by Lilly Wilder
“It wasn’t fair. I know. I just…it’s a complicated situation. You remember when I said that I wanted to understand myself before I became involved with someone else? This is why.”
“When you talked about a transformation I assumed that you were talking about the cancer. You were talking about this, weren’t you?” I asked. He nodded. “Was any of it true? Were you lying about the cancer as well?”
“No, I would never lie about that. Look, come with me and we can talk more,” he said, gesturing to a park nearby. It could have been a trap, but I didn’t feel threatened by him, so I nodded and followed him into the park. In the day this place would have been filled with people strolling around, running, playing with their dogs and having picnics. At night it was the complete opposite. The lampposts dotted the path with light. We found a bench and sat down. There was distance between us. I still hadn’t told him I was a Slayer yet. I wasn’t sure how to broach that particular subject, but I knew I couldn’t avoid it forever.
“How did you know I was a vampire?” he asked as we sat down.
“I think you owe me answers first,” I said. “Tell me how you became vampires.”
He placed his hands on his thighs and leaned forward, taking a few moments to compose himself. He stared into space and spoke slowly, as though he wasn’t accustomed to telling this story.
“We weren’t lying about the cancer. We were all in the same ward, dying a slow death. There seemed to be no hope for us and then one day we were told that there was a special treatment. We were all surprised because we thought that we’d exhausted all our options, and by this point we were willing to try anything. We met with…a representative and they explained everything. I was surprised at how open they were, actually, but they said that nobody would believe us if we told the truth, and that if we didn’t accept the treatment we wouldn’t be able to tell anyone anyway. It was harsh, but true. All we had to do was give ourselves, become vampires, and we’d be cured. We would have a place at the academy for as long as we wanted and we would be alive. I don’t think any of us hesitated for long. Maybe Adam was the longest. It seemed like a no brainer. But I didn’t realize how much we were giving up. Ever since then, I have to wonder if I’m the same person I was. If I really saved myself or just brought some new life into existence? When we changed I’d forgotten what it was like to feel healthy all the time. Sure, we couldn’t go out in sunlight and things like that, but at least we were alive. We celebrated when we lived past the point at which we had been told we were going to die. We were given a chance at a new life, and I know you probably think I’m a monster, but are you going to tell me that you wouldn’t have chosen the same fate?”
I listened to what he had to say and couldn’t say that I wouldn’t have. It was similar to the conversation I’d had with Julia. If they hadn’t been turned into vampires, Josh and the others would have died. I’d always thought of vampirism as an evil thing, but in this way it could save people as well.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But surely it’s evil? What do you do when you need to feed?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“We don’t feed on people if that’s what you’re afraid of. We have animal blood. I’d never want to turn anyone or anything like that. We just wanted to live, that’s all, and when we met you we realized that something special had happened.”
“Wait…” I asked, suddenly thinking of something, “when Adam told me that he’d hurt someone he cared about…?”
I trailed off. Josh licked his lips. “When we first shifted it was different. We weren’t used to how things worked. There was a girl in the ward with us. She and Adam were close, but she didn’t want the same treatment. She had made peace with the fact that she was going to die and wasn’t going to fight what she saw as the plan for her. Adam couldn’t understand how anyone could give up on life that easily and she explained it by saying that every flower had to wilt. That’s why he’s so interested in botany, because she was. He was convinced that if she could just see what was happening with us she would change her mind and they could be together forever, so after we had been transformed he went back to see her and he told her what had happened. He told her everything, but it didn’t go as he planned. She was terrified and screamed. He tried to hold her down, but he was stronger than before and he didn’t realize it yet. Bones cracked and she just managed to push him away. She told him never to come near her again. He never got to say goodbye.”
“That’s awful,” I said, my heart broke for Adam all over again.
“Yes. We decided that it would be better if we didn’t involve ourselves with normal people again, not in that way, not with anyone who wouldn’t understand. You seemed different though. I’m not even sure why.”
“So then why did you change your mind? Why did you pull away today? Friday was amazing. I thought we all had a good time and it was going to be the beginning of something new. I was really looking forward to coming back here and talking about where the four of us were going. Instead I was told the complete opposite. What happened over the weekend?”
Josh sighed. “I wouldn’t ordinarily tell you this, but you’re special and you deserve an explanation. The ones who turned us…they forbade us from entering into a union with you. It breaks their rules and as much as I’d love to turn away from them I can’t. None of us can. I’m sorry. I know you probably don’t understand how it works and I hope you can appreciate me being honest with you.”
“I do,” I said, thoughts churning around in my mind. “But when you say that your master wouldn’t let you? Does that mean they’re at the academy too?”
“I’m not supposed to talk about it,” he said. “I’m not supposed to talk about this at all.”
“Please Josh. I think I deserve to know if people in the academy are vampires. I already know it has to be someone because you never go anywhere else, and I’m not going to feel safe if I have to be suspicious of everyone. I won’t tell anyone. I promise,” I lied. Despite my personal feelings for Josh I had to seize this opportunity. These people had to be the masters in the area, the ones I had been longing to find, and now I finally had a way to get close to them.
“It’s the three of them. Mrs. Thorpe, Mr. Griff, and Mr. Hanon. That’s why the academy is so different from every other school. It can afford to be. They don’t turn everyone, and I’ll always be grateful to them because they saved me. I hope you can understand that.”
“You should leave them,” I said.
“I can’t. It’s too hard. I owe them my life.”
“But what kind of life are you living now? You don’t get to do what you want. You talked to me about your dreams and ambitions. What did you want to be before you were changed?”
“I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to travel the world and write about everything I experienced.”
“Then do that! Leave. You were given a chance at life, it’s not fair that it’s been taken from you. Are you planning to stay at the Academy forever?”
Josh fell silent.
“You can make all the excuses for them that you want, but when it comes down to it, if they’re not willing to give you your freedom, then how much have they really saved you? It’s not fair to any of you to keep you like this. They’re just collecting you Josh. You need to fight back.”
Josh’s face hardened. He folded his arms across his chest defensively.
“You don’t understand,” he said. I could tell that I wasn’t going to get through to him now. Arthur had told me all about this, how vampires manipulated people they turned and made them dependent. It wasn’t Josh’s fault, or any of the others. If I was terminally ill I’d probably cling to whatever thread was dangled in front of me to stay alive, as well, and although they were vampires they weren’t evil. But it didn’t mean that their masters weren’t. I knew I had sensed a strange feeling when I had been interviewed with them, and I was annoyed with myself that I had been so close to them, without being aware of them. But that was ho
w good these experienced vampires were and it showed exactly what the Slayers were up against.
“Just think about it, please.” I said, hoping that somehow they would be able to break free of the programming. I didn’t want to have to fight them if they came to the defense of their masters.
“So how did you know that I was a vampire?” Josh asked. “I’ve told you everything. You can at least tell me that. It shouldn’t have been that obvious.”
This was the moment of truth. I knew that telling him I was a Slayer might make him warn his masters, but I couldn’t lie to him. He had saved me at risk to himself, and he had told me the truth. I couldn’t see him as the enemy even though he was a vampire. I still cared for him deeply, and I felt an intense flush by being near him. Surprisingly, learning that I’d enjoyed an erotic and sensual experience with a vampire didn’t scare me and I did start to wonder if there weren’t more shades of grey to life than I had previously imagined.
“I want you to keep this a secret Josh. I’m a Slayer.”
His face was pale already, but as I mentioned that word his flesh whitened even more and he backed away.
“No…”
“I’m not going to hurt you, but I am going to have to move against your masters. Are you going to warn them? I need to know now.”
Josh looked confused. “I’ll…I’ll have to talk about it with the others,” he said. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was going to though. If he couldn’t break free from them to live his life then he wasn’t going to stop himself from warning them. I rose from the bench and tried to think of something else to say, but nothing seemed appropriate. I left him there, wondering if we would ever be able to breech the distance between us.
Chapter Fifteen
I raced home, knowing there was only limited time to catch the masters unaware before Josh warned them. He seemed so shocked I didn’t think he was going to get back to the academy quickly, and I moved as swiftly as I could. I thought about the night we had shared together and realized now that it must have been one of their masters who had interrupted us and forced them to tell me to flee. I couldn’t imagine the meeting then, them being scolded and told that being with me was forbidden. They had been held down for so long, shackled by their gratitude for their lives, and all I wanted to do was free them.
Arthur was with Julia. She had started to spend her nights with us to complete her training, and like me she had found it easy to sneak in and out of the academy at night. Arthur saw how panicked I was and I didn’t wait for either of them to speak before I told them the news.
“I know where the masters are. They’re at the academy. The heads,” I said, and relayed the names.
“No way!” Julia said.
“How did you learn this information?” Arthur asked, concern creeping into his voice.
“It doesn’t matter how I learned it. What matters is that they’re there, and they’re so close. We have to go and confront them now,” I said.
“You knew today, didn’t you? I wondered why you weren’t around,” Julia said.
Arthur pondered my words.
“No, we must be patient. You might be ready to face them, but Julia certainly isn’t. If there’s more than one this could be more trouble. I might have to get in touch with the council and get them to send some help. This would be a great coup though. You have done good work Elsa,” he said.
“No, you don’t understand. We have to go now because they know we’re coming,” I said. I hated having to tell them that Josh and the others are vampires, but I knew I shouldn’t keep it from them.
“How do they know? Did you speak with them?” Arthur asked.
“No I…there’s another vampire there. Some boys. They were turned, but they aren’t evil. They had cancer and they were offered a treatment to save their lives. They took it. One of them told me about it,” I said. Julia gave me a knowing smirk, because she knew exactly which boys I referred to.
Arthur narrowed his eyes at me.
“I’m surprised to hear you talk like that Elsa. You know as well as I do that when someone is turned into a vampire their souls are taken. They’re not the same people as they were before. Evil takes root in them and it spreads through them like thorns. We cannot allow evil to spread with such wild abandon. Any vampire is a master waiting to happen. If they have been turned fully then they are being groomed and they will spread the evil and take over their own area of the land. I wouldn’t be surprised if these vampires are trying to put people in positions of authority, to educate a select few when they’re young and elevate them into power. I will have to go through the records of this academy and see how long this has been going on, but it’s good that we found this out now. We can stop it before it goes any further. If what you say is true and time is of the essence then you must go, but please, be careful. Both of you,” he said.
I nodded and went up to my room to get ready, gathering all my Slayer equipment. When I returned downstairs Julia was ready to go with me and we left Arthur behind. He seemed fretful and went straight to his study, where he would presumably call the council and tell them of what I had learned.
*
“Julia, no matter what happens tonight I don’t want anything to happen to Josh, Adam, or Troy,” I said.
“And I thought you believed that every vampire was evil?” she taunted.
“Let’s just take care of the masters, okay?” I said tersely. I wasn’t in the mood for her teasing. I was just as worried for Josh as I was for myself. I didn’t think his masters would take the fact that he had revealed their truth to me lightly. We made our way to the academy. I looked for any sign of Josh, but he was nowhere to be seen. I motioned for Julia to be quiet. We crept past the fountain. Now that I knew this was the home of vampires it had an entirely different feeling. My skin prickled with tension and my eyes darted about, trying to sense any sign of activity.
“Where are they?” Julia whispered.
“Probably inside,” I said. We made our way to the door and slipped inside. The lights had been dimmed to a faint glow and a hush had settled over the place. I assumed they were in their rooms, so I signaled for Julia to head towards the stairs, but just as I did we heard footsteps. Mrs. Thorpe emerged from the office where I had been interviewed.
“We’ve been expecting you. Come this way,” she said, gesturing towards the office. Julia glanced at me. Thankfully she seemed to be willing to let me take the lead. I thought there was no choice but to follow her. We walked into the office and saw the three of them sitting at the desk, just as they had been when I had arrived for my interview. Julia and I remained standing. My hand hovered near my precious stake.
“It’s taken you quite a while to find us. I’m a little disappointed. I see the standard of Slayers is slipping,” Mr. Hanon said. Mr. Griff just stared at us.
“You mean you knew? All this time?” I asked.
Mr. Griff wore a thin smile. There was malevolence in his eyes. “Of course we did. Do you think anything here happens without us knowing? We have taken measures to protect us against your kind. We try to encourage a safe place for the bloodlines. You’ll find that a lot of girls here are potential Slayers. Why do you think we kept you around in spite of all your misdemeanors?” his gaze shifted to Julia, who looked dumbfounded and chastened. I had always been warned that master vampires were patient and cunning, but to see it for myself gave me chills.
“It’s so nice of you to come to us instead of us coming to you. We have been expecting a showdown for a while, and it’s been a while since we’ve encountered a Slayer,” Mr. Hanon said.
“Indeed. Two at once is a rarity. It’s quite the boon for us. We’re going to be able to brag about this for a while,” Mrs. Thorpe said.
“We’re here to stop you,” I said, hoping that my defiant tone wouldn’t betray the fear I was feeling. Just facing one master vampire was daunting enough, let alone three. The three masters chuckled to each other.
“I think your confidence is misplaced. And why would you want to stop us when what we’re doing is benefitting humanity?” Mr. Griff said.
“What, by saving people from cancer?” I said.
“I see that the boys couldn’t keep their mouths shut,” Mrs. Thorpe scowled.
“We save everyone. And we aim to provide them with the skills needed to make this world a better place. Being a vampire gives you a certain perspective about the world that is severely lacking from you regular humans. We take a longer view of things, and surely you can’t dispute the fact that humans have made a hash of this planet. All we want is for people to be in a position where they can have a positive influence,” Mr. Griff said.
“To push your own agenda you mean. You can’t seriously expect me to believe that you want the best for this world. Sure, you might save a few people from cancer, but you don’t allow them to have any freedom. And I’ve seen all the feral vampires you spread through the city,” I said. “You can’t tell me they benefit anyone.”
“Everything serves their purpose. They serve a form of control. We vampires are an endangered species on the planet. We have to conserve our position and try to keep the human population in check. It’s a game of checks and balances,” Mr. Hanon said.
“It is, and we’re here to keep the balance on the side of the humans. We’re not going to let you get away with this. We’re Slayers, and we’re here to stop you.”
I whisked out my stake and held it aloft, gripping it tightly in my hand. Julia copied my gesture, although we weren’t in harmony at all. The three vampires seemed amused and grinned at us.
“I was so hoping it would come to this,” Mr. Griff said dryly. He rose and opened up his arms. The other two rose as well, and began to move around the table. I moved closer to Julia. We turned our backs to each other and wielded our stakes. In my other hand I pulled out my flask of holy water and popped the lid, throwing it around the room. It hissed as it hit their flesh, but they didn’t seem too perturbed by it. Smoke smoldered off their clothes and the room was filled with the smell of brimstone. These master vampires had better resistances than the feral kind. If I had soaked those vampires with holy water they would have shrieked and melted. Despite the holy water not being effective we still had our stakes, and every vampire was vulnerable to these no matter how old and ancient they were. Given Julia’s insistence that the Slayers and vampires had been descended from the Garden of Eden I did wonder if the first stake had been from a tree in the Garden of Eden, perhaps it had been a branch from the tree of knowledge. It was only a stray thought that passed through my mind though, because I had to focus on the matter at hand.