by Tim O'Rourke
“Not necessarily,” the doctor said, not being able to take his eyes from the weird-looking x-ray. “You’ve always had these bones inside you, Kiera. Why would you feel any different? It’s all you’ve ever known. And besides, these bones aren’t heavy – they’re mostly hollow – you know, to be able to help you fly better.”
Pointing at the wall I said, “What are those dark patches over my lungs?”
“Oh that’s just the patagium,” he beamed.
“In English,” I said, tears now running down my cheeks again.
“Your wings, Kiera – that’s what they are! My god –this is amazing!” he shouted.
“Well, I’m glad that you think so,” I started to sob, holding myself tightly. “But I don’t want to be some freaky-flying-rodent. I just want to be human.”
Turning on me, totally unaware of my distress, he said with excitement, “Actually bats are more closely related to humans than they are to mice or rats.”
“If that’s meant to make me feel any better, it doesn’t,” I said, chocking on my tears. “I don’t want this! I don’t want any of this!”
Seeing that I was growing more and more distraught with each passing second, Luke came towards me and snaked his arm around my waist. “Get off of me,” I screamed, pushing his arm away. “Don’t touch me!”
“Kiera…” he started, but I didn’t let him finish whatever it was he was going to say. I just wanted to get out of that room, away from those black and white pictures of my insides. The thought of having black leathery-looking wings hidden beneath my skin made me want to puke. I couldn’t bear the thought of it. Part of me wanted to tear myself open and pull those disgusting things out of me. I couldn’t even begin to comprehend what all of this meant. The thought of not actually being human but some freaky half-breed made me feel almost insane.
Why hadn’t my father told me? I screamed inside. Had he even known that my mother was a Vampyrus? And why hadn’t my mother told me? I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of hatred for her. How could she have done this to me?
Trying again to comfort me, Luke put his hand on my shoulder. Shoving it off, I stood-up. “I hate the Vampyrus,” I hissed at him. “I wish I’d never met you Luke Bishop. I hate you!” Leaving him looking stunned and hurt, I ran from the room.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Kiera!” Luke shouted as he chased me across the ward and down the stone stairs to the passageway. It was dark, and with tears blurring my vision, I stumbled up the passageway. I just wanted to get out of the manor.
“Kiera, hold-up!” Luke hollered, the light from his lantern splashing up the sticky walls of the passageway. Then I felt his cold hand grip my shoulder and spin me around.
“Get off me!” I screamed, struggling against him. But he was too strong and pulled me against him. Luke held me tight against his chest and stroked my hair as if to sooth me.
“Please just let me go Luke,” I sobbed into his chest. “I just want to be away from here.”
“Running away won’t help,” he whispered in my ear.
“Please,” I cried.
“Where are you going to run to?” he hushed. “Home? You can’t go back there, they are looking for you. You’ll be safe here – I’ll protect you.”
“I don’t…” I snivelled, unable to finish my sentence.
Pushing open the door to his room, Luke guided me inside and closed the door behind him. Leading me over to the bed, he sat me down then placed the lantern on the table. “I know this has been a shock for you,” he started.
“A shock?” I scoffed. “You’ve got no idea.”
“Then tell me,” he said. “Tell me what you’re feeling, Kiera.”
“Why?” I hissed. “What’s the point? I’ve had enough of being analysed over the last six months to last me a life time.”
“I want to help you, Kiera,” he soothed.
“I don’t need your help. I can take care of myself!” I shouted.
Then taking my hands in his, he looked at me and said, “But I need you, Kiera.”
“Really?” I said, not wanting to sound sarcastic – but I know I did.
“You told me that you loved me once, remember?” he said, gently squeezing my fingers against his.
“That was a long time ago,” I said, looking down so as not to make eye contact with him.
“So your feelings have changed for me then?” and he sounded kind of hurt.
“That’s the problem, Luke, I don’t know how I feel anymore,” and this time I did look at him.
Taking my face in his hands, he brushed my tears from my cheeks with his fingers. “I’m here for you, Kiera. I can help you with this,” he said. “You don’t have to go through this alone. I know what you’re feeling.”
“But that’s just it,” I whispered, “you can’t possibly know how I’m feeling. I’m not a Vampyrus, I’m not even human – so what does that make me?”
“Something very special,” he said, and his voice sounded soft and gentle in the darkness.
“A freak more like,” I said back.
“No, special, Kiera,” he said, stroking the hair that fell against my face. “You have the ability of doing something wonderful now.”
“Like what?”
“You could save all those children up on that ward and any others that come after them,” he said. “None of them may need to suffer anymore.”
“Yeah, but I could also be their nightmare,” I told him.
“How do you figure that?”
“Well, if what Doctor Ravenwood says is true, then once cured they could be at risk of being hunted down by Taylor and Phillips and whoever it is that they work for, and be used to destroy the human race,” I told him.
“And that’s why it’s so important that you don’t leave this place,” Luke said. “This manor is like a fortress, it is protected against vampires.”
“But what if Taylor and Phillips come here – what if they bring others?” I asked.
“They don’t know that we are here,” he explained, “another reason for Murphy’s and Potter’s disguises. Not even the housekeeper knows who they are – she doesn’t even know that I’m here.”
“Does Mrs. Payne know about the children hidden away in the attic?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s always known about them, but she is kept away,” Luke said.
“What about Kayla, does she know?”
“No, she was stopped from coming up here since she was quite small as far as I’ve been told. What with all the tarpaulin and scaffolding, she just believes that this part of the manor has fallen into disrepair,” he said.
“But if Kayla knew that there were others like her, it might make her feel not so alone. She’s struggling to come to terms with what she is,” I told him.
Then pulling me close so that our faces were just inches apart, Luke said, “She doesn’t have to feel alone anymore, she has you, Kiera – you can help each other.”
“I doubt I’ll be of much support – I don’t understand what’s happening myself – let alone try and make sense of it for her,” I said. “Ravenwood has just told me that I’ve got wings hidden inside of me – so how does that exactly work? I mean will they just suddenly pop out one day while I’m waiting in line in the supermarket? It could be embarrassing.”
Smiling, Luke said, “I never quite thought of it like that. I don’t know when they will unfold from inside you. It could be today, tomorrow, next week, next year, or never for all I know.”
“But it’s the thought of those little black fingers wriggling about inside of me – it’s disgusting,” I said and shivered at the thought of them.
“These you mean?” Luke said, standing up. Rolling his shoulders back, I heard the unmistakable sound of his skin rippling and stretching and then a flutter as his wings unfolded from inside him. Stretching his arms out on either side, his wings hung down beside him. In the glow of the lantern, I could see what Luke had meant when he said his wings w
ere still damaged from the fire.
They hung limp and tattered looking from his back, whereas I had remembered them to be taut and powerful-looking. At the tip of each wing, I could see those three black bony fingers. Luke looked at me and as he did, the fingers opened and closed as if trying to clutch at the air.
“Come close,” he said smiling, making the middle finger at the tip of his right wing curl like a question mark and beckon me forwards.
Standing, I went to him, wringing my hands before me.
“They’re just like having another pair of hands,” he explained.
“Two hands are enough,” I said moving closer still, not taking my eyes off the bony black fingers that wriggled back and forth.
“You weren’t like this before, back in The Ragged Cove,” he said.
“That’s before I found out I had a set of my own curled around my ribcage,” I cringed.
“Touch them,” he smiled. “Go on – they don’t bite.”
Raising my hand, I lent forward, and as I did, I could see that the fingers swivelled on what looked like a wrist. The fingers were long and pointed, with sharp nails capping each end.
“They’re more like claws than hands,” Luke explained. “In fact, the bones in a bat wing are very much like that of the bones in the human arm.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” I told him. “I’m not meant to be human, remember?” Then with my fingertips millimetres from the claw, it reached out and grabbed my hand. I tried to jerk my hand away, but the black bony fingers were strong and held my hand fast.
“Don’t panic,” Luke laughed. “I’m not going to hurt you – I promise. I just want you to see that what you have inside you isn’t so bad. It’s not something to be scared of.”
Looking into his eyes, then back at the claw that had hold of my hand, I started to relax. Despite how they looked, the skin covering them actually felt soft, just like the flesh covering my own hands. The nails, though, were hard and yellow, like ivory. If mine turned out looking like that, I’d have to do something with them. Give them a trim at least.
Luke relaxed his grip, and the claw released my hand. “See,” he smiled. “They’re not so bad, are they?”
“I guess not,” I said, inspecting his wings. “Will these repair themselves?”
“Eventually,” he told me. “As long as I stay out of the light and keep hidden away in the dark, they will heal.”
“How much longer will you have to stay hidden away up here?” I asked him.
“I don’t know. But each day I start to feel a little stronger,” he said, folding his arms around my shoulders and pulling me against him. “But my situation doesn’t seem so bad now.”
“Oh, and why is that?” I asked, looking up into his face, which glowed pale in the light from the lantern. In the semi-darkness, the scars that covered the left side of his face seemed less defined, as if they weren’t there at all.
“Because I have you,” he said, leaning forward and kissing me gently on the mouth.
As his lips touched mine, images of Potter came racing to the front of my mind. I pushed those memories of being kissed by him away but it was harder to ignore the warm sensation in my stomach that those images brought with them. Closing my eyes, I refused to think of how Potter had kissed me with such force and passion and those butterflies ebbed away.
Luke must have sensed my hesitation in kissing him back, and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” I said, then kissed him.
At once, I felt those overpowering sensations that I had felt in The Ragged Cove and it was like no time had passed since last being together. Luke ran his hands through my hair and pulled me closer still. I could feel the hardness of his chest against mine and his skin felt cool like marble. He ran his hands down the length of my back, and in my mind’s eye, I could see Potter’s hands all over me like they had only a few hours before. Screwing my eyes shut, I pushed those memories of Potter away again, and kissed Luke with more passion.
Steering me towards the bed in the corner, Luke laid me gently down, blowing out the lantern. In the darkness, I felt him climb onto the bed beside me. Brushing my long black hair from my face, he covered my ears, cheeks, nose, and lips with the softest of kisses. In that moment, it was like all my fears and worries were swept away. My whole being began to tingle, and with every touch of his, my skin felt as if it were alive. Why my feelings felt so intense and exaggerated when I was with Luke, I didn’t know, but the feelings that he stirred within me were overwhelming.
Electrifying with Potter, a voice said inside my head and I told that voice to shut up and go away.
I could feel Luke’s fingers working at the buttons on my top, and the warm breath that came from his mouth made my flesh tingle. I kissed him, and with the tips of my fingers, I caressed the scars on his face, and traced them down his chest and back. I arched my back so Luke could remove my shirt and his wings felt soft like feathers against me. The feel of them made me shudder. Wrapping my hands around his neck, I pulled him down onto me, my lips searching for his mouth. He kissed me back, and for the first time that night, I felt his sharpened teeth nip at my lower lip as his passion heightened. Then, working his mouth down my neck, his lips lingered and I felt his body go tense. His lips closed over my throat forming a tight seal. I could feel the pointed ends of his front teeth scratching against the skin just below my jaw line. His whole body shuddered, his back arched and his wings fanned out on either side of him.
Before I knew what was happening, Luke pierced the flesh on my neck with his teeth. His body locked as if in some sort of a spasm, and he growled in the back of his throat. Fearing that he was going to bite me, I pushed him off with my knees and he staggered to the other side of the room.
“What’s wrong with you?” I gasped, blindly reaching for the lantern in the darkness. “I’m sorry, Kiera,” he said, and his voice sounded different – deeper somehow. “I don’t want to hurt you.” “Hurt me?” I said confused. Then finding the lantern, I tried to turn it on. “Don’t turn on the light!” he growled. But it was too late, I’d already found the tiny dial on the side of the lantern that raised the light. Holding the lantern out before me, I swayed it around the room in search of Luke. Then I saw him, huddled in the far corner, his knees drawn up against his chest and his wings folded around him. Getting up from the bed, I started across the room towards him.
“Luke?” I said. “What’s wrong? I thought you were going to bite me.” “I was! So don’t come over here, Kiera,” he warned. “But I’ve already told you, you don’t scare me,” I tried to reassure him. “I don’t want you seeing me like this,” he groaned. “I thought we’d got over all of that?” I said, half-joking. Standing over him, I hunkered down and pulled back the wing that was pulled around him. Then all at once, those black fingers snatched hold of my wrist and yanked my hand away, but in doing so, his wing opened and I saw the face that stared back at me from behind it. Stumbling backwards in shock, I fell onto my arse and sat staring at him.
“Go away!” he roared so loudly that I flinched backwards and away from him. Not only did Luke have fangs, but his mouth was full of razor sharp teeth. His eyes shone fierce green, and his ears had twisted into points and his nose had turned up into something similar to a snout. Bristly black hair had sprouted from his face, but there was a white-coloured patch of skin shining through where he had been previously burnt.
“What’s happened to you?” I gasped, pushing myself back across the floor and away from him. “I need blood,” he groaned as if in pain. “Human blood - and I can’t go back to The Hollows.” “But I thought you said that Hunt and Ravenwood had come up with a synthetic…” I started. “Lot 13,” he gasped. “But it just doesn’t quite hit the spot. Being so close to you like that – I could smell the human part of you surging through your veins. It was wonderful – you have no idea how wonderful.”
“What can I do to help?” I asked him.
“Just stay over there,” he said gesturing with his hand and I noticed that it was also covered with thick wiry black hair, which glistened in the light from the lantern that now lay on the floor.
“What’s happened to you?” I said, my voice wobbling. “This is what I look like – my true self when living in The Hollows,” he said. “I’m a vampire bat, remember?” “So Murphy, Potter and all of the other Vampyrus look just as you do in The Hollows?” I asked him. “More or less,” Luke said and winced as if in pain. Then the sudden realisation that I too was half Vampyrus made my head spin and I felt nauseous at the thought that I might too change into something like Luke if I ever went down into The Hollows.
“Do all the female Vampyrus look like that, too?” I dared to ask him.
Guessing what I was driving at, Luke looked at me with his piercing stare and said, “They look beautiful – you don’t have anything to worry about.” Then he moaned aloud again as if he was hurting in some way.
“What’s happening?” I asked him, trying to mask my fear.
“It’s passing,” he said through gritted teeth. Then rolling onto his side like a drunk, I watched as the hair covering his face faded away, his ears stretched back into shape, as did his nose. The green fire in his eyes faded and his fangs withdrew back into his gums like a cats claws disappearing back into its paws.
Crawling across the floor towards him, I helped him up. His skin felt clammy and was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Brushing his damp hair from his brow, I looked down into his face.
“Are you okay?”
“Never better,” he said. Then pointing to the table beside the bed, he added, “In that drawer there is a bottle of Lot 13.”
I lead Luke back to the bed where he sat down. Pulling open the drawer, I saw several bottles the size of small test tubes rolling about inside. Each of them was filled with a pale pink gloopey liquid. Taking one, I handed it to Luke. With trembling fingers, he unscrewed the top and tilting his head back, Luke gulped down the mixture. I watched it slide out of the bottle and it almost seemed to cling to the glass sides like slime. Taking the empty bottle from him, Luke shook all over as if caught in a draught and said, “That’s better.”