The Violet Line

by Bilinda Ni Siodacain

  I stared in horror at Sam. He was near death; it rang hollow in my ears. I didn’t want to believe it. I attempted to move forward, to place my hands on him and heal him, but I couldn’t move.

  “Now, now, dear; no healing here; this is my vision. I have sent you and you can only do what I allow you to do here and I don’t want you to heal him. However, I’m sure we could possibly come to an arrangement about young Sam here. You see, Sam damaged one of our own, a young girl. She is the baby of our group and he has damaged her beyond our help. We have used our best healer on her and still, she cannot be recovered. Sam used his gaze on her and it appears to have destroyed her mind; he forced it a little too far and we cannot bring her back. I must say, I find this all very distressing, as you can imagine; I look upon her as one of my very own children. I have looked after her from the day she was turned and now she is useless. If she is not brought back, she shall have to be destroyed and I don’t want that to happen. So I propose a deal with you. If you can heal her then I will allow you to heal your precious Sam.”

  I could hear the smile in his voice and it caused bile to rise up my throat. “What happens if I can’t bring her back?”

  He sighed as though it really pained him to tell me the outcome if I failed. “Well, if you cannot then I will understand; I know you have not come fully into your powers. But nonetheless, if you fail then I shall just have to let Sam die in the most unimaginably painful manner I can conceive. I doubt you want me to let that happen, so I have confidence that you cannot fail.”

  “What if I refuse to help you?” I knew I was grasping at straws, but I needed to know every avenue before I even consented to helping this monster cure one of his little monsters.

  “My dearest Jade, do you really need me to answer that question? You know very well what will happen to your precious Sam if you do not help now; I will simply have him woken from his slumber and I will kill him and I will force you to watch. Is that enough of an incentive for you to do as I ask? I would try it if I were you and I truly cared for him.”

  I had no choice; I couldn’t let Sam die not for this petty reason. “Fine; where is she? I’ll help if I can but you have to really let me try and you can’t interfere or even speak to me. Your voice will distract me and it hurts for me to listen to you. I’m sure you want me to give this the best attempt I can. However, if I fail and you kill Sam, then I will kill her.”

  His giggling tore across my skin once more. “Child, did you not hear me? She will be destroyed if you can’t fix her; so really, by you doing it, you would in fact be doing us all a huge service. I don’t want to kill one of my own; it was never high on my list of pleasure and I do so love my pleasure.”

  His voice crawled over my skin as though he could actually touch me and he was enjoying it. It caused a shiver to travel over my neck and flow down my spine. He laughed again.

  “Do I make you nervous, child? I do hope not for I am truly looking forward to our meeting. I believe we have many pleasures to offer each other; pleasures of the flesh as well as powerful pleasure.”

  “Cut your stupid mind games and let me see if I can help her or not. What’s her name? It might help me build a rapport with her. I mean, it’s not as though I’ve tried this with anyone other than Sam before; I don’t know exactly how it works.”

  As he spoke, a small girl appeared in my sight. She had curling blonde ringlets and porcelain skin. Her features were small and dainty and she epitomised the image of the Victorian doll. She lay as though asleep on a large bed with her small feet tucked underneath her; I could see the tips of little leather boots peeping out from the bell skirt of her red velvet dress. “Her name is Elisabeth, but everyone here calls her Lissie.”

  “She looks like a Victorian doll; she’s beautiful.” I whispered, not wanting to wake the little doll child. It never even registered within my head that she was a vampire and that she was probably cruel and vicious like all the others; she simply looked beautiful as she lay there. She didn’t breathe and as I reached out my hand to touch her. She felt cold and hard to the touch, even colder than Sam normally felt, but perhaps that was caused by the vision.

  I moved forward in the vision and hit the edge of the bed. I repeated her name over and over in my mind. I wanted this to work; I needed it to work for Sam’s sake. I crawled up onto the large four poster bed and gingerly pulled the sleeping vampire child into my lap, cradling her against my chest. I recited her name like a mantra as I searched deep down within myself for my own power. I felt it surge against me as I called it. It poured up through my body and felt along the confines of the small vampire in my arms. It searched for a way in and I could feel it touch along the part that was damaged. Her mind was completely broken and gone. Sam had done a very thorough job on her mind, ensuring that the healers wouldn’t be able to restore it. My power felt along the frayed edges of where her mind used to exist and set to work on trying to piece it back together. Closing my eyes as I held her, I imagined what had been there before as I fed my power into her. It flooded into her and I could feel it beginning to work as she stirred in my arms, murmuring gently, but still she slept on. I pushed it in faster, wanting to be finished with her so I could move on and help Sam. She knitted back together faster and faster, all the pieces of what had been there before fitting back into place like a jigsaw. I wasn’t sure if all of her memory, especially her more recent memories of what Sam had actually done to her, would be returned but I knew she would be as she was before. My power slowed to a trickle as I placed the last piece of her back together and everything once more fell into place like the tumblers on a lock.

  Opening my eyes, I stared down into two brilliant blue ones. The intelligence behind them frightened me and I scrambled to put her down and get away, but she clung to my arms and smiled. I could feel her power trying to pull me under, but she had no effect on me. This was still only a vision and it seemed only real power translated well under these conditions. She held onto me and continued to smile. I could see her little fangs slip out from her gums as she poised to strike, but suddenly she was gone.

  “Nicely done, my dear. I see you are truly a very talented individual and I cannot wait for us to meet in the flesh.”

  “Could she have really bitten me?” I asked him. I could feel myself trembling with how close she had been.

  “No, no, of course not; we can hold you but you are not real here. If you were, I would have turned you a long time ago in one of these visions. True, she would have bitten you and you would feel pain and the marks would be visible on your real body, but they would fade quickly and you would certainly not become a vampire.”

  Listening to him, I wasn’t sure if I could believe him or not. He was still a vampire after all, and one of the bad guys to boot. “Fine; take me to Sam so I can heal him, too.”

  His manic laugh sent shivers down my spine and my heart sank. He had no intention of letting me help Sam. “My dear, innocent child, do you remember the time you told me so elegantly that you thought I was ‘nuts’? Well, I suppose one could say if I was to let you do this, I would truly be crazy. Sam is the only form of leverage that I have over you; if I let you heal him, I have nothing. I will, however, tell you this; Sam has been given a very strong sleeping poison that only you can cure. Do you remember the time you interfered with one of your own little visions and you came away from here with claw marks? Well, that was one of our little pets that caught you. From that, your blood was left under its nails and was added to the poison and now, my dear, here lies the killer part. If you don’t turn yourself in, your precious little Sam will die; there will be no reviving him if he goes too far. And another thing, I have added a little clause; in the same way that you are protected from us here and we cannot turn you, I have guarded Sam with little wards that will no longer allow you to interfere and heal him either in your sleep or in a waking vision. You can no longer attach yourself to him in this way, for he cannot feel or hear anything I don’t want him to feel or hear. I t
old you I would think of something to make you change your mind. I also warned you that you probably wouldn’t like what I would have to do, but there you have it.”

  My heart sank even further; I couldn’t let Sam die. He knew this; he had certainly tied my hands on this. I sighed in resignation. “Where am I supposed to meet you?”

  I could hear him clapping his hands gleefully but I still couldn’t see his face; all I could see was Sam’s still form chained to the wall. It broke my heart to see him like this. I couldn’t let this monster win.

  “If you come to the docks, my dear, we will take it from there. I shall meet you at five. I will be waiting for you, so don’t think you can outwit me.” His voice held the promise of menace, but I had an idea. I knew it was a long shot, but I had to try something.

  “I’ll meet you there if you bring Sam with you and only if you let me cure him while we are there; otherwise, I won’t come. Sam tried to kill himself to protect me and the least I can do is protect him now. When I cure him, I want him released. Do I have your word?”

  “Child, you are in no position to threaten me; but in a way of remaining peaceful and showing I have no hard feelings, I will agree to the healing but not to the release of him. Sam will stay with us until you become what the prophecy has promised. And then, and only then, will he be released. Do I make myself clear? It is my one and only bargain in all of this; I would accept it if I were you. I will not offer anything else.”

  I grimaced. I didn’t have another option but at least this way, Sam stood some chance of escaping and that was better than nothing. “Fine. Five it is and you better bring Sam or I will remove myself from this earth because I will know that all of your promises are false ones.”

  I could hear the cold smile in his voice. “Very well, my dear; I am so very much so looking forward to our meeting. I do believe it will be the highlight of my century. Till five, Jade.”

  His voice faded and I could feel somebody shaking my shoulders roughly as I opened my eyes slowly. Lorcan stared anxiously into my face.

  “Jade, what the hell happened? It was like you just fell asleep and I couldn’t wake you up. I didn’t know what to do.”

  “Lorcan what time is it?” I sat up and my voice was strained with panic.

  “Umm, around twelve-ish. Why; what happened? Tell me what’s going on, Jade.”

  I started the car up hastily and pulled back into the flow of traffic as quickly as I could, all the time avoiding his question. The vampire hadn’t said I couldn’t bring back-up with me, but I was sure it wouldn’t be welcomed either. “I had a vision but that’s all you need to know.”

  “Jade!” his voice sounded hurt and betrayed. “I’ve said I’d help you; I’m offering to risk my life to help you and you won’t tell me what your vision was about. That doesn’t seem very fair to me. I want to know what happened in your vision. It might help us to figure out what happens next, but I can’t guess it straight from your head. You know I can’t; tell me!”

  “Lorcan, I just can’t, okay? I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess. I know now I shouldn’t have but I can’t do anything about that. All I can do now is protect you from me and the whole situation I’m stuck in. I don’t want your help and I don’t need it; you’ll probably just mess it all up.” I knew my words hurt him and I knew they were untrue, but I needed to say something to stop him from trying to save me. Only I could do that now and I was sure I was coming up with a plan; I just needed to implement it but without having to worry about Lorcan as well. He didn’t speak to me again as we drove along. He simply stared out the window until I pulled the car into the car park of my apartment block. He turned to me then.

  “Jade, please let me help you; you know I can help you and we stand a better chance when we’re working together.”

  I opened my mouth to say something extra hurtful but then changed my mind; he didn’t deserve to be hurt by me and I couldn’t risk him becoming involved in my battles.

  “I can’t, Lorcan; I don’t want your help. I can’t have you mess this up for me. I’d prefer if you just went home.”

  I slid out of my side and started for the door to the flats. Looking back, I saw Lorcan getting out and sitting on the bonnet of the car. I tried to ignore him as he shouted after me, “I’m waiting here.”

  Hurrying inside, I jogged up the stairs as fast as I could. I slowed down as the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention; my very own alarm system. There was a vampire nearby and I didn’t know if it was friend or foe. I knew it was too late to turn back; it had to have heard me coming up the stairs. They had impeccable hearing; the perfect predator. I crept up the final few steps with my back pressed against the wall and glanced around the hallway. I couldn’t see anything but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

  Something rail thin and dressed in black dropped into my line of vision from the ceiling and kicked me hard in my midsection, knocking me backwards down some of the steps. The air whooshed out of me as he landed on top of me, pressing me into the floor. As I struggled to move my arms, Graham’s face swam into view.

  “Miss me, lover?” He asked as he pressed himself even closer against me, wriggling his body against mine as he pinned my arms away from my body. I spat into his face but the movement of my head caused my head to spin. He giggled as he licked the side of my neck. The more I struggled against him, the more excited he became. He nibbled on my neck as he continued to wriggle against me. I screamed for Lorcan. He was only in the car park; he should have been able to hear me, but he never came. I could feel the panic building inside me as Graham lay on top of me. He hadn’t bitten me yet, but I knew he was simply enjoying himself before he did. I had seen some of his victims from the last time he had bitten me and I knew he liked to play with them before he drank from them. I pushed my hands against his and felt a bone in my wrist snap as he pressed down on me, crushing my arms against the floor. Lifting his head, his fangs slid out as he poised to strike.

  “I won’t be letting you go this time and I certainly won’t be leaving your arms loose.”

  I closed my eyes as he swooped towards me but the bite never came. Looking up, I could see Graham suspended above me in the struggling arms of one of the tallest vampires I had ever seen. His blonde hair sparkled under the fluorescent light of the hallway. He held Graham as though he weighed nothing and wasn’t fighting against him for everything he was worth. A small hand came into my view and I dragged myself backwards, away from the petite red haired female vampire that held her hand out towards me. She grinned and her fangs flashed in the light.

  “Don’t worry, darling; I won’t eat you. I’m here as your escort. Oskaar sent us to accompany you to the rendezvous. Well, actually, he had a vision of Graham trying to kill you here and so he sent us. My name is Marianne and this is Raphael.” She gestured toward the large vampire that held Graham. I watched, frozen as she turned back towards Graham and the vampire she had called Raphael.

  “Tut-tut-tut, Graham; you knew Oskaar wanted her. You knew where she was all along and you didn’t tell him; he’s not very happy. But for leading us to her now, he wants to give you a pardon. So I want you to run from here as fast as your little legs will carry you and if Oskaar hears so much as a peep of trouble from you, he’ll let Raphael kill you because, really, you’re not worth Oskaar getting his hands dirty.”

  She smiled and nodded for Raphael to release him. He did and Graham dropped to the floor like a cat landing. Turning to look at me across the space, I knew he was judging whether he could make it but a nudge from Raphael’s boot sent him scurrying for the door. He turned to look at me once before he fled from the building, leaving me alone in the company of two very bad vampires who had just saved my life.

  I winced as I tried to put my hand on the floor only to be reminded of the probable broken bones in it. Marianne watched me as a cat might watch a mouse, as I slowly and delicately inched my way to my feet. Over her shoulder, I could see Raphael slowly licking his lips as I he
ld my arm carefully against my stomach. I knew I was little more than prey to them but Oskaar had sent them, so for now I was probably safe. Marianne pretended concern as she hurried over to my side.

  “Come on, now let me help you; I said I wouldn’t eat you. We just saved you. Now you have your very own personal escort to the docks so you know for certain you will make it there safely. Come on, dear; you don’t need anything in your room and you look fine as you are. Oskaar won’t mind you being informal.”

  She smiled as she towed me towards the door and I had no choice but to go with her. I could feel the strength in her thin, frail looking arms and even though she didn’t look it, I knew she was far stronger than me. Raphael brought up the rear as we walked out through the front doors.

  Although it had started out as a sunny day when Lorcan and I crossed through the veil out in the country, the sky was a nasty murky grey here in the city, which promised rain and not a hint of sunshine. I zoned out as Marianne chattered on beside me, leading me towards a black sleek car pulled up at the curb. Lorcan hadn’t come when I had called him and there was no sign of him now at my car. It stood abandoned and forlorn in its car space. I didn’t want to mention Lorcan to them in case he had seen them and hidden from them, but I really hoped they hadn’t found him first. Raphael opened the back door of the car and Marianne stood aside to let me slide in. I didn’t want to; I knew this was probably it for me. As I looked around at the apartment block, I swore I would come back here. I would come back as me, not some sort of monster.

  I climbed in careful to keep my damaged arm in close against my body and as I settled down, Marianne climbed in beside me. She slid as close to me as she possibly could; I felt she might want to climb onto my lap, but she didn’t. Sitting there pressed against the door, I could feel her cold form pressed against me. The chill from her seeped in through my jeans and hoodie and I did everything I could to suppress a shudder. Raphael climbed in behind the wheel and the car glided away from the curb.