by April Smyth
"What?" the dizziness is stifling. Fight through it. I heard him rightly, I am sure he said my mother. I can't be that far gone that I’m hallucinating. My senses are numbing, I am loosing grip but I know what he said. "What did you do to my mother?"
Maurice cackles. The sound is unearthly. Vampires are an abomination to this world. I wish I'd listened to my father and never developed an obsession with these dark, demonic creatures. I may be a freak but not like them. "Oh, didn't you know? Your mother was a Healer too," Maurice's voice sounds like a slur in my head. Everything is hazy, black and white, light and sound and taste is bleeding into one dull ache. "And I killed her."
I'm sure I'm dead. There is nothing.
When I'm aware again, I’m not entirely sure I'm not dead. I can't hear anything but white noise, my body is too heavy to even twitch and I can't open my eyes. My blood is trying to regenerate and I need to keep perfectly still so my body can use all its energy to procreate more of my Healer blood. I need to be strong. If I'm still alive then I still have a chance. I won't end up dead like my mum. I won't let Maurice take another person away from my dad. He doesn't deserve this. All he does is love and care for his family but he made a mistake by falling in love with a Healer.
My ears are waking up now. The white noise of death is fading away and I can hear that I'm not alone. Maurice must still be here. Watching over my lifeless body making sure he gets every single last drop of my blood. I need to fight harder. He can't have all this blood. He can't be allowed to roam the streets during the days, killing innocent people, no longer a need for recruits. He'll be too strong.
"Let her go, Maurice, you have enough," a voice is heard, sounds like a radio finally picking up signal after driving through a tunnel buried deep underground. It feels like a breath of fresh air after drowning for hours. It's Gabe. He didn't leave. Of course he didn't. He promised he would save me. I know he will die trying and suddenly I want him to run again. It is enough to hear his voice in my dying hour now I just want him to be safe.
"There is no such thing as enough, Gabriel. Lucinda wasn't enough," Lucinda - my mother? "Claire certainly wasn't enough after our little altercation and even if I drain Cassie of every last drop, it still won’t be enough. It never lasts long enough. Never enough.”
"So why can't you just let her live? Find the next Healer, find the one after that, just let her go. She's given you all she's got," Gabe begs. With every word from his mouth my senses are heightened. He is waking me up.
"She knows too much now anyway. She'll run back to daddy then to the police and isn't that just a pain ?"
"Erase their memories, you know enough witches. You did it with Claire."
My eyes slowly break open. It's murky but even the dim light is sore on my sensitive eyes. I see Gabe, he's bleeding, Maurice must have hurt him when I was unconscious. I close my eyes again trying to remember Gabe how I want to. His black hair slicked back, sober and clean, the Parisian sun shining down on him, smiling into the horizon. His life was so filled with darkness, I just want to die thinking about him how he should be. Happy.
"Now aren't you being greedy, Gabriel? First young Claire and now this? You can't go falling for all of my Healers and won’t it be sad to erase Cassie’s memory and leave you loveless once more?” he laughs. Maurice speaks so nonchalantly like human life is something to waste. Our families and futures are nothing worth considering to him. I squeeze my eyes. I don't know whether it's the blood loss or the thought that I let Maurice touch me and take my virginity that is making me feel unbearably sick. "Or I'll just have to kill you."
"Why don't you?" Gabe asks. “You’re killing her, kill me too."
"I'm not a bad guy," Maurice's laugh makes me wish I was unconscious again, so shrill. "We made a deal. I gave Claire her life, took away all those nasty memories and in exchange you helped me find the next Healer and now you are free. It seems… callous of me to kill you. What a horrible ending."
"I want to die," Gabe spits. "You're killing Cassie. You took Claire away from me. You have taken them both, rid them of their innocence, made them feel things they shouldn’t and you killed me the day we made that deal. I have no life anymore. I want to die."
"Precisely why I shouldn't kill you," Maurice retorts. I manage to open my eyes again. Maurice has his tight fist wrapped around Gabe's shoulder. Gabe looks exhausted, his body is giving up, he's not as strong as me - physically. I want to reach out to him and give him my blood. I'm a Healer. If I can't save him then living, dying, with my condition will have meant nothing. "My punishment to you can be living forever with your guilt."
"I won't live forever. If you set me free, I'll kill myself," Gabe growls. I hold back a cry. Gabe committing suicide. He couldn't. He could fight past this. I want him to brave. If I die, I want to know he will live. I want to scream. Tell him to run and run as fast as he can. I know it will do more harm than good.
"Suicide might be hard if you're immortal," in a flash, Maurice has torn his own wrist open with his fangs. Black blood falls like a waterfall and he shoves his arm into Gabe's mouth.
I can't hold back anymore. I scream. I rattle my fists beneath the shackles that bind me. Gabe's eyes reach to me. He is trying not to drink the blood but he'll start choking soon. His eyes are pleading with me. "I love you," I start to cry. He has to know I love him.
I watch intently. Gabe gulps, swallowing Maurice's blood which I am certain will turn him into a vampire. There are tears flowing from Gabe's eyes as he stares at me. I know he is telling me he's sorry. Telling me that he loves me back. "Stop it," I cry.
Maurice turns to look at me with a crazed look in his pale eyes. The damage is done, Gabe is gone now. The blood will be running through him now and he will become one of them. A monster. I sob.
Maurice turns to me, “You're supposed to be dead.” He picks up a long metal skewer and jabs my jugular vein. Any blood I had managed to recreate will be gone soon. It won't take long before everything is gone and I'm just a shell.
“Same to you,” comes a new voice. Maurice falls before me, landing on my lap with a large wooden steak in his back. My eyes dart forward. It's Rose. Only Rose could come to fight a dangerous vampire in a lime green mini skirt.
Gabe staggers upwards. Black liquid smeared across his face, "Wood? Genius, Rose."
"He's got Healer blood in him. He won't stay down for long before it kicks in,” she says. She looks at me, making me feel guilty for letting Maurice drink from me. My blood has made him even more immortal. Thankfully he hasn’t drank more than those little sips during sex. Surely, that won’t last long. “We need to get Cassie out of here."
Together they pull Maurice's heavy body off of me and leave it lying on the ground. Rose thrusts two more wooden knives into his body. I had never read anything that stated wood really was a poison to vampires. I always thought that was just a rumour, a myth but it makes sense that vampires, even the Americans pretending to be normal citizens, would keep any vice a secret.
Gabe pulls the three needles out of my body. I touch my leg, then my neck, and feel blood. It's strange to feel the gaping wounds in my skin. My body must be giving up like it has bigger things to worry about other than healing superficial gashes. Staying alive is my priority. Gabe helps to unlock me from my chains. He is tired. The vampire blood does not work like Healer blood does, it's poisoning him. I want to give him my blood to make him stronger but I don’t have enough to sustain myself. Once I am free, he helps me to stand up.
"I'll be fine soon," I say, pressing myself against his unsteady frame. I feel safe as he wraps his arms around me even though I know we are far from free yet. Maurice will wake up at any moment if my blood is working. I just hope it fixes me before it does him.
Rose has tied his hands together with wooden handcuffs. I don't have time to question her but it would be interesting to know what she kept those things lying around for. "We need to hurry up," Rose says. "You can hug and kiss when this is all over. Cassie, I need y
ou to run as fast as you possibly can outside. Justin and Channing are waiting. They'll take you somewhere safe."
Justin and Channing are Maurice's minions, why should I trust them? Rose sees the scepticism in my eyes. "You don't have time to worry, Cassie, just trust me. I won't let you get hurt anymore," she says.
I look to Gabe and use my fingertips to brush away some of the blood on his face. I wonder how long before I lose him to vampirism. It sickens me to think that this black substance is carrying the disease that turns Maurice's angelic face into a sickening demon. I don't want to imagine what it could do to Gabe's stoically beautiful face. Don't want to think about sharp canine teeth extending inside his tight mouth. When I've wiped away some of the inky blood, I lean in, inhale his scent in fear that it may be the last time I see him and kiss him feverishly.
"Don't worry, you'll be home soon," he squeezes me tightly in his arms before letting go and helping Rose to hold Maurice down with the same chains that held me in. The steel is futile; Maurice could break that in a second but I guess it must make them feel like they're doing something helpful.
I blow a kiss to Rose and take a second to memorise their faces, praying that I will see them again soon. I'm still weak but my Healer blood is working as fast as it can to bring me back up to full strength. Then I run. I run down the halls that have become familiar to me over the past few weeks and let the sound of feet thudding against the floor appease me. I listen to rhythm, let adrenaline take over and shut my mind off. No more thoughts about Gabe and what could happen to him.
TWENTY
As Rose promised, Justin and Channing are waiting for me outside. They lean, breathtakingly, against a red off road land rover like a car advert. They don't look phased. Working for a vampire must teach you to have excellent composure in the most turbulent situations. "Hop in, Bullet," Justin smiles at me and opens the door for me. My nickname is catching on. I can only hope my namesake is true and I can survive this.
A moment of hesitation. Fear that Justin and Channing are double-crossing me and actually going to send me straight back into Maurice's arms to be drained again and, when all my Healer blood is gone, ultimately killed. But I don't have any choice but to trust them when the engine revs and we pull away. I look behind me out of the window and watch the red brick house become smaller and smaller. Fading away into the trees. From this perspective it's hard to believe what is going on inside behind closed doors. It looks like a mansion where a rich French family might ride horses and play tennis, not the place where a vicious vampire drains innocent human beings. Then the lair is completely gone from sight. I wish it could be erased from my memory so easily. I wish 'out of sight, out of mind' was true because even though I can't see it, all I can think about is what's going on there. Is Gabe okay? And what about Rose? Even if they manage to escape alive which is so doubtful when I think of Maurice's strength, will I ever see them again? Gabe is going to turn soon. Do I want to watch the humanity drain from his troubled eyes?
"Where are we going?" I ask, breaking the tension.
"Rose's house for a while," Justin replies. Channing is driving. They're being so brave, sticking their neck out to protect me. They'll never be able to return to Maurice and if things go awry then they will have to live life constantly waiting for Maurice to appear, always afraid. I'm eternally grateful to them now. I will never be able to repay these people.
Justin hands me a plastic carrier bag and gives me a serious stare as if warning me: "This better be worth it." Inside the bag is the fake passport Maurice had made for me to visit Toulouse. Melissa Curele. A figment of my imagination, an extension of myself, the girl I longed to be. In my mind she was a glamorous vixen but now I want to forget about Melissa Curele. The things I considered qualities in a person were now things that left a bad taste in my mouth. Too much desire and not enough sensibility. It has driven all the people I have met in the past few weeks mad. Desire and greed tends to stop good people doing the right thing. The bag also contains a brunette wig, similar to the one I adorned on the outbound journey and a change of clothes - something less Cassie Mueller and far more Melissa Curele. Through all this insanity, we still have to construct an infallible front for the authorities watching out for vampires. I wish they were doing a better job. This wouldn't have happened if the government stopped turning the blind eye to all the underground vampires in Europe. I wouldn't be running for my life.
I change in the backseat of the car while we drive to the airport. I learn more about Justin and Channing than I did in my whole stay. Querying about their past, about their lives and their journey to this Hellish place makes for a better atmosphere than the tense silence we were trying to avoid. They are in fact brothers from Carnac-Plage in French. They're in their early twenties but have already modelled from Prada and Channing's been on the cover of Vogue. It was the modelling industry that lead them to the sinister world where vampires, witches and werewolves are real things. Some models turn to drugs, others have eating disorders but the newest fad is the bloodsuckers. Working for Maurice was fun and sexy. Everything two gorgeous young men want. Everything I wanted too. But the dark side is only exciting for a while; all it takes is one innocent person to be hurt to wake you up from your altered state of reality.
It is Justin who pretends to be my boyfriend this time as we walk through the airport, wary of watchful eyes. I feel dating Justin is more far fetched than any other story we could concoct for the guards. Gabe and I looked peculiar enough but being Justin's girlfriend? That is laughable. I'm glad to have his hand to hold though. Sweat is building up on the back of my neck and my body is trembling. I still haven't fully recovered from my last draining, can't even conceive that I almost died. That I'm not untouchable after all. That's what I get for playing with fire. I worry for my friends. I fear for my family's if Maurice comes to find me, he's even stronger now that he's had Healer blood. I pray that I can get on this plane and get out of the country without too much hassle. One step at a time.
During the flight back to the UK, Justin and Channing keep my thoughts occupied by telling me sordid tales of famous models and wannabes before I fall asleep with my head rested against Channing's brawny shoulder, his cashmere sweater acting as a soft pillow.
I dream of my mother. I imagine her face to be like mine only prettier and with soft lines of age. I see her tied to Maurice's bed with needles and wires coming out of her skin, blood pouring out of her so fast, the life draining away from her. I wish I knew her. Does dad know what happened to her? Or is he clueless as to why his beloved wife disappeared and never came back? When I wake up, my heart is aching.
Stepping off the plane and back into the bittersweet breeze makes me feel giddy. I can't believe we've made it. More proof that the authorities aren’t doing their jobs, I’ve been missing for more than two weeks and the police can’t see me past a brown wig and a fake passport - even if the passport is as real as it gets. I can’t shake the feeling that anybody who really is kidnapped has no hope. Maybe we could rescue more of these kids if the police and detectives knew what they were looking for. If they worked harder, my mum might have been able to come home to me. My dad would be rid of all this pain. He lost his wife and now he thinks he’s lost his daughter. I’m just glad Shannon, Bruce and Jana aren’t Healers so Maurice won’t want to hurt them. A part of me thinks it would be better if I didn’t go home at all. I know I have to but my whole life will be turbulent, I’ll bring trauma to my family, without me they can be normal and happy.
My eighteenth birthday isn’t far away. Maybe I could sign myself over to a bunch of medical researches and give dad and Shannon peace for a few years. At least I know what my condition is now, I know the power it holds and how I can help people. Gabe said my blood can heal other humans, not just me, I could save lives. It would be too selfish to harness this for myself. I think about the people I can’t save. Rose and Gabe could be dead now because of me. I’ve done enough damage, destroyed enough people’s happiness, I h
ave to give back somehow.
Justin organises the car hire. Channing sits beside me. I watch him. His knee trembles, he chews his lip, nervously runs his hand through his sandy hair. Another life on the line because of me. “It’ll be okay,” he says but I get the impression he isn’t saying it to reassure me.
I nod and place my hand on his knee. The muscles in his thighs are incredible. He must spend every day in that gym. Then he turns to me and says, “I deserve this, you know?”
“What?” I’m startled.
“To be frightened, running for my life. I’ve killed a lot of people,” he says, biting on his plump lower lip so hard that a small dab of blood appears. “Well, I haven’t killed them. I didn’t drive the knife into their back or pull the trigger but it’s my fault...”
“What are you talking about?” I say. Justin and Channing may be sexy and probably wild but they’re not killers. They’re good people. They wouldn’t be helping me otherwise.
He sighs, “Maurice makes us go out into the city, sometimes further out, to find him food.” His pretty face is contorted with repulsion. I know about the recruitment process, the way Maurice sends his staff out to handpick humans like apples from a tree, but I don’t feel disgusted by Channing. Rose and Gabe were apart of this too. I try to ignore the fact that innocent lives have been lost at their hands and look at the sad face before me. He didn’t take delight in choosing those humans and I know he won’t go back to that life. Maurice brainwashed him, he was disillusioned by the prospect of grand parties, expensive clothes and danger just like I was too.
“That doesn’t mean you deserve this, Channing,” I say softly, patting his knee. “You’re a good man.”
“How can you say that? After everything you’ve seen,” he is about to cry. “After everything he did to you, everything we helped him do.”