The Immortal door

by Lyra heart

  “Is this world better than our own? Surely we are no longer enslaved?” he asked.

  “No slavery. And now it is even better with you here.”

  * * *

  When Chloe finally got dressed she found a letter addressed to her in the mailbox. Every other letter had always been for the real owner of the flat, Ms. Stark. The small red envelope was from the House of Nobility.

  Chloe,

  We know about the spell. We will be in touch soon. A formal hearing will take place. Did you really believe you could deceive the House and get away with it?

  — Elizabeth.

  Fear gripped Chloe—what would they do to her? Nolan gently took the letter from her trembling hands. She remained silent as he read the message and crumpled it in his fist before letting it fall to the floor.

  “I’ll be here with you, no matter what,” he said, though she knew he still bit back bitterness at the knowledge that she’d created another vampire and to her own ends.

  It was hard for Chloe to think of what could happen to her. She had heard stories of one vampire in the 1920’s who rebelled against the House. He had been a member of second class rank who had tried to bring back a woman from the dead for a mortal who had promised him a great deal of money. The House had decapitated him.

  “I’m scared Nolan. I only just got you back and now I’m in danger. I don’t know what they will do…”

  “You and I will face whatever fire burns in our path,” he replied and paused. “Why did you create a vampire? Was he a lover? Was he my replacement?” His eyes flashed angrily.

  Chloe chose her words carefully. “I needed help. No one has touched me except you.” She lied.

  “Do you mean to say, you had to create a child just to make the spell work?” Nolan asked.

  “He’s not my child! God, no! He’s my helper. I just...”

  “You just, what? The spell required five deaths and a few words. No need to have sired help.” Nolan insisted. “I waited decades for you! I died inside waiting, thinking it was over!”

  “He is not important.” Chloe felt a seething hatred run through her body.

  Marshall no longer lived under her protection. He flourished now in his expensive flat, working in the city, wearing that new beautiful face. She cursed the day she had found him.

  13

  Lying next to Marshall, deep in a dream, Jasmin saw a distant image of Earth covered in blue sea and white clouds. The sun radiated a soft yellow light, the sky beyond its reach, a mixture of the most amazing purples and blues dotted with strange triangular stars. The galaxy seemed void of the color black, but awash in pastels.

  The familiar sensation of a friend’s essence surrounded her as she watched the world rotate. The being that surrounded her no longer belonged to the physical realm. She knew, somehow, that he was the one showing her this galaxy, its colors illustrating the cosmic energy that moved throughout the galaxies. The stranger had visited her before. It was Max. He was always in her thoughts and she often prayed that love and light would surround his soul and keep him safe.

  “Max?” Her voice had no sound.

  “It’s beautiful,” Max replied. “I wanted you to see what I often look at, the universe in all its true color. I see angels sometimes, you know, sweet white-winged things. So lovely.”

  “Don’t you want to go up to Heaven yet?” Jasmin asked.

  “I’m not ready. There is too much I have to watch. I have all the time in the world. It’s not like Heaven has a time limit.” Max chuckled a soundless laugh.

  “Good. I think of you all the time. I never forget these dreams. They leave me with a sense of you.”

  “There’s things in your life that I worry about.” His tone became more serious. “I know it’s been a while since I last spoke to you.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “George keeps worrying me. I can’t see him. It’s like he’s gone from this world, but not actually dead. Yet, something tells me he’s dangerously close to you. He’s following you, but because I can’t see him, I can’t protect you. All I can do is warn you now.”

  “Max, I’ve never seen him since the day Tim and myself fled from his home. Perhaps you need to let go of that worry?”

  “Keep safe my friend.” As he spoke he seemed to fade into the universe.

  Jasmin knew she would hear from him again. As she lay asleep, watching the beauty of the world turning she uttered words that Marshall heard crystal clear, “Max, don’t go.”

  * * *

  They faced Elizabeth and a strange man as they sat in leather chairs. Menacing gargoyles kept watch through open windows covered in fancy drapes. The man looked about thirty with ash hair and blue eyes that spoke of centuries.

  Chloe was absolutely terrified. Her heart was racing, sweat was pouring down her face and she felt rigid with fear as the thought of decapitation crossed her mind. She felt as though she was slipping into a catatonic state. The truth of the matter was that it would have been far worse if she and Nolan were to deny the charges brought against them. Nolan had promised her that, if they were to punish her the way they had with other members who had used magic beyond their rank, that he too would kill himself so that hopefully his soul could follow her.

  Elizabeth and the stranger looked at the two with judgmental hawk eyes. The man asked Chloe if the accusations were true.

  “They are. I opened the door. Twice.” Her voice was shaky and quiet like a child.

  Elizabeth smiled a wicked smile. The man asked Chloe why she felt the need to make a gateway to another dimension, stating that this would be put on the record and may help her sentence.

  “I am not from this reality. I didn’t know vampires existed here—I thought I was all alone. If I hadn’t opened the door the love of my life would be forever without me. ” Chloe blurted out in a plea for mercy.

  Elizabeth seemed quietly outraged. “You’re from another world? Most curious, yet I always knew something was off about you.”

  The man’s expression was animated with curiosity. He asked Chloe about the world which she had come from and she told him everything that she could remember in extreme detail. The hearing ended. Chloe and Nolan were allowed to leave after being notified that their sentence would be revealed in a few days.

  14

  Jasmin speaking Max’s name in her sleep had deeply disturbed him. Marshall had never seen a ghost, but he believed there must be “spirit” because when he fed on human blood the experience often felt as though their essence was molding temporally with his. As they died, that essence seemed to fly through him. He didn’t know what this experience meant or whether it was simply part of the complex feelings that a vampire experienced when feeding. George believed that everyone he had ever killed would live on. Perhaps this notion was the reason he felt no guilt for his deeds?

  He wondered if the Max she was talking about in her sleep was the one that he had murdered or if it was merely a coincidence. Max had been a loving best friend, yet love can turn to hate when another person snatches your life away in such a brutal way. Marshall sat on the balcony of his dazzling flat, the night sky his company along with his good friend Elizabeth.

  “What ever is the matter? You sounded so flustered on the phone.” Elizabeth sat across from him.

  He noted her shoulders were bare as she wore a tiny slip of a dress, un-bothered by the fierce cold.

  “It’s Jasmin. Well, it’s Max.”

  “Max? How curious. Do go on?”

  “Well, last night, I was watching her sleep, as I often do, and she said the name Max, and said, ‘don’t go.’ It sounded like she had spoken to him before in her dreams. What does this mean?” Marshall was scared to lose Jasmin.

  “It’s just one of those peculiar things. It is nothing for you to fret about. Did you ever mention Max?”

  “Years ago I did tell her how I killed my own best friend when I was still human, but I never said his name.”

  “Perhaps she knows someon
e called Max? Ask her.”

  “Ok, so I have nothing to worry about?”

  “Nothing,” said Elizabeth looking into the stressed expression written upon his face.

  “I'll take your word for it.” He looked past her and into the night sky, thinking of the loving gaze in Jasmin’s eyes when she looked at him.

  “On another more important note, your maker is in rather serious trouble.”

  “What did she do!?” Marshall exclaimed, jolted out of his daydreams of Jasmin.

  “She did it again, opened the doorway to her own world. But this time she’s brought someone into this world. She was warned not to use blood magic. She failed to obey. Don’t worry, I know you were not a part of it, this time. She confessed to everything—guilty is the verdict. But I’m yet to know what her punishment will be.”

  “What might they do to her?”

  Elizabeth showed venom in her eyes. “Sometimes their punishment is to be locked in a vault for centuries.” There was joy in her tone in telling Marshall about Chloe’s potential punishment.

  “They want to do this to Chloe?” The idea struck fear in him.

  “No, I think they will actually decapitate her,” said Elizabeth with a strange glee.

  “Kill her?”

  “No, she would eventually reform. Most likely after being returned back to her own world.”

  Marshall didn’t like the idea of his maker being punished so, but he had his own life now and the idea did not reach him as it might have in the past. He thought of her as his real mother, though. Not Rita the mortal woman who gave birth to “George.” He was conflicted. Without Chloe in this world, he would still have the house and all of its benefits. In this respect in no longer was vital that Chloe remained here, and in that way it was easier to accept.

  15

  Chloe and Nolan arrived at the final hearing regarding her sentence. The hearing was held in a converted office—the room was bare of the usual luxuries Chloe associated with the House. Four vampires sat around a large grey corporate table, including Elizabeth. Taking their seats, Chloe and Nolan faced the judgmental gazes. Elizabeth was the only person not dressed in formal clothing, wearing a red pencil dress and designer stilettos, her hair tossed neatly over her shoulders. Chloe could feel the contentment steaming off Elizabeth.

  Chloe felt dizzy with trepidation and horror. Having Nolan sit silently next to her, hearing the faint sound of him breathing, provided her with some comfort. Chloe took in the vampires before her: Elizabeth and the gentleman from her initial examination were joined by a sober woman in grey with blond hair and a beautiful frail face, and a man with long dreadlocked hair and warm green eyes in a black suit.

  “We are hear to witness the hearing of Chloe Braden,” said the man with dreads. “As we all know, she has pled guilty to charges of opening dimensional portals, which is forbidden as a third class member.”

  The wan blond woman addressed Chloe. “Is there anything you wish to say before we begin?”

  “I am here today because I opened a door to bring the love of my life to this world,” Chloe replied. “I suppose I didn’t think about the importance of my place when I did these actions, because they were outside of your concern in the sense that they belonged to my own world’s dealings.”

  Elizabeth retorted, “She knew her place and the rules before joining the House.”

  “To play the devil’s advocate here, we must remember she wasn’t from our world to start with. Her case is clearly unique,” the man at her initial hearings added dryly.

  “Quite right! She opened the door out of love. What harm has she done? She knew the dimension she was transmitting from. It wasn’t like it was a hell dimension,” said the man with the dreadlocks warmly.

  “I object!” Elizabeth cut in abrasively. “She’s a monstrosity to the House! I vote for one that our punishment is decapitation, the fairest way for her to learn from her mistakes. Perhaps, when she reforms, she will appreciate what she lost disobeying the rules.”

  “You’re ‘objection’ is acknowledged Elizabeth. Yet, how on Earth can she be held guilty when she opened the door once before from this dimension, which she herself came from before she ever new of the House, or belonged to it? We cannot charge her for a crime that initially she did not commit. No one can be guilty of a crime under the House of Nobility unless they themselves, belong to the House.” The man’s green eyes were kind as he spoke softly in her defense.

  “Agreed,” the other man remarked dryly.

  “I too agree, Chloe perhaps did not understand the severity of her crime.” replied the blond woman.

  “No, no! This won’t do!” Elizabeth exclaimed.

  “I feel that this case is unique. I would consider a penalty of imprisonment under the House for fifty years and removal as part of our coven. There is one strict condition: Chloe will agree to help us to understand her own world. She will give us all of the information regarding the blood spell she performed. If she refuses, we will send the both of them back to their home dimension.” The man with dreads watched them carefully. “What say you, Chloe and Nolan?” His green eyes were not as warm now.

  “I will gladly help the House explore my home world,” Chole said, relieved at the results of this hearing.

  “And you, Nolan?” he asked.

  “I too am ready to help the House,” he replied.

  Chloe knew that really he didn’t want anything to do with this House after all of the upset it had already put his dear Chloe through.

  “Then the case is closed. We shall be in contact with you both soon. Be expecting a home visit in the next few days.”

  What would they do to her world? Chloe wondered.

  16

  Chloe and Nolan were the last to leave the room. They even thanked Elizabeth so that they would be seen as being civil. When they had left the building, a regular office block in the heart of West London, they waited outside. They looked at each other, sincerely happy to be free from what misery could have been brought their way.

  Elizabeth tapped Nolan on the shoulder. He turned round to note the vampire in heels looking angrily at him, seething with fury behind her pretty forced smile.

  “Is there, something, you wish to ask me?” Nolan spoke in a soft tone.

  “Yes, how does it feel to be with such a slimy little whore?” Malice dripped from every word.

  “Excuse me, who do you think your talking to?” He would have slapped her had she not been so close to the House of Nobility.

  “Someone in love with a tramp who has sired three vampires in the last twenty years. Yes three vampires! Someone who was a lowly slave of low class rank.”

  It was true that Nolan and Chloe both belonged to slave families. The fact that Chloe had sired three vampires was news to him, though. A feeling of anger flared through him, he thought George had been some kind of freak accident, a slip in judgment by Chloe. This new information regarding the other sired vampires made him feel as though the world around him was becoming even more bleak. How could this woman who he loved so much betray his faith in her? In his reality there is only two reasons for a vampire to turn a human into their kind. One is love or to make them into one’s child. Both are forbidden emotions because although humans may portray the visual form of a vampire, they are considered a lower race even in comparison to slaves. Those humans turned into vampires in his world immediately held slave status. The reason Nolan himself was of slave origin was due to his grandfather being born of human decent.

  “What are you talking about Elizabeth? Chloe only turned one vampire and that was George,” Nolan said.

  Elizabeth snorted with laughter. “Ask her about Lance and Jay.” A strong triumphant smile spread across Elizabeth’s face.

  He turned on Chloe, furious. “Lance? Jay? She can’t be telling me the truth?”

  “Baby… I did it for us!” Chloe protested.

  “And she never even told you!” Elizabeth added with gusto, shaking her head in mock
sympathy.

  A sick, angry part of Nolan suddenly felt Chloe truly deserved a sentence of decapitation.

  “Your expectations for this world must be fading as you contemplate the rest of eternity with your sweetheart,” Elizabeth cooed to Nolan.

  “At least it was for love that she did these things. I hear no one has ever loved you,” Nolan spat spitefully.

  “That’s not true,” Elizabeth replied with a look of pity for Nolan’s weak attempt at an insult. “As for you, you both shall be seeing a great deal of the House. We will be living in your pockets! You believe you’re lucky that you didn’t get sent back home? Oh, the contrary! We shall never leave you alone. Don’t forget this! You’re on a tight leash for the rest of eternity.”

  The thought of the House forever on their tail was terrible. The love that Nolan felt for Chloe had took him to Hell and back. Life felt much more grim. Nolan felt the concept of forever here in this world and it sickened him. Holding onto his love for Chloe was all well and good, but she had let him down by turning those boys and then lying to him about it. How could she do something so awful? It went against all his beliefs.

  Elizabeth walked away—they were once again alone. A coldness filled the air between them. They walked home in silence.

  * * *

  As they returned home, Nolan had turned to the whiskey for company instead of engaging Chloe in conversation. It was Chloe who finally broke the silence.

  “There’s Georgie, my favorite, you already know about him,” Chloe said carefully. “He was helpful, did everything I expected of him at first—brought me money, fresh victims, nice clothes. But as soon as he found Elizabeth and this fucking House of Nobility, he changed! He was of no use to me any more. Then there’s Lance and Jay. I created them because I needed help with the spell. And, honestly, I wanted an adventure, to make it more exciting. I was lonely and bored. They were just hired help. That’s all they are—lackies to use every now and then.”