The Violet Line

by Bilinda Ni Siodacain

  * * *

  Sam woke to find himself chained to the ceiling in the dungeons that stretched out beneath the estate. Lissie sat on the steps. Her legs swung back and forth as she watched him, her blue eyes flickering curiously over his face.

  “Uncle Oskaar said I could play with you just as long as I don’t break you completely, I think were his exact words,” she told him smiling, her grin full of menace. “He said you were very naughty and wouldn’t bring him that girl that he wanted but secretly I’m glad I don’t want her here; I’ve seen what uncle Oskaar has planned for her and personally I think it’s really stupid. I’m not pretending that she is my queen and I don’t think she is more powerful than me.

  “Did you know I can make the ground open up and swallow people? I think if uncle Oskaar brings her here, I might accidentally let the ground open up and eat her. I don’t know why you stayed with her. I mean, she’s not even pretty and she’s human. That’s just silly; humans are so fragile. I’m glad I’m not a human anymore. Anyway, what do you want to play first? Do you want to meet my pets? I think they’ll like you! You smell like prey but I think that’s because you were fighting with Raphael. Nobody can beat Raphael; he is so big and mean and he’s part Viking! I mean, I haven’t met a real one yet but he says he knows a few. If Oskaar will just let me go home, Raphael said he would introduce us! It’s very exciting!”

  She jumped up from her perch as she spoke and wandered over to a door at the side of the dungeon. “Oskaar said I can’t open the cages by hand but I like to talk to them through the doors, you know?”

  She skipped back up the steps. Sam watched her progress through half opened eyes. She had babbled on and on and he had only half listened. He watched as she reached the top step and pulled a lever down. The door swung open and the revenants sloped out of their cages, sniffing and snarling along the floor. Lissie began to jump up and down, clapping her hands like an excited child in a sweet shop. She cooed and called them pet names. These creatures could not be considered pets, Sam thought to himself as they edged along the floor cautiously towards him. Sam watched them and remembered the lessons he had been taught often in fight training against the Revenants. They were vampires. Most had been human at some point, others were large animals like wolves, but many of them were far too unpredictable and could not be kept. Normally, they were created by a human being bitten by multiple vampires; they were almost drained and then fed the blood of the vampires that had bitten them. This meant that when they woke, they were completely driven by blood lust; they lost all discerning human characteristics. A few vampire clans in the old days during the feuding had created these monsters to fight the war for them, but mostly now they were kept as pets and as party entertainment. Sam watched the revenants as they crept closer to him. Lissie had a fine collection of revenants and Sam could see that not all of them were human. Fur matted with blood and dirt clung to their large misshapen forms. Their nails tic tacked across the stone floor as they cautiously approached him. Fangs dripped with saliva as they watched him with yellow and red eyes. Sam felt pity for the more human like revenants, they did not deserve to be turned the way they had and now they lived a life of torture.

  “Not all of them are human?” Sam’s voice was stiff from being unused and came out in a whisper.

  Lissie beamed at him. “You noticed! Yes, some of them were never human. I know the council never wanted me to keep them, but I just couldn’t let them be destroyed; they are so hard to replace these days. There aren’t many animals large enough in this country to turn and make it worthwhile.”

  She sighed as she watched her pride and joys. One of them had reached Sam’s leg and sniffed along the leg of his jeans before sinking his teeth into his thigh. Sam screamed out as the pain ripped through him; its razor sharp teeth had sunk straight through to the bone. The other revenants, smelling the fresh blood, attempted to join in but many of them were held back by the chains wrapped around their necks. When they couldn’t reach him with their mouths, many of them began to mewl in high pitched voices, choosing instead to grab out at him with sharpened claws. Sam tried desperately to move back but his own chains prevented him from passing out of their reach. He watched Lissie dance with glee on the steps as her pets attempted to eat him alive. Sam closed his eyes and prayed for Jade’s safety against these monsters.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I was snatched backwards and away from the icy depths. I could hear the sea screaming in my ears as though it knew it had been cheated. Covering my ears with my hands, I stood there, held in his embrace. I could hear his heartbeat thundering against his ribcage as he held me tight. He shouted something at the water’s edge and the screaming subsided. Taking my hands from my ears, I stepped away from him and looked up into his face. He grinned at me with a smile that would have made any Hollywood heart throb proud and envious all at once. His curly blonde hair stood on end as he pushed it back from his face and revealed a pair of sparkling green eyes. My neck began to stiffen as I stared up at him, open mouthed. My first thought was that my would-be saviour was a giant; he was huge in comparison to me at least over a foot taller than me and I was a healthy five foot six. He shoved his hand towards me, the grin still plastered all over his ruggedly handsome face. “Lorcan Fitzgerald, at your service.”

  Shyly, I placed my hand in his and he gripped it so tightly and shook it so vigorously, I expected at any moment to follow my hand and be swung up and down like some sort of rag toy.

  “Thought you looked like you could do with a bit of help there. Some of them mermaids are right bitches; whoops, excuse my language.” He continued to grin as he chattered. “They like to lure people who are feeling a bit sad to the water’s edge and then grab them, dragging them down to the bottom of the water never to be seen again. I’m not much fond of them myself, to be honest; a bit stuck up in themselves. And boy can they talk; they never shut up! I met this one once and she’d talk the hind legs of a donkey, as my mam would say. Utter rubbish, too; all this stuff about them and their ‘eternal feud’ with the sprites. I don’t get all that stuff myself. I mean, why bother feuding and fighting all the time? I much prefer to play some sport, sort it all out on the pitch. That’s my motto; works every time, too. I don’t think I’ve ever stayed mad at someone for more than two minutes!

  “Oh Jesus, would you look at me; not even letting you get a word in edgeways. What were you doing that close to the edge anyway? I thought you above all people would know what the mermaids are like.” Turning away from me, he shook his fist in the direction of the water. “I don’t want to see you lot hang around here in future! If I do, so help me I’ll -- I’ll --” He swung back towards me, making me jump when he threw his arm over my shoulders. “To be honest I don’t know what I’ll do with them. Probably nothing, but sure a few threats won’t hurt them.”

  He began to lead me in the direction of the car, talking nonstop until he came to a stop and was forced to look closely at me.

  “What’s wrong? Was it something I said? Look, sure, if you’re friends with the mermaids, I’m sorry. I just thought you looked sad and well, I know what they’re like but sure if you know them.”

  “I don’t know them to be honest, Lorcan; I have no idea what you’re talking about. You seem lovely and thanks for not letting me fall into the water, but I should go now.”

  At the mention of thanks, colour flooded his cheeks and he turned a delightful shade of pink. He began kicking some of the dirt around his feet and couldn’t meet my eyes as he answered me.

  “Well sure, that was no problem, Jade. You don’t have to thank me. Sure, I’d have done it for anyone; you just happened to be the one standing there.”

  “Wait,” I stammered, “how do you know my name? I never told you!”

  “Ah well, you see, that’s a long story. Damn it, I can’t tell you a lie.” At this, his face became even redder; until he clashed with his strawberry blonde hair. He reminded me of a small boy who had been caught doing something
he shouldn’t. I felt some sort of affinity with him but he also struck me as a little mad.

  “Look, Lorcan, I have to go. It was lovely meeting you.” With that, I ran full tilt towards my car, leaving him to call after me.

  Jumping behind the wheel and starting the engine, I spun the tires so they sprayed gravel high up into the air. I headed for Annie’s apartment. I hoped she would be up. Glancing at my watch, I realised it was half passed eight. She should be up but just in case, I decided to stop for coffee first. I needed something to steady my nerves after the crazy morning I had just experienced.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sitting in my car I sipped the coffee thoughtfully, running back over everything that had happened to me. Sam leaving me had been a huge shock but I hadn’t once thought that I would kill myself. True, I wanted him, back but I knew dying wasn’t the way to do it. The little voice in the back of my head piped up, “what if he’s already dead?” I pushed the thought away, refusing to listen to it; he just simply couldn’t be. True, I had seen the blood and it would appear that the vision had been real, but I still felt deep down inside my heart that if he was dead, I would know for certain and I just couldn’t feel that anywhere inside me. I slipped out of the car and headed for Annie’s apartment. I had gotten her some tea. I couldn’t remember if she drank it anymore or was it all herbal tea nowadays; my brain was so addled but I knew she’d at least appreciate the gesture. Climbing the stairs, I switched my brain off and simply counted the steps I took to get to the apartment.

  I was still a little bit freaked out by the guy I had met down by the pier. I didn’t know how he had known my name or even what he had been talking about, but I suppose I had seen stranger things in the past; surely creatures that lived in the water called mermaids wouldn’t be a step too far. I knocked on the door and Annie answered, bleary eyed and bed ruffled.

  “Jade, you’re here awful early. What’s wrong?” Her concern sent me over the edge and I broke down in an emotional mess on her doorstep.

  “He’s gone,” I managed to get out before I lost my voice in a cloud of tears.

  * * *

  Sometime later while sitting on her couch, I had told her everything through my racking sobs. She sat there facing me, her face white and tears silently running from her eyes. Twisting the tissue between my hands, I finished up with what had happened that morning.

  “So it looks like he’s dead, but I just don’t feel it. I know I’d feel it if he was. I still think he’s out there somewhere waiting for me. If only I could find this Graham guy; I’m sure he must know something that might help me to find him. I just don’t think I can sit around and wait, you know?” I wasn’t sure if she did know, but I had no one else to turn to.

  “What about the other guy, Lorcan is it? Are you sure he doesn’t know anything? I mean, it’s weird that he knew where to find you and that he knew your name.” She trailed off, her face becoming thoughtful.

  “I just don’t know,” I answered. “I didn’t hang around; the whole situation just sort of freaked me out. I should have asked him, but I just wasn’t thinking. Damn it, I might have missed one of my only chances for finding Sam. Why didn’t I think of it instead of being so wrapped up in my own head?”

  Annie wrapped her arms around me. “Look, it’s ok; we’ll find him. You can’t think of everything and I’m sure this Lorcan guy will turn up again; he’s bound to. I mean, if he knows your name and he did save you from taking an early morning dip, surely we’ll cross paths with him again. Right now though, we need to concentrate on getting Sam back. Maybe we should ask Aidan about this Graham guy. What do you think? I mean, he is a vampire and he might be able to find something out for us.” She said this while taking her phone from her pocket and tapping on the small keypad. “There; it’s sent.”

  We sat in silence. I was trying to blot out all types of thought and jumped as her phone emitted a high pitched beeping announcing a new text. I watched anxiously as she scanned the message.

  “Well, what did he say?” My impatience won out and the words fell from my mouth before I had even realised it.

  “He says if we head on down to their club ‘The Wreak-Room’ later on tonight, he might be able to introduce us to some vampires from the city who might know who Graham is.” Her words brought me some hope but the fact that I had to wait even longer nearly caused my eyes to fill with tears once more.

  “We have to wait? But what if he’s hurt or dying and I could help him now? I don’t think I can wait, Annie; I need to find him now.” I held my face in my hands as a shudder raked my body.

  “Even if it’s just to find his body, I need to know.” I let my words hang there between us. Her silence caused me to look up and still she could say nothing. I knew it wasn’t her fault; what could she say?

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do… without him. I just need to be doing something to find him, you know?”

  “I know and we will. Come on, we should go out and get something proper to eat and then I’ll take you shopping.”

  I stared at her, my face a picture of shock. “I’ve just told you my boyfriend, my soul mate, might be dead and you expect me to be able to go shopping?” My voice shook with anger. I couldn’t help it; I needed someone to be angry at.

  “No I don’t mean like that, Jade. It’s just that Aidan said in the text that we should come dressed for that scene; you know, the vampire scene.” Her voice had taken on a placating tone, the sort of tone one might use with a small spoilt child who didn’t want to do as they were told.

  “Oh.” It was all I could muster. I felt kind of stupid for getting angry at her; I should have known it wouldn’t have been that simple. She jumped up and grabbed my hand.

  “My car or yours?” she asked me.

  “Umm.” I couldn’t think properly.

  “Ok, mine it is. You’re in no fit state to drive anywhere.” She towed me towards the front door. “Come on, first food and then shopping. It’ll help take your mind off some things, if even for a few seconds, and it is doing something constructive towards finding him.” She wrapped her arms around me tightly, giving me a comforting hug.

  “We’ll fix this I promise,” she reassured me. Even though I wasn’t sure if it would all work out in the end or even how I could go about fixing this, I wanted so very badly to believe every reassuring word she gave me. She pulled away from me and I gave her my very best attempt at a watery smile. It was the best I could do for her but if I ever got Sam back, I would have to find some way of making it up to her. Grabbing my coat, I walked out the door ahead of her and she pulled it shut behind us as we headed for town and a new look for the vampire scene.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Standing in front of the full length mirror in Annie’s bedroom, I stared at my reflection. What gazed back at me didn’t look anything like what I was used to looking at. We had gone shopping and I had spent what amounted to a king’s ransom on the clothes I was now wearing. Personally, they weren’t to my taste; I liked jeans and tops and this outfit was way outside my comfort zone. I turned slightly and the leather on my thigh high boots creaked. Luckily, I was one of the few lucky people who were born to walk in heels, but that didn’t make me feel any more comfortable. Black lace tights covered my legs. The satin red dress I wore had almost caused me to pass out when I saw the price, but Annie had insisted it would be perfect for the effect we were going for. True, neither of us were vampires and we weren’t even trying to pass as vampires, but we needed to look as though we belonged there; vampire groupies in a vampire bar, also known as food. I suppressed a shiver at the thought. Sam had always forbidden me to go to any of these types of bars, and his reply to my probing questions had just simply been that they were too dangerous for the unescorted. And well, he had never offered to escort me there so I had never gone. If it hadn’t been for Annie, I would never have known how to dress for the occasion. Annie walked in to the room behind me and stared at her protégé.

  “Ooh
, I told you it would work,” she cooed.

  “Umm, I’m not sure about this. I don’t feel comfortable in it and I’m pretty sure they’re going to know straight away that I don’t often dress like this. I mean, come on; I exude awkwardness. That’s not sexy.” My voice held all the doubts swirling around in my head. Annie stepped up beside me in the mirror. The floor length leather skirt she had on with the slit up the side perfectly complemented the blood red corset she had on, cinching in her already tiny waist. For some irrational reason, I could feel my jealousy pique. You could dress her in a bin bag and she’d make it look like Haute Couture. Me on the other hand, whenever I dressed up, I always felt awkward; I preferred to stay casual.

  “Look,” she said, addressing my doubtful reflection. “It’s perfect on you; you will be the belle of the ball. As a matter of fact, Aidan is probably going to have problems trying to keep you under wraps in that outfit. But then that’s what we are after; we need people to see you so we can maybe find out some information. Remember, this is ultimately for Sam. And I’m sorry, but if Sam gets to see you dressed like that he’s never going to let you wear trainers and jeans again.” She said the last comment with a smile on her painted lips and followed it with a joking wink.

  “So you ready?” she asked me. Her voice brooked no argument and I nodded.

  “Sure, I’m as ready as I’m going to be; let’s go.” Turning away from my reflection, I picked up the new floor length velvet duster coat Annie had persuaded me to buy for the occasion. As we headed for the door, I tried to ignore the cold that whispered across my bare back where the dress fell low. Stepping out the door, I pulled the coat on over my goose pimpled arms and we went in search of a taxi that would take us to the bar and perhaps to some information on the one I wished was here most of all.