Dark Heart Surrender

by Lee Monroe

  ‘She’s quite a vulnerable young woman,’ Mrs C said thoughtfully. ‘Looks and acts tougher than she is. I think she needs a little support.’

  You support her then, I thought uncharitably.

  ‘I guess I’ve been a little busy the last couple of weeks.’ I tried and failed to suppress a yawn.

  ‘Is everything all right?’

  ‘Yes.’ It was my turn to frown. ‘Why wouldn’t it be?’

  ‘I hear you have your boyfriend living with you.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘That must provide a little distraction. I imagine it’s hard to concentrate on everything that’s going on here. Your responsibilities …’

  I hid annoyance. ‘I’m not shirking my responsibilities,’ I told her. ‘I’m just getting my priorities in order.’

  ‘Your priorities?’ She inhaled disapprovingly. ‘You don’t get these kinds of opportunities very often, you know.’

  ‘I know.’ I clasped my hands together, trying to keep a lid on my feelings. ‘But there’s nothing to worry about. Luca doesn’t interfere with my life at college. Or my studies.’

  ‘Hmm.’ She picked up a file lying in front of her on the desk, opened it and flicked through it. ‘Your grades are high.’ She looked up at me. ‘Just be careful they stay that way.’

  ‘OK.’ I was confused now. If I didn’t know better, I would think Mrs Connelly was threatening me. ‘But like I said—’

  ‘I’ve got things to do,’ she said, getting to her feet. ‘As I am sure you have.’ She checked her watch. ‘I strongly advise you reconnect with Polly. She needs a good role model to aspire to.’ She smiled at last. ‘Don’t you think?’

  I stared at her. ‘I suppose.’

  ‘Good.’ She picked up my file and tucked it under her arm. ‘I’ll check in with you next week. See how you’re getting on.’

  The cafeteria was crowded. Over by the window I spotted the twins, heads bent together, talking seriously. I bit my lip, my gaze travelling further round the hall. In the opposite corner, a crowd of noisy boys were gathered round a lone female who sat coolly drinking a smoothie through a straw, her red hair held away from her face in a loose ponytail.

  I sighed, moving to the queue for hot food and picking up a tray. Polly hardly looked like the kind of girl who wanted a ‘role model to aspire to’. If I went over there, I’d get the familiar disdainful look I always got from her. Honestly, I had better things to do than babysit her.

  I had my eye on the last baked potato, willing no one else to take it. Lately I felt starving all the time; I guessed it was everything that was going on, all that I had to think about. I picked up a bag of crisps from the rack and a strawberry smoothie, and pushed forward in the queue.

  ‘I’ll take the spud,’ said the nerdy-looking student in front of me. His backpack butted into my chest and I rolled my eyes, inwardly cursing him. Normally I didn’t care about stuff like this – but lately everything was getting on my nerves.

  Once I had got all my lunch – reluctantly trading the potato for a portion of shepherd’s pie – I did a quick recce of the hall again. To my right, Ashley and Emma were still deep in conversation and I wasn’t sure I could face their chatter today anyway. Which left Polly and her admirers on the other side. I cast a glance over and saw that a few of the boys had left her table, leaving a seat free next to her. And she was looking straight at me.

  ‘Hey.’ I put down my food. ‘Mind if I sit down?’

  ‘Free country.’ Polly gave me a twisted, obviously fake smile. ‘I have a class to get to anyway.’ She fiddled with her bag.

  ‘OK.’ I shrugged. ‘I thought you might want to talk. I haven’t had a chance to catch up with you since—’

  ‘Since that distrastrous date you fixed up my brother with?’ Polly dropped her bag and stared hard at me.

  A forkful of shepherd’s pie halted on its way to my mouth. ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘Yeah … your boyfriend is obviously some kind of psycho. Ade was totally freaked out when he got back. Not to mention Barbie over there.’ She flicked a look over at Ashley, who was getting up from the table with Emma. ‘I mean, what were you thinking? Did you really expect my brother to hook up with … with that?’

  I put down my fork. ‘So what exactly did Ade tell you?’

  ‘Just that you guys made him feel like an idiot. You and Luca, that is. The airhead just giggled like a moron.’ Polly raised an eyebrow, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. ‘I’m surprised at you, Jane, most of all. I mean, I thought you were a bit of a weirdo; I didn’t think you were mean.’

  ‘OK.’ I took a breath to remain calm. ‘That is totally unfair. For your information, Ade hardly spoke to Ashley all night. He practically ignored her, in fact. And he was rude and arrogant. And …’ I stopped, for some reason I didn’t want her to know the most heinous part of the evening – Ade coming on to me when the others were outside.

  Polly stared at me for what seemed like hours before she spoke again. ‘Don’t tell me,’ she whispered. ‘Ade liked you.’

  I felt my face getting hot, whether from anger or embarrassment I couldn’t be sure. ‘I don’t think “like” is the word,’ I began.

  ‘Fancied you then.’ Polly shook her head. ‘What’s the matter, Jane? Are you some kind of virgin or something? You’ve gone all coy.’

  ‘No.’ The heat was getting worse. ‘And we’re getting off topic here. It doesn’t matter whether Ade fancies me or not. He behaved like an asshole.’

  ‘Good diversion.’ She picked at a fingernail. ‘You seemed awfully riled up back then.’

  ‘That’s because your brother told you a pack of lies,’ I said firmly. ‘It wasn’t the way he described it at all. And him hitting on me when my boyfriend’s back was turned – that was obnoxious.’

  ‘Sure. I suppose he thought it was worth a try,’ she went on. ‘Given the signals you were giving him.’

  ‘I …’ My mouth fell open while my brain worked hard to think of a comeback.

  Polly didn’t wait for my answer, though. She got to her feet, swinging her bag over her shoulder. ‘You can deny it all you want,’ she said, ‘but you’ve just confirmed exactly what Ade told me.’ She smiled tightly, stepping over the bench. ‘It’s so obvious.’

  I shut my mouth at last, too infuriated to respond to this bullshit.

  ‘I’ll say hello to my brother for you,’ she said breezily over her shoulder, heading for the doorway. ‘He’s been asking about you a lot.’

  I waited until she had disappeared before I let out the breath I had been holding in. Looking down at my cold food, I certainly didn’t feel hungry any more. In fact I felt sick. Really sick at the thought of what Ade had reported back to Polly about that night. What a creep.

  I picked up my fork again and stabbed at a dried-up piece of potato. A flash of Ade’s cruel blue eyes taunting me. The eerie paleness of his skin came into my mind, much as I wanted to push it out again.

  I had never given him any signal that I liked him, had I? The thought that I had given him that impression left me go cold. And angry too.

  I loved Luca. He had been the only boy I wanted in the diner that night.

  Hadn’t he?

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ‘Son.’ Ulfred sat with his hands clasped together, looking down at the ground. ‘Why all these questions about the Vulpecula?’ He looked up and sideways at Luca. ‘You came all the way back here to—’

  Luca shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I …’ He realized it was futile to try and pretend he had just been wondering. Ulfred would never believe that. Luca had not been back to Nissilum since he had left. His father was staring expectantly at him. ‘Have you seen something, Luca?’

  ‘Not exactly. More like got a sense. I met this kid. About my age. He had the strongest, most aggressive aura about him. It was intoxicating.’ He stopped then, realizing that what he had just said hardly amounted to evidence of the Vulpecula on Mortal Earth.

  Ulfred sighed. All at once he
looked weighed down, troubled. He picked up a twig lying on the ground and poked at the earth with it. Luca watched him, anxiously.

  ‘Ulfred,’ he said in a half-whisper. ‘What is it?’

  His father thought for a moment before answering. ‘It’s … well, I hope – I’m sure – that what you sensed amounts to nothing much. But the Vulpecula are not like us here on Nissilum.’ He turned to Luca. ‘They make the Borgias look like innocent lambs frolicking in the grass. Not even the Celestial Family felt magnanimous enough to give them a chance. Their legend is of such darkness, such pure evil. There is no scrap of goodness in those creatures.’

  Luca stared, unblinking. ‘I must have made a mistake,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m sure I did. I am so wary of darkness, of danger on Mortal Earth. Perhaps sometimes I imagine things that aren’t there.’

  ‘Perhaps.’ His father nodded. ‘I hope that’s it.’ He frowned again, deep creases in his forehead ageing him all of a sudden. ‘My great father – your great great father – he fell victim to a member of the Vulpecula. The last – we thought the last – of them roaming Nissilum, looking for trouble.’

  ‘Really?’ Luca sat up. ‘He saw one of them.’

  ‘You could say that. He was hypnotized, more like. The Vulpecula’s powers – well, they’re subtle at first.’ He sighed. ‘So sharp. Sharper than the rest of us. Their reputation for cunning is not just a myth. Their mental stealth matches their physical agility. They put Haris under some kind of spell and, for a while, he almost became one of them.’

  ‘You don’t speak much of Haris.’ Luca thought for a moment.

  ‘He succumbed to a dark energy. He allowed himself to be killed.’

  ‘By the Vulpecula?’

  ‘We don’t know. His bones were found in a remote region of the south. Miles from his home. It was the first time a wolf had not been strong enough to defeat death.’

  ‘I didn’t know.’ Luca ran a hand through his hair. ‘No one ever said.’

  ‘My great mother ordered us never to speak of it. A bad omen for the Hunters, she said, “To give up like that”.’

  ‘But why? Why did he give up? What happened?’

  Ulfred sighed deeply. ‘He allowed himself to be seduced by the Vulpecula.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Luca asked. ‘A romantic seduction?’

  ‘It’s more complicated than that. He found himself helping them to gain status on Nissilum. They offered him and his family some kind of supreme protection. For all time. They ”arranged” for the family land to be increased, way beyond legal perimeters, by terrifying the surrounding landowners into submission. Slowly, my great mother found that her old friends would not speak to her, avoided her. She was excluded from all social events. My father, he remembers being shunned by people he had known since birth.’

  ‘So the whole family were ostracized?’ Luca shook his head. ‘That’s awful.’

  Ulfred nodded. ‘My father left home, came all the way across country beyond the great barrier, to forge a new life for himself. I was not allowed to see my great parents for years. My father was so furious. My great mother was staunchly loyal to her husband, of course. She refused to facilitate a reunion, refused to beg Haris to stop.’ He paused. ‘Of course, he couldn’t stop. He was under some kind of spell. She knew that. Though my father did not find out until Haris was dead.’

  ‘I never knew any of this. But what happened to the Vupecula then? How did they come even to be on Nissilum?’

  ‘In those days, visitors were allowed on Nissilum for short amounts of time. After a few months they needed to present the correct paperwork or be deported. The Vulpecula would never risk being exposed, so they all left. And were never seen or heard from again on Nissilum.’

  ‘Where did they go? Mortal Earth?’ Luca swallowed, not really wanting to know the answer to his question.

  Ulfred didn’t answer for a long time. He simply stared ahead of him and then finally took a breath, saying, ‘No one knows for sure.’

  ‘But then they could be alive – on Mortal Earth?’ Now it was Luca’s turn to stare into the distance. It was a remote possibility and it seemed ridiculous. But if it was true, then he and Jane were in danger.

  Suddenly he couldn’t wait to get back to her. He got to his feet, putting one hand on his father’s shoulder.

  ‘I need to go,’ Luca told him. ‘I just—’

  ‘Yes.’ Ulfred closed his own hand over his son’s. ‘I understand. You must go.’

  Luca had got a few steps away before he heard Ulfred call out to him.

  ‘You will tell me, won’t you, Luca? If you need help, at any time. You would always tell me?’

  Luca felt a lump in his throat at his father’s words.

  ‘Of course,’ he told him. ‘Always.’

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  I was still fuming as I cycled home. Polly’s little theory was ridiculous. The memory of Ade’s face that night, mocking and entitled – every time it came back to me, I felt my face setting in fury.

  As if I would ever want someone like that!

  I changed gear going up the steep hill, the final leg of the journey. I realized my heart was beating too fast and my body took over, draining my thoughts, and I felt strength sapping out of me as I slowed.

  I stopped, taking a breath and dismounted, looking around me in the twilight. It was so quiet and peaceful, except for that feeling of dread that was creeping over me that made all my cognitive powers seem to run in slow motion.

  In the undergrowth, in the banks either side of the road, night-time creatures rustled. I jerked out of my torpor to see a flash of amber-coloured fur darting through the bushes. My heart stopped beating for a moment, my eyes fixed on this creature, rippling stealthily up the bank.

  ‘Who’s there?’ Still holding on to my bike’s handlebars I craned forwards, but the animal, whatever it was, was fast moving out of sight. As it reached the top of the verge, at the point where the thick woods began, it turned, its eyes flashing in the darkness, looking straight at me.

  I felt air rushing through my head, forcing out all thoughts, leaving just the impression of this silky-coated creature. For a moment I forgot where I was, where I was going, as a sound like tinkling bells cut through the vacuum.

  The blare of a car horn blasting jolted me out of my thoughts. I turned, squinting at the glare from the headlights, as a figure got out of the driver’s side and started talking to me.

  ‘What’s going on?’ I heard, though I didn’t know who had spoken, me or the person standing before me. ‘Jane?’ My eyes swam into focus and I recognized Luca anxiously watching me.

  ‘Oh.’ I looked down at my bike and then back up at him. ‘I guess I just got tired. This hill, it’s too steep.’

  ‘And you have no lights.’ Luca stepped forward and took the bike out of my hands. ‘Not functioning lights, anyway.’

  ‘I thought I’d make it back,’ I rubbed at my head, ‘before it got really dark.’

  ‘Are you all right?’ He put one hand out to touch me. ‘You seem a little dazed.’

  ‘I’m fine.’ I finally managed a smile. ‘How was work?’

  Luca shrugged. ‘Back at the old training ground tomorrow. I had some errands to run today.’ His eyes flickered uneasily.

  I moved to give him a hug. ‘I’m shattered.’ And it was true; I felt stupidly tired, as though someone or something had sucked all the energy out of me. I put my arm through Luca’s. ‘Can I have a lift?’

  ‘There’s no way you’re riding that bike with no lights,’ he said protectively. ‘So get in the car.’

  ‘Are you OK?’ I said, resting my head on his shoulder. ‘You look weird.’

  ‘Weird?’ He put his arm around me. ‘No, well … I’ll tell you about it later.’

  There it was again, that uneasy feeling.

  ‘Something’s happening, isn’t it? Something strange.’

  Luca’s silence wasn’t reassuring. He kept his arm around me, gently guid
ing me back to the car. Once we were both inside he put the keys in the ignition, then hesitated.

  ‘I went back to see my father,’ he said.

  ‘To Nissilum? I thought—’

  ‘I wasn’t going to go back – not for a while anyway. But I needed to talk to Ulfred. He’s a wise man and he knows pretty much everything there is to know about the history of Nissilum.’

  ‘What did you need to know?’ I asked. ‘You live here now, Luca. It’s a little dull, I realize that, being so mortal and all, but—’

  ‘I needed to ask him about the Vulpecula,’ he interrupted me. ‘They’re an ancient breed of malevolent fox.’

  I stared at him for a second before I started grinning. ‘Are you serious?’ But a sudden recollection of a dinner conversation we’d had struck me, wiping the grin off my face. ‘I mean – they’re real?’

  ‘They were.’ Luca leaned back in his seat. ‘We thought they were extinct long ago. But now, well, we don’t know. Ulfred told me a story about my great great father Haris that casts doubt on that theory. Apparently he made some kind of pact with the Vulpecula a long time ago and there were consequences – fatal consequences.’

  ‘They killed him?’

  ‘Nobody knows. He could have killed himself.’

  I sighed. ‘Not another one.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Luca said. ‘It’s all speculation really, but Ulfred certainly has a lot to say about the Vulpecula and their particular, deadly power. They use mental stealth, tricks of the mind, to trap their prey. They’re vicious, but not until they have used all of their mind games to cause harm. They deal in trades. They were forbidden from gaining citizenship on Nissilum, and they wanted revenge for that ultimately. They tried to use my great great father to gain them that right.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘He had great influence with the Celestials apparently, so they used him and then cast a spurious spell on him. I suppose it was a kind of brainwashing. The desired result being that they would be installed on Nissilum as rightful citizens, despite the fact that they had no intention of abiding by its laws.’