The Vampire Wish

by Michelle Madow

  Annika

  The dungeons were so dark and empty that I had no sense of time.

  After Camelia had given me the potion to cure my vampire blood hangover, I’d tried calling out to the humans in the other cells. No one answered. I was either alone, or still trapped within the sound barrier she’d casted earlier.

  I’d searched the cell for an escape, but found none. I hadn’t thought I would. No human had ever escaped the dungeons. Once they were brought here, they were never heard from again.

  There was no way out on my own. So I shivered and lay on the floor, reminding myself of the blood oath. While it might feel like it, my situation was far from hopeless. I wasn’t just another human who’d been brought here to be fine dining for a royal vampire.

  For some reason, Camelia’s special seeing crystal believed I was destined to find this sapphire ring she desired so badly. And once I brought her the ring, I would get what I’d wanted for months—I would become a vampire. I could leave the Vale and fend for myself in the world of supernaturals. I would no longer be weak. I would no longer be hunted.

  I wasn’t sure where I would go after becoming a vampire, but at least I would be free. And hopefully, wherever I went, Jacen would come with me. We hadn’t known each other for long, but there was a connection between us—I felt it, and I knew he felt it too. He wouldn’t have tried to help me escape if he hadn’t. He wouldn’t have fought the vampire guards after Camelia had found us in the woods. I believed him that he’d changed since going on that murderous rampage one year ago.

  However, he was a vampire prince destined to help rule this kingdom. He couldn’t just up and leave.

  Then again, maybe staying in the Vale as a vampire wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, especially with the ears of the prince. Perhaps, with Jacen’s help, the two of us could change the way the entire kingdom was run. We could petition Queen Laila to stop kidnapping humans, give them actual rights… and give them a choice if they wanted to stay or leave.

  But I was getting ahead of myself. I needed to take this one step of time.

  The first step was completing Camelia’s task and getting that sapphire ring.

  Finally, after what felt like forever, Camelia arrived at my cell. She wore all black—as always—the only color on her outfit the green pendant she wore around her neck.

  “It’s dawn,” she informed me. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better,” I told her, since it was true. The potion she’d given me hadn’t just cured my hangover—it made me feel like I’d just eaten a full meal, too.

  “Good.” She lowered herself so she was level with me, reached for my arm through the bars, and suddenly, the world vanished around me.

  Annika

  In an instant, we were standing on a snow-covered mountain—and my entire body felt like it had been turned inside out.

  Camelia let go of my arm and I fell to the ground.

  The world spun around me, and I took a few deep breaths, holding onto the ground to steady myself. There were no trees around us, and the air felt so thin that I had to focus on making sure I had enough of it to breathe.

  “What…” I started, looking up at her in shock. “What did you just do? Where are we?”

  “We’re at the peak of the mountain that leads to the Crystal Cavern,” she told me. “The entrance is right behind you. I teleported us here.”

  “Teleported?” I repeated, turning around to see this entrance she spoke of. Sure enough, there was a slim opening in the rocks, leading into what appeared to be pitch-black darkness.

  “The act of transporting across a distance instantaneously,” she said simply.

  “I know what the word means,” I snapped, standing up and brushing the snow off my jeans. “I just didn’t know it was possible.”

  “It takes a significant amount of magic,” she said. “Especially when teleporting someone with me. So I only do it when necessary.”

  “You didn’t teleport with Mike.” I shivered, my wet jeans feeling like ice on my skin. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to warm up, but it didn’t do much to help. “You brought him on your golf cart.”

  Camelia waved her hand, and my jeans were dry. She also must have created some kind of warmth bubble around us, because the temperature rose from hypothermia inducing to somewhat tolerable. “I dropped him off at the base of the mountain,” she said. “Teleporting him wasn’t necessary.”

  “And it was with me?” I asked.

  “Yes.” She narrowed her eyes, her voice like ice.

  “I suppose you’re not going to tell me why?”

  “No.” She smiled and pulled something out of her bag—a flashlight. “Take this. You’re going to need it.”

  I took it from her and pressed the button to make sure it worked.

  It did.

  “The batteries are fresh,” she said. “It’ll have more than enough juice to light your way through the cavern.”

  “Thank you.” I gripped the flashlight, gazing back at the entrance to the cave.

  “Wait to thank me until you have that ring,” she said. “And remember—touch nothing in the cavern other than the ring.”

  “Why?” I quickly shifted my focus back to her. “What will happen if I do?”

  “The cavern is full of dangerous items.” She lowered her voice, as if afraid someone would overhear. “They’re items of dark magic. There are reasons they’re locked in there. For example, the seeing crystal. It has such strong powers that if someone other than a witch touches it, it scorches them to death. Like what happened to your friend Mike.”

  I shuddered at the image that flashed through my mind.

  “It wasn’t pretty.” She nodded, as if to rub it in.

  “And the sapphire ring?” I asked. “Why am I able to retrieve it and no one else?”

  “I have no idea.” Camelia scowled. “The seeing crystal wouldn’t reveal that information. But make sure that once you find the ring, you don’t touch the gem. Touch only the setting.”

  “What happens if I touch the gem?” I asked.

  “So many questions.” Camelia rolled her eyes. “Don’t you realize that everything I’m telling you is for your own safety?”

  “I’m just curious,” I told her. “Sorry.”

  She watched me for a few seconds, as if contemplating how much to reveal. “Touching the gem will release great magic,” she said with a huff. “You can’t risk touching it without a witch nearby to protect you.”

  “I assume you’re referring to yourself?” I asked.

  “Who else?” She straightened her shoulders. “We made a blood oath—I’m bound by magic to ensure you survive this mission, so that I can see through your transformation into vampire. If I break the oath, my blood will turn to poison and I’ll die. We’re on the same side. I’m not sure what else I can do to prove it.”

  I pressed my lips together, saying nothing. After all, she had a point. Camelia might have inadvertently gotten Mike killed—and I would never forget it—but I needed to stop thinking of her as the enemy.

  “You’re right.” I turned to face the cave, taking another deep breath to calm my nerves and readying the flashlight.

  “Of course I am,” she said. “Now—go. And don’t come back out until you have that ring.”

  Annika

  I entered the cave, using the flashlight to guide my way. The interior looked exactly like I’d imagined—empty, with rock walls and a dirt ceiling. It smelled wet and musty, and the walls shined under the light. But the strangest thing was the temperature. The mountain had been cold—as expected in the Canadian Rockies. The inside of the cave was the perfect temperature. So perfect, in fact, that I had to remove my outer layers.

  I turned a corner, stopping at the sight ahead—winding steps that seemed to go down forever. They were made out of rock, appearing to be part of the cave. There was also no railing. Someone could easily lose their balance and fall straight down the center. I doubted I would
lose my balance—my gymnast skills would certainly come in handy—but if I needed to use these stairs, I would still be extra careful.

  I peered over them and shined my flashlight down, unable to see to the bottom. Curious, I picked up a nearby pebble and threw it down the center of the stairs. I waited, and waited… but never heard it hit the ground.

  I shined my flashlight around the rest of the cave, trying to see if there was another path, but this was the only way forward. So I tested out the first step, glad when it held under my weight.

  Then I began the long trek down.

  Annika

  I’d been going down the steps for what felt like hours. I wasn’t sure exactly how much time had passed, but it was long enough that my stomach had started grumbling from the lack of food.

  Finally, I saw something that I was starting to think I would never reach—the bottom.

  I hurried down the last few steps, throwing my arms in the air in victory when my feet touched the ground. But I didn’t want to waste time celebrating. Because ahead of me was a simple wooden door—it was the only object at the bottom of the stairs.

  I reached forward to open it, surprised when it easily swung open. I sucked in a sharp breath as I gazed inside.

  It was full of what appeared to be ancient, magical objects. Crystals, swords, daggers, cards, pendants, jewelry… they were all there, covered in cobwebs, apparently having been undisturbed for decades.

  There were also skeletons, laid out sporadically, their gaping eyes staring out at me and warning me to turn back around. My spine tingled under their hollow gazes, and I shuddered, unable to stop looking at them.

  Who had these people been? Why hadn’t they been able to escape?

  I forced myself to avert my gaze, trying to shake the thoughts away. Those people were long dead.

  There was only one thing I needed to worry about right now—finding that sapphire ring. It had to be in here somewhere. I just needed to find it and avoid touching any of the other objects in the process.

  I approached a table surrounded by swords—on the table were pieces of jewelry. I ran my flashlight over each piece, making sure not to touch any of them.

  It didn’t take long to find the sapphire ring. After all, there weren’t many pieces there, and only one of them was blue. But it was small, in a plain, simple setting. All of the other pieces were extravagant in comparison.

  This had to be it.

  I lifted it from the table, making sure to heed Camelia’s advice and only touch the setting. The ring appeared to be in my size, and sure enough, it slipped easily onto my finger.

  I held it out, admiring it. Although simple, the gem was truly beautiful, glistening as if it held a galaxy of stars within it. I’d never been super into jewelry, but wearing this ring somehow felt right.

  Suddenly I heard something from up above—shrieks and flapping wings.

  I tilted my flashlight up, screaming as a flock of bats shot straight down toward me.

  Annika

  They were in my face, in my hair—they were everywhere. I screamed and screamed, clawing at them to get off, but it didn’t help.

  I whipped the flashlight around, knocking as many of them in the head as possible, but soon they were on the flashlight, gripping it with their claws and pulling it from my grasp. They flung it somewhere far away, and it was so dark that I could barely see.

  Still, they continued attacking, scratching at my skin and clawing at my clothes. I kept on screaming and swatting, but eventually fell down onto the ground, ready to give up.

  They weren’t stopping, and it hurt. I screamed at each tiny slice of my skin.

  But was this really how I was going to meet my end? Not by a vampire, or wolves, or a witch… but by bats?

  No. I refused to go down without a fight.

  And so, despite Camelia’s warning, I reached for one of the swords near the table and started swinging it blindly, trying to injure as many bats as possible.

  Seconds after I started swinging, they stopped attacking. They flew back up to wherever they’d come from, and they were silent, as if they were never there at all.

  I gripped the sword tighter, my heart racing at a million miles per minute. My skin burned where they’d attacked.

  I hurried to where the flashlight had fallen and picked it up, still holding the sword with my other hand. After all, if the bats decided to attack again, I wanted to be ready.

  Suddenly, the wooden door slammed shut, and the cave started to rumble. Quiet at first, and then louder and louder until the objects inside shook from the force. I could feel the rumbling deep in my chest. It sounded like an avalanche, and it pounded on the door, but somehow the door held strong.

  I backed away, running to the end of the cave and holding my sword out ahead of me, as if that would be able to keep me safe from the crumbling cavern.

  Finally, after minutes of shaking and rumbling, the cave quieted. I looked around, but nothing seemed misplaced.

  The rumbling seemed to have stopped for now.

  I took another look at the glimmering ring on my finger. I’d gotten what I came here for—it was time to get out of here. But first, I placed the sword back down where I’d found it. Camelia had been explicit in her instructions—I wasn’t to touch anything other than the ring. I didn’t regret my actions—that sword had saved me from the bats—but these objects were full of powerful magic. Who knew what type of magic that sword contained?

  A part of me wanted to bring it back with me in case I ran into another problem like the bats, but another part of me knew I shouldn’t. Camelia had seemed confident that she could control the magic in the ring. And who knew what I would be letting loose with the sword? Best to leave it where it was.

  And so, I made my way back towards the door, opened it… and my heart dropped at what I saw.

  Annika

  A pile of rubble. That was all that was in front of me. The earthquake… the avalanche… the stairs must have broken apart and collapsed.

  I had no way out of this cave.

  I was stuck.

  My chest tightened, and I looked around, searching for another way out. I ran around the room, placing my hands against the walls to search for an escape. A door, or something. The entire time, I avoided touching any of the magical objects. Because the stairs had collapsed immediately after I’d touched the sword.

  Given Camelia’s warning, I doubted that timing was a coincidence.

  I pounded on the walls until my knuckles were raw and bleeding. But there were no secret doors. Eventually, I sunk down to the floor, defeated. It was no use. I was trapped here.

  With no food or water, it wouldn’t be long until I died. If I didn’t run out of air and suffocate first.

  I would deteriorate and join the skeletons decorating this haunted cavern.

  This cave was cursed. I was stupid to have come in here to begin with.

  If it hadn’t been for those bats… I never would have needed to grab the sword. I would have been fine. I would have taken the ring, gone back up to Camelia, and been turned into a vampire.

  I held out my hand, admiring the cursed ring that had brought me here in the first place. It truly was beautiful. How had a thing of such beauty caused me so much trouble? Soon I would be dead, and it was all the fault of this damned ring.

  I twisted the ring off my finger, wanting to throw it across the room. But I stopped myself.

  Because something else that Camelia had said flashed through my mind.

  The ring contains great power…

  She’d told me not to touch the stone, because I would release power that I wouldn’t be able to control. But at this point, what did I have to lose?

  If I touched the ring and found out what power it contained… well, I didn’t know what would happen unless I tried. If I did nothing, I would surely die here.

  And so, I reached for the ring, stroking it with my index finger. The sapphire was silky and smooth, and was it just my imaginat
ion, or did the stardust within brighten at my touch?

  I pulled my finger away and looked closer. It wasn’t my imagination. The sparkles of light were getting brighter and brighter, swirling around the gem. As if the ring had been brought to life. The swirling quickened, and then it rose from the gem completely.

  It became a glowing orb in front of me, the shape morphing into the form of a beautiful young woman. She wasn’t fully there—she was transparent, like a ghost—but her eyes met with mine and she smiled.

  “Hello, Annika.” Her voice was light, like an echo, bouncing off the walls of the cave. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  Annika

  “Who are you?” I blinked a few times, making sure I wasn’t imagining this.

  Maybe the cave was running out of air and I was hallucinating? But she was still there. She was dressed in a vintage blue gown, and combined with her short, curled hair, she looked like a Hollywood starlet from the early twentieth century.

  “What are you?” I continued. “And how do you know my name?”

  “So many questions.” She laughed, giving a small flick of her hand. “But it’s fine. I’m happy to answer them all.”

  “Okay…” I watched her, waiting.

  “My name is Geneva,” she said simply. “And I am a witch.”

  “You don’t look like a witch,” I said, the image of Camelia popping into my mind. Camelia was solid and… alive. “You look like a ghost.”

  “I suppose I do, don’t I?” She raised a hand in front of her eyes and looked through it, smiling sadly. “I appear this way because my kind turned against me. They cursed me. They created the curse just for me. They named it the ‘genie curse.’” She laughed, although her laugh sounded hollow—defeated. “A play on my name. They thought it was clever.” She reached out to touch the nearest object—a crystal ball of some sort—but her hand passed right through it. She snarled at her hand and let it fall back to her side. “I’m powerless to do anything for myself. I feel like a ghost. That’s all I am—a ghost of who I used to be.”