Dark Requiem (The Darkling Trilogy, Book 3)

by A. D. Koboah

  I looked up at Howard, who sweated in the morning heat, an ingratiating smile on his lips whilst he tried unsuccessfully to keep his eyes on my face.

  Was he a sadist like Master John? No. Did he mistreat Negroes? No, he treated Negroes he came across as if they were human beings simply because he saw himself as a man of distinguished breeding and manners.

  If he had been raised to believe it was acceptable to treat blacks the way Master John had done, would he have? Most probably, though I can’t imagine there are that many men as sadistic as Master John. And the point was that he hadn’t been raised to think that way. The epiphany continued to resound through me. Master John and his father were dead now, and had been for over a century. They could not hurt me. Neither could their descendants.

  Things in America were a long way from how I wanted them to be. But I had seen progress with my own eyes. America was slowly reshaping itself. I had to make a choice. I could change with it, or be left behind.

  There was not much I could do to right my wrongs. I couldn’t take back the many murders at my hands. But there was one I could begin to make amends to.

  I had to go and see Avery.

  Even the thought of seeing him again quickened my heart. It was selfish of me, so selfish, but I felt alive for the first time in decades. I was desperate to see him, had been for so, so long.

  “Are you all right, my dear? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Howard placed his hand on my upper arm where it rested, ever so lightly, against the side of my breast. That anger flared within, but, for the first time, fear was not pushing it forward. And without that fear, the anger melted into mild irritation. I moved my arm and he released it immediately.

  “I’m fine, thank you,” I said.

  “Well, look. If this research you’re doing is so important to you, I’ll try and see what I can find out about the family history. I will be at home tomorrow morning. You’re welcome to come and see me so we can discuss it.”

  “No, thank you. You’ve been a great help.”

  I moved away before he could say more and was soon lost amongst the other passersby on the street, my steps light, hope in my heart for the first time in decades.

  I was going to see Avery.

  ***

  California 1973

  They say it never rains in Southern California. I suppose it was the reason why I decided to buy a home there, another mansion to add to the many homes I had around the world. It may not have been raining the day I moved in, but there were grey clouds overhead in the form of the neighbours who objected to a coloured person moving into their all-white neighbourhood. Although there was nothing they could do about it, I saw their contempt every time I laid eyes on them, in their gazes which were as narrow as their minds.

  It was silent and dark in the house as night marched steadily towards dawn. I stood at the window of one of the living areas looking out on a sea of baby blue eyes. It was the reason I had chosen this mansion, the field of flowers the colour of his eyes. I often stared at it, remembering looking out on the field of Queen Anne’s lace in Louisiana with Avery at my side. Those memories, the love I’d had the privilege of basking in for so many years, were the only light in an otherwise dark world, especially on this night.

  Simon entered a while later.

  He was a tall, well-built man with a deep caramel complexion and a soft, yet proud face.

  “Well, what happened?” he drawled.

  I felt myself bristle. I moved away from the window and seated myself in one of the chairs. He pulled up a chair opposite me and sat down.

  He smiled. “He didn’t want to know, did he? I did warn you.”

  I don’t know if I was merely imagining it, but he seemed to be mocking me.

  “Ah, Luna. You should have listened to me.” He leaned forward and placed his hand against my face, stroking my cheek in a tainted caress. “There’s nothing for you in Louisiana. Everything you need is right here.”

  He stared intently at me. I stayed absolutely still, for I had seen the intention in his mind and wondered if he would actually dare.

  He leaned in for a kiss.

  I punched him in the chest, not holding back at all. He went flying across the room, hit a wooden coffee table and crashed into a wall.

  He tried to sit up and cried out before groaning in pain. I got to my feet and moved toward him. He was on his back, his face twisted in pain. He appeared to be finding it difficult to breathe and I was sure I had broken a few ribs. I leaned over him, fighting to rein in my anger.

  “Do you remember who I am to you? Do you remember what I can do? You filthy dog! If it wasn’t for the fact that my blood runs through your veins I would snap your feeble little neck!”

  “Luna...I—”

  “Shut. Up.”

  I straightened, desperate to inflict more pain, but I already knew I had gone far enough. I moved away and out of the room.

  In my bedroom I could hear him calling me.

  “Luna... I think I’m seriously hurt. Luna!”

  I remained at the window looking out on the sea of baby blue eyes turned a deep indigo under the meagre light of the moon.

  I would heal Simon, but for now I wanted him to suffer. It was the one thing I despised about all my descendants. They were all so pampered, so weak. I had seen slaves with much worse wounds in the fields working from sunup till sundown and they hadn’t dared utter a word of complaint, let alone make as much noise as Simon was making.

  I moved from the window to the mirror to gaze at my reflection.

  Hatred. It was all I felt whenever I looked at my reflection. Hatred and self-loathing. It was stupid to think Avery would want to see me after all I had done when I didn’t even want to have to look at myself.

  Simon’s cries had grown quieter, each word uttered with increasing difficulty. Perhaps he really was seriously hurt. I sighed, trying to muster some empathy for the pain he must be in. I only felt that weariness and a coldness that seemed to have been a part of me for so long. I remembered looking at Avery’s memories of Auria and how hard and cold she had been. I could see that in myself now. And like her, there wasn’t very much I actually took pleasure in. Only Avery; and he was truly lost to me.

  My thoughts returned to Simon. I had better go and see to him. I should really have wiped his memory of me and sent him home long before now. He was immature and in love with the thought of becoming an immortal. But he was perhaps the only person in the entire world who could stand to be near me.

  Avery drifted into my thoughts again along with the prospect of spending an eternity apart from him.

  I couldn’t give up on him. I just couldn’t.

  ***

  Mississippi 1975

  I was standing in the middle of deserted countryside with nothing in sight for miles around but the car Simon had been trying to flee in. To my left the road was a steel snake beneath a bleak, ash grey sky. Lush, green fields met the horizon wherever I turned. Although the light the dawn had brought into the world was still weak, pain moved sluggishly through my body, my vision, as always during the day, undulating from foggy shadow to vivid clarity. Anger rippled through me. I managed to contain the anger so my face was expressionless as I stared up at Simon, hanging in the air a few feet away from me, trapped by an invisible hand.

  I attempted to search his mind but found myself up against an impenetrable wall.

  How did he get this strong?

  I threw my telekinetic power out towards his left leg. The calf bone snapped like a dry twig. Hoarse screams escaped him. I again threw out my telekinetic power, but at his throat this time. I applied pressure. The screams became moans. I threw out more darts of power, aiming at his other leg—the thigh bone this time—one of his arms and his ribs. I wanted to do more, but I restrained myself, trying to still the anger within.

  “Don’t try my patience, Simon,” I said, having to squint against the dawn when I looked up at him. “I should kill you for e
ven trying to resurrect the chapel entity. Do you know how many have been slaughtered in order to resurrect it? Tens of thousands!”

  His face was twisted in a grimace of pain, but he still managed to croak out a reply.

  “How many have you killed, Luna?”

  Although my expression remained blank, cold fury settled in the pit of my stomach. It almost seemed as if he was trying to goad me into inflicting more injuries. I applied pressure on one of the bones I had broken. He squealed in pain for a few moments before he spoke.

  “All right, all right. I tried, but it didn’t want my body. Look and see. It didn’t want my body.”

  His thoughts were open and I could see he spoke the truth.

  “Why won’t you just make me into a vampire? I don’t want to grow old. Please, Luna. That’s all I want.”

  I released Simon and he fell into a heap on the ground. He screamed in pain and then lay there gasping. I stared at him for a long moment, surprised he was still conscious and had been able to endure so much pain.

  I should have killed him the moment I became aware of his visits to the chapel. But he was one of my descendants. So what options did that leave me? I could wipe his memory of me along with all he knew of vampires and the chapel entity. But the same dreams which led him to me would eventually lead him to the chapel entity once again.

  I moved to stand over him, deciding fear was my only option.

  “If you step foot in that chapel again, I’ll make sure you’ll live for a very, very long time to regret it. Do you understand me?”

  He blinked once, clearly in too much pain to move, his breathing laboured, his eyes glassy.

  I decided I wouldn’t heal him. I’d let him lie there until he lost consciousness, and then take him to a hospital where he would stay for a long time thinking about what he had tried to do.

  I turned from him and moved toward his car.

  “Obeyifo! Mema wo anim agu ase.”

  The words themselves would have been enough to bring me to a halt, but I found myself unable to move forward. Icy needles pierced my body from the inside out and pinned me where I stood.

  The words were similar to those Lina uttered in the grove. Panic washed over me and I struggled to move my arms, my head, but found myself as trapped as I had been then.

  I heard Simon laugh, laughter which was choked away by pain.

  “It doesn’t want my weak, human body, Luna, but it taught me everything Lina knew and so much more.”

  He uttered more words and I gasped as a shock of hot white pain cut across my left leg and my right thigh. Fire engulfed my chest and throat.

  I sank to the ground, although I still could not move voluntarily. I stared blankly at the hazy blue sky swimming in and out of focus. My confusion and fear became heightened when I heard Simon’s laughter and then, miraculously, the sound of movement and his footsteps.

  He was soon standing over me. He was smiling and although his clothes were still bloodied, he appeared otherwise uninjured. I could only stare up at him in horror. My horror deepened when he pulled a knife from his pocket.

  He braced himself and then ran the knife across the back of his left hand. It passed across his hand as if he was running the knife along marble. But pain tore across the back of my left hand. I did not need to look down at it to see a gash had opened up along the site. A gash that was not knitting itself closed.

  Simon smiled.

  “I actually wasn’t so sure this would work. But here we are. I’ve wanted to put you in your place for so long. It finally showed me a way to. It doesn’t want my body, Luna. Not as it is, anyway. That’s all you have to do. Turn me into a vampire.”

  You fool!

  I lashed out with my telekinetic power, but only succeeded in making the pain flare to excruciating levels. Maybe if this had happened before the bloodletting, or even at night, I would have been able to fight him off. But I was so much weaker during the day now. The only thing I could do was try and make Simon see sense.

  Simon. It’s lied to you. You won’t...

  The pain crested and Simon’s face wavered before my eyes. Blackness swallowed me whole.

  ***

  Mississippi 1975

  The next thing I remembered clearly was waking to find myself caught in a vice of flame. I could barely see and it was many moments before I became aware of my surroundings. I was in the chapel, hanging in the air from a chain around my neck. Simon was standing beneath me, screaming at me, panic in his voice. The chain around my neck tightened of its own accord and I could feel the presence of the chapel entity, its rage and cold bitterness pressing against me, its glee sharp in my mind. Simon continued to scream at it, but we both knew it was no use. It was in control, using his power to kill me and in his panic and fear he had rendered himself helpless.

  Death opened up to me like the arms of a lover, and in those moments everything stilled. The sight of the chapel caressed by the sunlight flowing through the hole in the roof and the man below shouting—all of it stilled.

  I had spent most of my life like an eagle flying through turbulent skies. Even during peaceful times I could feel violent currents beneath, ruffling my feathers, and I always had to fight to stay in control. Now I could be free of it. Free from my pain and anger.

  Emptiness gathered to welcome me, eliciting tears of relief. Beyond the emptiness was something I could only get a glimpse of, something beyond anything I could have ever conceived of. It was miraculous that after all I had done, all the pain I had caused, I could have rest, and more—if I chose. So much more. It was all there before me, an end and a possible homecoming.

  But Avery. Avery.

  As weak as I was, I now tried to fight against the spirit and the hold it had on the chain around my neck. But like Simon’s cries of panic, it was no use.

  The last thing I thought of was Avery’s face hovering over mine, blood on his lips as he prepared to kill me so I could be born again.

  It was almost as if I was there again, looking at the distress and fear in his eyes, hearing the words he uttered to me.

  “Just...just make sure you come back to me, Luna.”

  I mumbled the words I had spoken to him.

  “I will find a way back to you. I will always find a way back to you.”

  And then emptiness.

  ***

  Imagine a line, a sliver of gold in the dark. Like a tightrope, a way to balance and move onward. And on either side of and behind me, was nothing. I’m not talking about a fall. I’m talking about emptiness. Only that gold tightrope leading me forward. I was running along the tightrope, and had been for a very long time. Except I wasn’t actually running as I no longer had a body, but that is the only way to describe the effort, the pain, the exhaustion of keeping myself in limbo. I was so weary. I wanted to give up. I wanted this to end, but I couldn’t let go. I had no idea how long I had been running in this state or how much longer I would have to keep going until I found him. And just when I felt I couldn’t continue, I saw him. My heart soared, but with it came crushing despair.

  He was so far ahead. I could just make him out, alone, surrounded by people, but always alone. I couldn’t let him be alone, I had to keep going. No matter how long it took me, I had to keep on until I caught up to him.

  Then I saw an opening, a splinter of light in the darkness. A woman. She was thin, had large eyes, a smooth, caramel complexion and a high forehead. Her hair was pulled back from her face. Her eyes were filling with tears, the smallest of tremors troubling her bottom lip. Her name was Vanessa. The source of her distress? The dark empty bowl which would always be barren. Joy infused my being, giving me strength and a burst of energy.

  This was the moment I had been waiting for. We would be together again. I pushed forward toward that splinter of light that would bring life and unite me with my beloved. I glanced one last time at Avery—alone—shrouded in grief, darkness pressing in on him like malevolent hands.

  Wait for me, Avery, wait for
me.

  I hope he heard me in some way, and that he would not have to wait many more years before we were reunited again. I pushed forward.

  ***

  In the sea of memories I swam in, I saw something unexpected. Something I could have no hope of trying to understand.

  At first I appeared to be floating in thick, inky darkness. Although I had no form, I was in motion, hurtling through the dark. Ahead of me, I saw a bead of white light. I rushed toward it and came to a stop before an extraordinary sight.

  I was looking at myself, but not as I was. The other me appeared to be floating in the blackness with her eyes closed above a dry, flat, iridescent white landscape. It looked as if she was floating in water, her arms held out to the sides, one of her legs slightly bent at the knee. The little clothing she wore appeared to be made of a substance which looked like white gold, but was as malleable and fluid as liquid. It clung to her breasts and groin. Swirls and strips of it wound around her arms, legs, and lower stomach. Her ebony hair was drawn away from her face in a thick braid that fell over her shoulder and wound around her stomach, ending by her ankle. Surrounding this version of myself was what must have been billions of pinpricks of light swirling around her in an iridescent vortex.

  She opened her eyes and looked at me. Fear thrilled through me at that omniscient gaze. I saw the universe in that gaze, a galaxy of stars and knowledge beyond knowing. I saw the complexities of nature, the wild fire that tears through a forest devouring all in its path, the bottomless, dark depths of an ocean and all it nurtured in its womb. I saw the beauty and cruelty inherent in nature. I saw the gift of life and the cold kiss of death. She was the mother and the devourer.