Immortal Suffering

by Shana J Caldwell

  “No, we can’t trust it in vampire hands.” He pulls off his jacket and places it over the boy’s green face. I look away.

  “Xavier they’re your only chance at a correct serum. You can’t keep taking a shot in the dark with it. You know I’m right. They’re not going to make it to weaken you; I’ll make sure they make it stable enough to give humans equal physical abilities with vampires,” I say calmly. If humans could become equal in strength with vampires, I’d have more chance at equality and reasoning with them.

  “How can I trust you, though? You’re more vampire than human in my eyes right now,” he asks, eyeing me. I try and call my fangs back in, failing. The vampire in me was a protector and she would protect Yolanda at any cost. I needed to at least look human for him.

  “I was angry; sometimes they come out when I can’t contain my emotions. I have vampire blood in me, doesn’t make me a full vampire.” I sigh, I think of Kal; needing his thought to calm me. His voice rings through my head sweetly, come back to me.

  Slowly my fangs recede, leaving me human once more.

  “Problem solved,” I smile weakly; Yolanda has stilled in my arms, her body still shaking. I keep my arms tight around her.

  “I want a vial of the serum by the end of today. Then I am gone. If Yolanda chooses to stay that’s her choice but I’m giving her the option to leave with me,” I say calmly. She pulls back and wipes her swollen red eyes.

  “I’m coming with you,” she says; her voice raw. She avoids looking at Xavier as she rushes from the tent. He sighs and runs a hand over his face.

  “Just give me a chance to show you that I’m being honest about wanting equality. I don’t know how long it’ll take for them to create a stable serum but I promise I’ll bring the first batch straight back to you. You’re out of options Xavier and I’m not leaving without that vial.” I straighten and hold my head high, holding his eye contact.

  “Fine. I’ll give you one vial, that’s it. If you don’t bring me something by the end of winter nothing will change. I’ll continue injecting what we have. Winter is three months. I’m sure by then you can have something.” His words run through me and give me hope; trusting me to do this. I wouldn’t let him down. Before I know what I’m doing I wrap my arms around him; hugging him to me. I hear the guns click, no doubt aiming at me.

  He relents and gently wraps his arms around my shoulders.

  “Thank you. I won’t let you down,” I say as I step out of the hug, embarrassed by my outburst of emotion. I head towards the door, narrowing my eyes at the guards. I open it.

  “You would make a great queen if you went through with it, Allison. If you do, I hope you keep your word about finding peace between the races,” he says softly. I look over my shoulder at him. I give him a small nod and leave the tent.

  I wander back to my own and gather my things, I’d have to find Yolanda soon and get her ready to leave. I couldn’t take her to Penrith now; I’d have to take her back to Dafria. I’m sure Zuriel wouldn’t mind that.

  I’d received what I’d come for, now I just had to hope I could keep my word.

  Chapter 24

  Kalabhiti

  Hours tick by as we wait; Zuriel had taken it upon himself to build a small stick house while Nardia had begun counting the flowers. I’d stayed focused, listening to the animals move around in the night.

  “What if it was a one off thing, a fluke?” Zuriel finally whispers, I look over to him from my spot near the opening. I have to say, his stick house is rather impressive.

  “I don’t think so. Two encounters seem too close to be a fluke. We just have to be patient,” I whisper back, not wanting to scare any away if they’re close.

  “Why don’t we just get Ali in on the plan when she comes back? You know she’d offer to help.”

  “Which is exactly why I don’t want to ask her. It’s too dangerous.” I frown at him, why would he want to risk her getting hurt?

  “You need to stop wrapping her in cotton wool; she’s stronger than she looks,” he fires back. I turn towards him fully now.

  “I am not wrapping her in cotton wool. I’m protecting her from unnecessary harm,” I say, almost in disbelief at his words. He stands up, knocking his stick house over.

  “You are so—” he’s cut off by Nardia approaching us, her hand raised in the air. I raise an eyebrow at her.

  “Can you hear that?” She breathes out slowly, I look back towards Ali’s shirt on the tree; a small breeze moves it gently. I listen for any sign. Nothing. Zuriel frowns.

  “I can’t hear shit,” he says.

  “That’s my point,” she whispers and we all turn to the shirt and focus. Slowly we hear them, twigs snap in the under bush as they come closer to her shirt. I begin to hear their low snarls and snaps as they communicate.

  “What’s the plan?” Zuriel whispers as they come to stand beside me.

  “We follow them back to their lair or wherever they’re hiding. There’s no doubt they’ll take the shirt back with them. Alright? Stay low, keep your guard up and we stick together.” Slowly three of the creatures emerge from the thicker trees and head towards the shirt, walking on all fours as they break into a gallop. Their white bodies seem to glow in the moonlight.

  They stop at the shirt, sniffing and pulling at it. One snatches it off the branch with its mouth, its nostrils flaring. The other two fight the first one for it; nipping each other trying to get a good grip.

  The one holding the shirt rips it from them and gallops off into the night, the other two follow its lead. That’s our cue. We run after them, keeping our steps light as we them through the thick forest. It’s not hard to follow as they gallop along, destroying everything in their path.

  The wind blows their scent towards us, keeping us hidden. It’s worked perfectly in our favour. As we get deeper into the forest, I come to realise we’ve never explored this section. I’m sure how we missed it, considering it’s directly behind the castle.

  Who could have stopped us looking here?

  We come to a halt as the trees begin to thin out, revealing a large rocky wall. Above it are more trees, continuing on. We stop at the tree line; the creatures climb half way up the wall and then vanish into thin air.

  “What the hell…” Nardia whispers.

  “They’re gone?” Zuriel whispers back, confused. I frown, from here it looks like it’s just rock.

  Behind us a twig snaps. I twirl around; ready to attack, only to see Zeke and Cassidy walking this way. Both covered in blood.

  “What happened to you guys?” Nardia questions as they stop in front of us. Zeke frowns as Nardia tries to wipe the blood from her face.

  “They went into a frenzy over the human blood, a fucking frenzy. Once it ran out they freaked out, we stopped them in their tracks. If we keep the bodies I’m sure we can dissect them and learn more about them.” Cassidy says, scowling.

  “We followed three here, they climbed half way up the rock wall and then they vanished. Almost like they dropped from thin air,” I say as I look towards the rocks. Where could they have gone?

  “Well we know where their lair is now; we should regroup tomorrow and figure out where they’ve gone. If there’s more wherever they’re gone we wouldn’t have a chance against them,” Zeke says, focusing on the wall. Nardia and Zuriel nod in agreeance. One more day wouldn’t hurt to wait.

  “Alright, tomorrow morning we’ll meet in the dining room again. Zuriel, make sure you keep up on the blood as today is your last day, I’ll want a full report by tomorrow; Nardia let me know if you hear anything from Ali. Zeke and Cassidy go get cleaned up. We’re officially done for the day.” I give them their orders before we run back to the house. Cassidy bickers with Zuriel on the run; Nardia and Zeke talk quietly together at the back. My thoughts end up on Ali again, frustrating me. I wanted this problem gone before she came back, it wasn’t her concern.

  She’d be more than happy to bait them if it meant helping us, and I know she could hold her
own. I’d seen her fight, she was damned good at it. I don’t know why all of a sudden I’m so worried about her, she was out doing god knows what currently and I was waiting for her to come back like a lost puppy.

  I wasn’t entirely sure what we were doing. She hadn’t mentioned if she was going to take the offer to become Queen or even transform fully into a vampire. I know she doesn’t like the idea of it, but what happens to me if she decides to stay human? Would she regret her choice once she’s old and frail and has to leave me behind?

  I know I will support whatever choice she makes a hundred percent, even if it means having to say goodbye to her one day. My chest aches at the thought of her disappearing forever, it’s a funny feeling. I hadn’t felt anything close to this since Cass had been killed.

  We reach the castle and go our separate ways, I head into the empty castle; greeting the silence. I head to my bed chambers, exhausted from the day. I pull my shirt over my head and let my hair flow loosely around me; Cass always said I look better with longer hair.

  I lie down and pull the blankets over me, letting my thoughts drift back to Allison again.

  Chapter 25

  Allison

  I find Yolanda with her bag over her back, ready for the night’s trek. She didn’t want to spend a minute longer in this place, I couldn’t blame her. We’d spent the afternoon burying her little boy by the stream; she’d vanished again once he was buried. I’d offered to carry him back with us but she’d refused.

  “Are you ready?” I ask, double checking with her.

  “Yes, I just want to leave this place far behind me.” She looks towards the entrance of the camp. The wooden gates are open; the giant grobbler paces back and forth. We make our way to the entrance, stopping once we’re at the gate.

  Xavier walks up behind us, the glow from the fire just reaches were we stand. He passes me a black pouch, I take it; feeling a long heavy tube in it.

  “Three months Allison. That’s all I’m giving you.” He steps back and looks at Yolanda.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss. If I had known he wouldn’t make it I wouldn’t have allowed Mark to inject him,” he says softly. She stays silent as she watches the grobbler; her eyes narrow slightly at his words.

  “Thank you Xavier. I wasn’t sure what would happen when I arrived, I’ll look into the serum as soon as I get back.” he nods and clasps his hands together.

  “Have a safe journey.” he whistles to the grobbler; it moves back and allows us a clear path to cross. We waste no time as we begin to jog into the forest; the sun is beginning to set.

  As soon as we got back I’d be finding someone to look into the serum, if I could get something stable in less than three months I’d be cheering.

  “It’s about a two day journey, so we’ll have to set up camp at some stage soon and rest. I’m assuming it gets fairly dark here,” I say between breaths. I keep my pace even with hers; the training with Kal has done wonders for my stamina.

  “Tis’ okay. I just want to go as far as we can for now,” she murmurs, focusing on the path in front of her. We stay silent as we move through the forest; I revel in the fresh air and the chill of the soft breeze.

  This is what I missed, the freedom of the world and what the elements have to offer. I don’t know how Kal could live in that shell of his, the imitation weather can’t even begin to compare to what this feels like. Even the thunder storm seemed fake.

  As the sun disappears and the moon begins to rise, I slow down. We needed to set up a camp and rest, mainly for Yolanda’s sake. I’d like nothing more than to power on and get home.

  “Yolanda, we need to stop now. We’ve covered a heap of ground. If we keep this pace as soon as the sun breaks in the morning we’ll be there by sundown,” I say wiping the sweat from my brow with my jumper sleeve. My eyes adjust to the darkness as it thickens; she stops and turns to me.

  “Yes okay, would you be able to set up a fire? I can’t really see.” she fumbles around as she takes a seat on a piece of large wood. I drop my bag beside her and search for some things to start a fire; I grab twigs and some large logs. The longer the fire burned the better, all we had was a blanket each, the clothes off our backs and the few we’d arrived with at the camp.

  I come back to the clearing and pile all the twigs and logs in a small circle. I pull out the matchbox I’d taken from the supply room, no reason why they’d miss it.

  I attempt to light the twigs, and fail. I sit back and sigh.

  “Do ye’ need some help?” Yolanda asks. I turn towards her; it was weird to me that she couldn’t see right now, that it was all black for her.

  “Yes please, I can’t get it to light.” I reach out for her and guide her to the fire; she takes a seat beside me as I pass her the matches. She reaches out and feels for the wood.

  “Would you be able to get some dead leaves or dried grass?” she asks. I nod and stand, I find what she needs easily enough. Once I return she sits them on top of the wood, as soon as the flame touches the dried grass the fire begins.

  I watch in fascination as she keeps it going, blowing on it here and there to grow the flame. After a few more matches we have a stable fire.

  She sits back from the fire and sits her bag beside her; I move over and lie on my side and use my bag as a pillow as I watch the golden flames. In the night the wildlife is alive with noise, it occurs to me that we have no protection if something were to attack us.

  “So, how did you and Zuriel meet?” I ask, flicking my eyes to her from the fire. She runs a hand through her red curls.

  “At the camp, he and a few others had come to suss the area out I suppose. I was hiding in my room under the bed when he’d come in, by himself. I had a pan in my hand, when he turned to open the cupboard that my little boy was in I crawled out and swung the pan at him.” she pauses as she smiles faintly at the memory, I smile as well. It seems the past held better days for both of us.

  “It bounced off his back, not doing any real damage. He’d just turned around with this huge stupid grin on his face, and I swung again. He’d stopped the pan and talked to me, telling me he wasn’t there to hurt me or the little human he could smell in the cupboard.

  “I’d relaxed but still held the pan. He explained that our town was worse off and that he and his companion wanted to help, they’d bring us food and whatever else they could once a month. It kept us all alive for this long. How did you meet him?” she asks, focusing on me while her hands pull at the grass in front of her.

  “In Penrith vampires were just a myth, no one had ever seen one before. One day I was in town for the local trade and was handed a flier saying three were to be executed in the old shed out of town. Of course I went, I don’t believe in killing them. When I arrived there, all three were strung up on stage.

  “Zuriel was stabbed with a silver stake, Zeke’s sister was ashed and disintegrated but Zeke was able to escape which caused everyone to freak out. I took the only chance I had and tried to help Zuriel, Zeke appeared and got him out of the chains he was in and I took them back to my house.” I pause at the memory, thinking back to how long ago it felt. Everything was so simple then, so easy for me.

  “Zeke left him with me for a few days to get some medicine for his wound, and we just formed a strong friendship. I was glad I was there to help them.” I finish the story and look away from her, I’d rather not relive the moment I walked in on Zuriel draining the corpse of that homeless man.

  “Well, I’m glad you were as well. If you didn’t help him everyone in my town would have eventually died of starvation. So thank you, for not only saving him but giving us more time,” she says softly, the fire crackles in the silence around us. The animals had all gone quiet; the breeze brushes a stray piece of hair against my nose. I push it away and look back to Yolanda, and that’s when I see it.

  My blood runs cold.

  Crouched behind her is a large black cat, its yellow eyes the only sign that it’s there.

  “Yolanda, whatev
er you do don’t make any sudden movements. There’s a large cat behind you, larger than I’ve ever seen before,” I whisper. I rise slowly as her eyes widen. The cat doesn’t pay attention to me as it falls back to its hind legs; ready to pounce.

  Time slows as I leap towards Yolanda at the same time the large black cat does. It yowls as it flies towards us.

  Yolanda’s broken scream fills the night as I shoot my power out towards the animal.

  As its large claws connect to her shoulder and neck my power rushes it, snuffing its life out before it can do any more damage. I crash to the ground and am up and at her side in a heartbeat, the large cat lays unmoving behind us.

  Blood pours from her shoulder and neck as she gasps for air. I cradle her head in my lap as the overwhelming smell of blood invades my senses.

  There’s so much blood. I reach my power out to feel her life force; it’s weakening drastically.

  Oh god, she is dying.

  “Shh, shh. It’s going to be okay, I promise I won’t let you die Yolanda.” my whole body shakes as I watch her skin begin to pale; I rip my jumper off and press it against her neck trying to stop the blood. God there is so much blood.

  Think Allison, THINK.

  The blood slows but I know she’s running out of time. Blood coats my hands and upper arms and I do the only thing I can think of.

  I bite her.

  Chapter 26

  Kalabhiti

  Nardia bursts into the dining room as I’m having breakfast; I sit the glass back down and look at her. Her breathing is coming in gasps as she tries to catch her breath.

  “Did you run all the way here?” I ask, amused. She nods and comes to the table.

  “Kal, Allison fed on a human last night. I can feel it. Last night I could sense something down the bond but I didn’t know what it was, but I know that feeling of sating hunger. It was the same feeling.” she rushes out; I sit back with wide eyes.