got more control than I thought you would. I’ve never seen anyone get that much power so quickly. I wasn’t sure how well you’d adjust to it.”
Rans moved past Jaden and jumped off the edge of the building, sailing through the air to land on the next roof. Jaden followed without hesitation, but saw at once he’d misjudged his jump.
He winced as the concrete wall rushed toward him, then hit and tumbled to the ground, landing on his feet. With surprise, he realised he’d barely felt the impact. It felt like someone hitting him in the chest with a cushion. A blow that would have killed him a week before, let alone the fall, had barely registered.
He jumped again, all the way to the roof where Rans was waiting.
“I’m invincible,” Jaden said.
“Almost,” Rans said. “You’ll barely feel anything at all. We only have one weak point: our necks. But you can be damaged anywhere else. So even if it doesn’t hurt, try not to run into too many walls. Otherwise you might find it hard to control your arm with no solid bones inside it.”
“Do we heal?”
His father laughed and nodded. “Better than humans. It just requires an extra feeding. Their blood will cure any injury.”
Rans led the way over the apartment rooftops, heading across the town. Below, as he jumped, Jaden saw cars trundling by, pedestrians unaware of the shadows leaping over them. The people were shambling back and forth about their mundane lives, no idea of the greater world around them.
They slowed as they got to one of the cheaper parts of town, the buildings getting smaller. Shops below had makeshift signs. Rans turned up a short road and stopped within sight of a large structure Jaden recognised. It was the former football stadium. And standing in the shadows, a woman was waiting.
He moved closed to Rans and crouched, watching the woman. “Prostitute?”
“Drug dealer,” Rans said. “It’s always easier the first time if the meal has questionable morals. She’ll taste the same, after all. Only virgins taste different, but you wouldn’t be ready for one of those yet.”
“How do I do it?”
“Get above her. Then wait until you can’t see anyone around. When the moment is right, jump down, grab her, and whisk her out of sight into the stadium. You’ll need to hold her mouth to keep her from screaming.”
Jaden nodded, planning out his route to the building above her. In six leaps he was there, staring straight down at his victim. The word victim seemed wrong, though. It was an old word, a human word. She was a meal.
He wondered if he should feel any guilt as he poised to spring down, but he didn’t. He only felt excitement and hunger. His fangs were exposed, poking out from between his lips.
In one motion he dropped on the woman, landing behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, one hand clamping over her mouth. Then he leapt backward, dragging her with him through the air. The breeze from their passing ruffled her coat as they flew. They landed on the edge of what had once been a football pitch.
The woman struggled, but he could barely feel her movements. Instead, he felt the rush, the thrill of having a meal so close. He pulled her head to one side with the hand on her mouth and sank his fangs into her neck.
The blood rushed into him, some of it getting in his mouth, but most going through his teeth. An electric feeling of excitement and power filled him. It was greater than anything he’d ever experienced before. He knew at once he would never shy away from it again. It was r
ight… how things were meant to be. Humans lived to give their blood to vampires. To offer their lives to make him feel that way.
The flow ebbed, and the woman went limp in his arms. He waited until he was sure he’d gotten the last drop and then let her go. When he looked around, the dark stadium had taken on new life. It wasn’t black and white anymore. Now he could see everything in vivid colour.
Rans was waiting nearby, watching.
“Virgins are better?” Jaden asked.
Rans laughed. “Much better. But we’ve got something to do before we hunt again. We’ll come back and dispose of the corpse later, after we’ve dealt with Caterina.”
“How are we even going to find her?”
“She’ll find us,” Rans said. “Or rather you. We’re going to give her something to chase.”
Chapter 33
Backup
Katie kept her eyes on the rooftops, where Loki had told her to look. She had her armour on, her macuahuitl in the bag on her shoulder. Aidan was having trouble keeping up, trailing behind with his own suit of armour with Klondike symbols on it. He had his axe in a shopping bag, banging against his leg as he ran.
She reached the pedestrian bridge on the edge of town and slowed, ignoring a passing cyclist staring at her. “Which way now?”
“Over the bridge,” Loki said. “Then north.”
She nodded and set off again, trying not to run too quickly for her father. He’d insisted on coming with her, and she knew she couldn’t deny him that. Not if she ever wanted him to trust her again.
She jogged over the red surface of the bridge, feeling it bounce below her as she ran, then turned to her left along the river’s edge. Around her, the windows of the restaurants were lit, people staring in confusion at the woman in a strange snowsuit running by, followed by a man wearing another.
“You sure we’re going the right way?” Katie asked.
“The right way? No,” Loki said. “But the direction the vampires are in? Definitely. They’re grouped together up ahead.”
***
Jaden paused at the top of a tall apartment building, looking down at the river sparkling in the moonlight. The blues and blacks seemed so vivid. It wasn’t like seeing it in the sunlight, it was if the colours had been substituted out.
He heard the thump of someone landing nearby before he saw them. Turning, he found Caterina standing watching him with interest.
“You’ve fed already,” Caterina said.
“I have,” he said. “That surprises you?”
“You being alive surprises me. I thought Rans would have bitten you a minute after midnight, here it is close to two and you’re still alive.”
“He’s my father. He loves me.”
Caterina shrugged. “He let you go out here alone, unguarded.”
“He knew I had to feed,” Jaden said. He saw the flicker of movement in the corner of his eye, his father jumping in from a building on his right.
Before Rans could hit Caterina, though, she leapt straight up. He landed awkwardly, off balance, and she was on him. She swiped at Rans, sending him toppling off the edge of the building. “You thought I’d let my guard down over a little bait?”
She jumped down after Rans, disappearing from sight. Jaden had to hurry to the edge to see.
***
Katie heard the crack of something large breaking, then rubble rained down onto the road in front of her. Looking up in shock, she saw two figures tumble to the ground in a shower of concrete. Above them, the side of a building fell out, large pieces of wall toppling to the ground.
The figures only hit the road for a moment, springing away at once. Katie backed off into a shadow, searching the roofs above her for any sign of them. Then she saw Caterina bounding up the road toward her, skipping ten metres at a stride. For a breathless moment, she thought the vampire was heading for her, but she sped by and collided with Rans. They hammered at one another with wild swings, grabbing and spinning each other.
Aidan grabbed Katie’s shoulder, pulling at her. “We need to leave, right now. They’re too strong. You can’t fight them.”
She shook off his hand, unable to take her gaze from the fight. In one moment, Rans had the upper hand, the next, Caterina seemed to have him in her grasp. Katie knew she couldn’t fight one of them, let alone both, but she had to see what happened. Above all, she was wondering where her friend was.
***
Jaden jumped to the next roof, to get a better view of the fight. His mother and father were evenly matched. Some part of him felt like his mother should have been weaker due to her gender, but it was demonstrably not the case. If anything, she appeared to have an advantage in strength. His father only seemed to hold his own through superior technique.
Jaden decided he’d spent long enough on the sidelines. Caterina and Rans were growing weary, their moves slowing. He knew it wouldn’t be long until one of them tired enough to make a mistake. He stepped off the edge of the building and dropped to the road below.
Landing lightly, he moved into the shadows, waiting. His presumption proved correct a moment later, as Caterina grabbed Rans and pinned his arms. She forced Rans to the ground, pushing him onto his stomach and kneeling on his arms. Jaden’s father bucked, but he didn’t have the strength left to throw her off.
Caterina pulled Rans’ hair aside, arced her teeth up, ready to strike. Jaden skipped in, closing the distance in a second. He grabbed her and sank his teeth in without hesitation.
The pain was excruciating. Where biting the drug dealer had given him pleasure, Caterina’s blood felt cold and bitter. As it flowed, colours faded around him. He forced himself to continue, to drain all she had, until she stopped struggling in his grasp and grew weak.
“Please, son,” she gasped, but he ignored her. He forced every last drop from her, until she had nothing left to give. Her body grew softer in his hands and her neck crumbled under his teeth. He spat out the bitter dust and let go of her.
Caterina tumbled to the side, her body disintegrating. There was nothing left of her but ashes blowing away in the wind. Jaden got up and backed away from Rans. The strength he’d felt when he’d drained the human was gone. Everything had turned black and white again.
He needed to feed, quickly. Spinning around, he spotted Katie at once, hiding in the shadows. He darted for her, his fangs already out. The smell was intoxicating. Then Aidan was there, stepping between them, holding up an axe.
Jaden batted the weapon aside and grabbed Aidan. Then he shrieked as his hand touched the symbols glued to Aidan’s suit. Letting go, he backed away. He saw the fear on Katie’s face, peering over her father’s shoulder. With a last shake of his head, he jumped away from them to the rooftop above.
He glanced back as he fled, seeing his father getting up. Rans was weakened by the fight with Caterina, but Jaden needed to feed before he could face him.
Chapter 34
Real
Katie couldn’t stop shaking. Her limbs wouldn’t respond, even when her father grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away. In the middle of the road, Rans glanced at them and sprang away, ignoring them. He left in the direction Jaden had gone. She could barely comprehend what had happened.
Jaden’s eyes had been filled with hunger when he’d made for her. Hunger, but nothing else. They might as well have been the dead eyes of a shark, fixed on its prey. There’d been nothing of Jaden in there, no sign of her friend.
“I tried to tell you,” Loki said. “He’s not human anymore.”
“We need to get home and pack,” Aidan said. “Our house isn’t safe.”
Katie shook her head. “No, not yet. I've got one last thing to do.”
“What?” Loki asked. “It’s over. Your father’s right. We’ll find somewhere quieter to train. I pushed you into this too quickly.”
“Let me do one more thing,” she said. “Then we can move again, find somewhere with less death around.”
Aidan met her gaze and nodded after a moment.
“I’ll be waiting. Call me after.”
She walked numbly away, heading back through the centre of town toward the train station. When she got there, she took off her snowsuit armour and put it in a locker, along with her weapon bag.
“Where are you going?” Loki asked.
She didn’t answer him. She knew he wouldn’t like where she was going, or what she would do there. Instead, she bought a ticket for the train and waited in the heat of the station.
“You’ll have to talk to me sooner or later,” Loki said. “I can make you throw your ticket away again.”
“Try it,” she said.
That shut him up until the train arrived and she stepped on board. She knew she’d have to wait overnight in Oslo when she got there, but she needed to get away from Fredrikstad. Somewhere out there, Jaden and Rans would be springing through the night killing people, and she couldn’t be nearby while it happened.
Chapter 35
Power
Jaden was sure he’d lost his father for the moment, in their pursuit across Fredrikstad. He perched on the edge of a building, watching a woman walking by with a dog. He knew he didn’t have long enough to be careful. Swooping down on her, he snatched her away.
He’d expected her to drop the leash, but instead the dog flew through the air after them. They landed behind a petrol station, on a piece of scrub ground, hidden from sight of the road. He grabbed the woman and sank his teeth into her, feeling the rush of pleasure flow into him again. Everything around became blurred and then filled with colour.
As the last drops of the woman’s life ebbed away, he realised something was pulling at his leg. He looked down and saw the dog biting his calf. The animal was hobbling on three legs, having been injured in the jump, but it was still trying to protect its mistress despite the pain. He kicked it hard against the back wall of the petrol station, ending its misery.