by Lee Monroe
‘Mother, please. You taught me to be kind, to help others in distress.’ Luca begged her. ‘Let me help Jane.’
‘I’m sorry, boy,’ Ulfred put in. ‘But you know the rules. And you have disobeyed us twice. Lied to us. We have no choice now but to confine you. Just for a while. So that you can contemplate your actions. And learn obedience.’
I looked at them all. Henora and Ulfred, stern-faced; Dalya, sighing heavily next to them; Lowe looking a little too pleased with himself – and Luca. Luca, torn between his loyalty to his family and to a girl who had caused him nothing but trouble.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I said. ‘None of this is Luca’s fault. He has only ever tried to help me. You must believe he is a good son. The kindest, most honourable son you could wish for.’
Henora finally looked me in the eyes.
‘I’m sure you mean well, child,’ she said coolly, ‘but the standards we have here as a family on Nissilum are somewhat different to those mortals abide by. Honour is entirely bound up with family, with breed. I cannot expect you to understand. But you too have lied to us. Forgive me if I hold your words in little esteem.’
Indignation rose inside me, but I held my tongue. Luca was silent now. It was clearly a mistake to challenge Henora. I saw properly how formidable she was.
‘Come, Luca.’ Ulfred took his son’s arm. ‘This will not be a pleasant experience. Better to begin your term of confinement now and the sooner it will be over.’
‘Father,’ Dalya said miserably, ‘is this really necessary?’
‘Be quiet!’ snapped Henora. She looked harshly at Lowe and Dalya. ‘You two get yourselves home. This is not a show for an audience.’
She grabbed at both their hands and pulled them with her as she marched back to the horses. Dalya threw a sad, apologetic smile back at me, while Lowe retained his familiar smirk.
Henora climbed up on to her horse, while Lowe took charge of the other. Reluctantly Dalya got up behind him. ‘Goodbye,’ she called as Henora led them all out of the forest. ‘Good luck.’
Luca tried to look reassuringly at me, but there was no mistaking the fear in his eyes. ‘Remember, Jane. Think hard of where you want to be. And you will be there,’ he said, as Ulfred shook his head.
‘Luca,’ he warned, tugging at his arm. ‘Let’s go. This is not easy for any of us.’
‘I will be with you,’ Luca called, allowing himself to be led away. ‘Somehow.’
‘Boy!’ growled his father. ‘Enough.’ He pushed Luca in front of him, blocking my view as they walked away. Luca would be kept in the palace cellar. I shuddered. It was medieval. And cruel.
Luca finally turned his back to me and I gulped back a mixture of fear and intense sadness.
‘Goodbye, Luca,’ I whispered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I sat back down by the river, knowing I should act now, but feeling briefly frozen. I shut my eyes and focussed my mind on home – the voice in my head began to chant it, over and over again. But I was still aware of the pure air of Nissilum and heard the rustle of the leaves in the cool breeze. I tried again, but willing myself not to panic interfered with my greater wish. To be back in my home, to see my mother there, safe. It was all I wanted. Yet somehow, nothing was happening. My body was tensing, frustrated. So when I felt cool hands grabbing hold of mine, my eyes flew open.
‘Vanya?’
‘Sssh,’ she said. ‘Mortal girl. I can help you home. No need for all this telekinetic rubbish.’ She screwed up her nose. ‘It is so unreliable … The more you force it, the harder it becomes.’
‘I don’t need your help,’ I said abruptly, adding more nicely, ‘Thank you,’ in case she cast some kind of spell on me then and there.
She pouted. ‘Don’t be tiresome, girl.’
Warily, I realised I needed to keep her on side.
‘Another time,’ I said quickly. ‘There’ll be another time.’
‘I doubt that,’ Vanya purred, brushing her black mane out of her eyes. Her face was almost blue it was so pale. And in the daylight she looked older, her face creasing in places it hadn’t before.
‘Let’s get out of this grim light,’ she said, pulling at me.
My energy was draining out of me. It was not just the events of the past couple of hours here, it was Vanya’s presence. Luca had warned me about her. I struggled not to succumb.
‘I have to go,’ I said vaguely. ‘There’s something I have to do.’
‘But I want to apologise,’ she said in a syrupy tone. ‘Staying a little longer won’t harm, surely? Come, let me take you home and we can think of a plan to thwart those insufferably self-righteous wolves.’ She winced. ‘Soon, though. I don’t fare well with the sun.’
I squinted into the shard of light coming through the trees, my head was fuzzy.
‘They are a bit self-righteous,’ I found myself saying. ‘And they’ve taken him somewhere. They’ll lock him up to punish him.’
Vanya cocked her head. ‘Who darling? Who have they taken?’
‘No one. Nothing. I must go now.’
Vanya moved swiftly to me. One manicured hand just touching my arm.
‘We got off rather on the wrong foot at the ball …’ she flashed a smile, ‘as your people would put it. I apologise. It is hard to shed certain innate needs …’ She examined my face almost kindly. ‘It was an aberration. A moment of weakness. I hope you understand.’
I stared at her. ‘Weakness is human. I understand weakness. I just don’t understand evil.’
Vanya’s eyes widened innocently. ‘Oh, but I’m not evil. I would not be allowed to reside here in this hell-forsaken world if I were evil.’ She pulled back her shoulders and seemed to tower above me imposingly. ‘And I would like to help you.’
‘You can’t help.’ I shook my head. ‘This needs to be dealt with without tricks and … and bloodshed.’
‘Oh,’ she said, in exaggerated disappointment. ‘How boring.’
The sun went behind the trees and I realised how vulnerable I was, standing alone with a vampire.
‘Sweet girl,’ she said, ‘once upon a time I was innocent. Untainted.’ She looked sorrowfully down at the water. ‘But one can’t turn back time … One just has to get by … somehow.’
She took a step closer and I moved back.
‘Just think,’ she said, holding eye contact, ‘if, hypothetically speaking of course, I were to turn you, then your troubles would be over. You would be free to stay here … you would be one of us.’
It was true. I could be here. Everything would be all right. I would belong. It would only take a minute.
‘Vanya,’ I said, shivering with temptation but forcing myself to think straight, ‘I have a home.’
‘Ah. Home,’ she said wistfully. ‘Surely home is where you feel you belong?’
Oh, she was good.
‘And leaving that poor smitten boy to pine and … wither away. Can you really live with that?’
‘I’ll have to.’ She seemed to glide closer. ‘I don’t want to be one of you.’
‘But what have you got to return to? Betrayal. Loneliness.’
The truth of her words stung, but I knew she was trying to lull me with her lilting, sympathetic voice. I had to battle the tears that threatened. I felt suddenly drained of strength, my thoughts growing fuzzier by the minute.
‘Here you can live forever.’ Her voice was distant. ‘Just think of that.’
Clouds in my head obscured my thoughts and I tried to clear them. Tried to think. There was something I had to do. Someone I had to stop.
‘Raphael,’ I said abruptly. ‘He betrayed me. My mother is in danger. I have to stop him.’
I felt Vanya’s mouth against my ear. ‘It is too late for that … There is nothing you can do. Wait here, and Raphael will return … eventually.’
I came to my senses then. ‘You know what he did?’
‘Not exactly,’ she said. ‘But it doesn’t surprise me in the least. He’s unhinge
d … Of course the angels see no harm in the boy. But he’s a psychopath. You mark my words.’ She gripped me around the waist. ‘And you need me on your side … now that Luca is indisposed.’
The gallop of hooves startled us both and hope flared inside me.
‘Leave her,’ said the rider, glaring at Vanya as she dismounted her horse. ‘Just let her go.’
Vanya pulled away from me as I felt the sky, the trees, everything blurring.
‘Thank God,’ I said, and felt myself falling.
‘You really are as green as a goose,’ said Dalya, shaking her head as she looked down on me. ‘But that woman is powerful. Even us immortals need to be on our guard.’
I sat up on my elbows and realised that the river had gone, and the canopy of leaves. We weren’t at the Water Path. We were back on Earth.
Dalya had brought me back home.
She thrust my plimsolls at me, wrinkling her nose. ‘You nearly left these behind.’
‘Thank you for helping me.’ I took the funny little slippers off my feet and replaced them with my trusty plimsolls.
Dalya sighed, sinking down into the grass. ‘Luca is my dearest brother. And his wish is my command,’ she said solemnly, though there was a flash of humour in her eyes. ‘And if he wishes you well … then so do I.’
What else did Luca wish? I felt sadness tugging at me. Did he wish he’d never found me in the first place?
‘So here you are, and I must be away,’ she said lightly, getting back up on her feet. ‘Henora and Ulfred may be getting suspicious. It is the early hours of the morning by now.’ She puffed out her cheeks. ‘Dratted mortal time.’
It was hard to imagine I would never see her again either. And horrible.
‘Tell Luca I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘For everything. And that I will never forget him.’
Dalya gave me an uncharacteristic tender look in return.
‘The feeling will be mutual,’ she reassured me, and I could have hugged her, had either of us been that kind of girl. ‘And be strong. You have the power to outwit Raphael. Just gather it to you and hold it there.’
I nodded, hoping, but not really believing she was right.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I trod carefully up the track to the house and arrived to see the back door open. But there was a curious silence. A lack of life about the place that filled me with foreboding. I told myself that my family were home. Of course they were. It was dark. They would be in the living room watching TV. My mum always turned the lights out in the kitchen after dinner.
But my dad always locked the back door.
I took one cautious step further.
‘Mum?’ I called. ‘Dad?’
The house still stood silent in the dark-blue sky. Up above me the moon shone full and white.
I gathered all my strength and walked purposefully towards the back door, through the corridor, round into the hall. There was no noise at all and everything was in darkness.
I switched on the light, swallowing fear. And the clock in the kitchen ticked noisily.
Then saw the dark shape on the kitchen floor.
‘Bobby!’ I dropped down frantically to the dog, sprawled, motionless. I put my head to his chest and to my relief he was still breathing. But he was more than asleep. I knew that. Looking up I saw the keys to my dad’s truck on the table. They couldn’t get anywhere at this time of night on foot. They wouldn’t. I got to my feet and, without hesitating, I picked up the keys and ran back out of the house to the truck.
I didn’t know where I was going to go. I just thought if I drove around for enough time, I’d see something. Find something.
I put the key in the ignition and went through the same motions I had seen my dad go through. After that, I would have to rely on my few driving lessons with Evan.
As I put my foot on the accelerator, I glanced up into the mirror and shunted forward, cautiously down the rough track, turning on to the clear mountain road. I breathed out, relaxing slightly and checked the fuel gauge. Just as the engine started to sputter.
‘Damn,’ I hissed, keeping pressure on the accelerator. But I was out of gas. And the truck wouldn’t move.
I stopped the engine and leaned back, my breath coming heavily. I must not panic. Or lose it. I had to keep calm. I was safe inside the truck. No one could hurt me in the truck.
I stared uncomfortably at the shapes of the trees lining the road, which were rocking slightly in the night breeze.
And then I saw the figure, trudging towards me. Male, broad-shouldered. I thought for a minute it was Dad … but no, this shape was taller, younger …
Evan.
I put my hand out to make sure the door was locked and tried to slide further down in my seat, but the figure had seen me, was looking straight at me and crossing the road, heading for the truck.
Quickly I composed myself. Pretend everything is fine, I told myself. Everything is completely normal.
He arrived at my window, bending to peer inside. I smiled as convincingly as I could and he smiled back.
‘What happened?’ he asked, craning his head to look at the dashboard.
I wound down the window, slowly.
‘I thought I’d do some practice. Ran out of fuel.’
‘At this time of night?’ Evan raised an eyebrow.
‘Everyone’s gone out,’ I said, shrugging. ‘I was bored.’
He held my gaze, though I couldn’t tell whether he was suspicious, and then he thumped the car door lightly.
‘Your dad probably keeps a spare can of fuel in the back,’ he said then. ‘I’ll go and check.’
Without asking for the keys he moved to the back of the truck and I heard him moving things around, looking for Dad’s secret stash.
In minutes he was back, waving a familiar-looking, large, plastic watering can. ‘Got it. I’ll fill her up.’
I sat waiting, thrown by his kindness. But then why wouldn’t he be kind? He didn’t know I knew … He was still play-acting. In that case, so was I.
I unlocked the doors.
Finally Evan finished. He opened the driver’s door. ‘Shift over,’ he said good-naturedly. ‘Better if I take it from here.’
I had no choice and shuffled over to the other side as Evan got in.
‘So,’ he said, his hand on the ignition keys, ‘where shall we go?’
‘Maybe we should just go home now,’ I said, keeping my voice steady. ‘Mum and Dad will be back soon and Dad will freak out if he sees the truck’s gone.’
Evan gave me a sidelong look. ‘I’m sure we’ve got time for a little drive,’ he said. ‘It’ll be OK.’
He seemed pretty sure about that. I tried not to swallow. Instead I managed a casual kind of shrug.
‘OK then…’
‘Hey.’ He put his hand on my leg. ‘You seem a little jumpy tonight, Janey … Relax.’ He moved his hand up my thigh. But the tingling feeling I had was not from excitement this time.
‘I was coming up to see you,’ Evan said, as he started the engine and the truck continued its descent down the mountain road. ‘You did one of your disappearing acts.’
Before I could stop myself I shot him a look. ‘Disappearing acts?’
Evan was looking ahead at the road. ‘Yeah … I called your house. Your mum said you’d gone off somewhere.’ He changed gear. ‘She sounded a little anxious to be honest. I thought I might run into you if I took myself off for a walk.’
‘It’s late for a walk. Why didn’t you drive?’
Evan hesitated only for a second. ‘My dad needed the car for something … And I felt like some air.’ He turned to smile at me. ‘You know the feeling?’
Did he know?
I nodded, wondering if there was some other meaning to his words.
‘Where are you taking me?’ I tried to sound light. ‘I don’t want to go far.’
‘You’ll see,’ he said, pressing down on the accelerator
As we rushed through Bale, heading for the other s
ide, anxiety gathered like a little storm inside me. When we left the town and joined unfamiliar winding roads, I felt myself beginning to panic. But that wouldn’t help me. I had to stay as calm as possible. I snuck a look at Evan’s profile as he drove. His mouth was set in a determined, aggressive kind of way, and his hands gripping the steering wheel were anything but relaxed.
I closed my eyes, pretending to doze. I should never have agreed to come for a drive. I should have insisted on going home. But then again, he would only have come back with me, and then we would have been alone.
In my empty, eerie house.
With my eyes shut, I heard him switch on the radio and the music grew louder. Dad’s favourite station. It should have comforted me – instead it just made me, and my family, feel kind of violated. Evan was acting like it was his truck, to do what he liked with.
Evan stopped and I opened my eyes. The truck was parked at the gate to the training ground, which sat gloomy and unwelcoming. I could just make out the curved corrugated roofs of those horrible Nissen huts.
‘What are we doing here?’ I said, unable to keep the fear out of my voice. ‘I don’t like it here.’
Evan leaned across and kissed me roughly on the cheek, his stubble scratching me, and I tried not to jerk away. I felt repelled.
‘Don’t be such a baby,’ he said, his hand now on my leg. ‘It really is time you grew up.’ His breath was heavy, his good-looks masked by that mean, intent expression on his face, in his eyes.
‘Evan,’ I said, my own breath coming quick and short, ‘it’s late, and I want to go home.’
Slowly I moved one hand to the door handle, gently pressing down on it. I shifted, as though I was getting more comfortable in my seat.
Evan reached out and traced a line down my cheek, while his other hand moved between my legs. I clamped them together instinctively. ‘Get off me,’ I said, and this time there was no mistaking the revulsion in my voice.
Before I could blink, his hand shot up and slapped me hard on the face and I screamed, releasing my hold on the door handle. Evan glared at me and locked the door, and I slumped against the window, too shocked to cry, or make any sound at all.