by Tim O'Rourke
“Meren, Meren, Meren!” he cried. “My precious daughter. Oh, my God, sweet Meren you have come back to me.”
“I love you, Dad,” Meren cried, tears now streaming down her face.
With a lump in my throat, and with my eyes starting to sting, I glanced at Potter to see silent tears rolling down either side of his face.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, reaching out and gently squeezing his hand in mine.
“I know how much that means to my friend,” he said. “All I ever wanted was to see him happy – or as happy as an old fart like him can get.”
“You really care about him, don’t you?” I whispered.
“He’s been like a father to me,” Potter said, watching Murphy and Meren cradle each other. “And now I have a sister, too.”
I turned to look at Murphy and Meren. “And I have a cousin,” I whispered.
“She looks like you,” Potter said, sliding his arm about my shoulder and holding me close. “Beautiful.”
We watched as Murphy held his daughter at arm’s length, as if studying her. And although his face was streaked with tears, he had the widest smile I’d ever seen spread across his face. “I’ve never seen you look so well before,” he beamed. Then glancing over his shoulder at us, he added excitedly. “The Dead Waters have cured her. They have given her life. She is no longer sick, weak, and fragile. She’s like you, Kiera.” Then, as if being struck across the face, he looked at me and I knew what he was thinking.
“The Dead Waters,” I gasped. “That was the difference between me and your daughters and those other children hidden away at Hallowed Manor. That’s why I flourished and they didn’t. You placed me in the Dead Waters just moments after I was born. It was the water – the souls of those murdered by the Lycanthrope – which gave me my strength.”
“So, just like they have cured us of our cravings – made our hearts start to beat again, they have saved Meren and...” Potter started.
Before Potter had the chance to finish, Murphy was darting between the other statues and shouting, “Where is Nessa? We must get Nessa into the Dead Waters, too!”
“Dad,” Meren whispered, the smile she once had, now fading. “Dad, Nessa didn’t make it.”
“What are you saying?” Murphy said, glancing back at her.
Meren went to him, took him in her arms and said, “She faded away, disintegrated into dust before we got here. Many of us woke a few weeks ago from our graves at Hallowed Manor. Why we had come back, we didn’t know. But we quickly turned to stone, some of us quicker than others. I came in search of you – I knew you would be able to help us. But our journey has been a difficult one, only being able to move if we came into contact with blood. Peter went in search of Lot-13 in the Manor House.”
“Peter?” Murphy quizzed with a frown.
“Do you remember the other two children in the hospital?” Meren asked him. “They were brother and sister – Alice and Peter?”
Murphy nodded as he remembered, and I remembered them too. They had been weak, almost lifeless, their bodies translucent as they lay hidden in the attic at Hallowed Manor. It was then I remembered the dream I had about a boy crawling towards me and asking for his sister, Alice. They had been trying to reach us – ask us for help.
“Peter managed to get into Hallowed Manor, but it was difficult for him. He could barely move as he was more stone than flesh,” Meren continued. “But he came across a boy sleeping in a bed, so he fed just a little from him, but he was disturbed by...”
“By Kayla,” Potter suddenly cut in. “Peter was the statue Kayla saw standing at the foot of Sam’s bed as he wrestled with the change the matching had brought upon him.”
“We were around you all the time,” Meren said, looking at me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, feeling as if in some way we had ignored their pleas for help. “Like you, we had only just woken up in this pushed world. Until now, we never truly understood what or who you were.”
“To be honest,” Potter said, “I thought you were just another part of this fucked up world. Just another piece in the Elders’ sick and twisted game they’ve been playing with us.”
“I’m sorry we let you, your friends, and Nessa down,” I said, my heart beginning to ache for them.
“You were turning to stone, too, weren’t you?” Meren said, looking at me.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“That’s why we followed you this far,” she said. “You seemed to know more than we did somehow. I believed you could help us.”
“I saw you – I saw all of you at so many different times,” I said, remembering.
“It’s a bit difficult to hide when you’re made from stone, you kinda stick out a bit,” Meren smiled, and yes, Potter was right, she was truly beautiful. “But you left a trail of blood behind from the many fights you fought – and that’s what kept us going. Especially you,” she said, turning her attention to Potter. Those police officers – the wolves beat you bad and you bled into the snow. That helped us move on.”
“I’m glad I was of service to you,” Potter muttered, taking a cigarette and popping it into the corner of his mouth. “I remember looking up and seeing the statues – you – as I was shoved into the back of that police van.”
“All of you left so much blood,” Meren said. Then, looking at me, she added, “The half-eaten rats in the graveyard...”
“Rats!” Potter grimaced through a cloud of smoke at me.
“I was turning into stone, too, I took anything I could get,” I said.
“We took them, too,” Meren smiled at me. “But for some of us, the little bits you left behind weren’t enough, and they faded away to dust.” Meren looked at Murphy and added, “It wasn’t enough for Nessa, and I lost her. I’m so sorry, Dad.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Murphy said, taking his daughter in his arms again. “I believed I had lost both of you, I had come to terms with that. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever have this opportunity to feel such happiness again. To have one of my precious daughters with me fills my heart with such happiness that I don’t want it to be touched by the smallest flicker of sorrow.” Murphy lent forward and kissed his daughter tenderly on the forehead. “Let’s get the rest of your friends into the waters.”
Together the four of us lifted the other statues into the water. As we waited silently on the shore for them to surface, I glanced at Murphy and Meren. I remembered the statues I had seen in the graveyard – the statues the Elders had shown me. The statue of Murphy had been with two females, both I had believed were his daughters. But Nessa wasn’t coming back, so who was the other? I wondered.
Chapter Twenty
Potter
Just like Murphy’s daughter had, the statues we placed in the lake caused the water to rise up, froth, then bubble. The red water suddenly began to violently stir, then erupt as the remaining statues shot out of the water and raced up into the night. Their silhouettes glided over the moon, as they spread their wings. Now that they were free, they whisked through the night, I understood that sense of freedom they must all now be feeling. To fly, to soar, to swoop and dive was a feeling like no other. It was freedom. To look down upon the Earth from such heights gave you a detached feeling – a sense that you were not a part of the real world, just a spectator, watching the world pass by below. Those freed statues would be feeling all of that now. And like me they would remember those feelings – that sense of freedom – for the rest of their lives.
One by one, they swept out of the sky and landed on the shore before us. Their wings buzzed, hummed, and fluttered behind each of them. All of them were female, apart from one.
“This is Peter,” Meren said, introducing him to Murphy.
“Good to meet you,” Murphy said, pumping the boy’s hand up and down.
“Thank you,” Peter said politely.
I got the sense he was still unsure of what had truly just happened to him. As far as I could understand, th
e boy had spent his entire life hidden away in the attic at Hallowed Manor. He had been murdered by Luke and Sparky, only to have come back to life again as a statue in a world that had been pushed out of place. Fuck me – no wonder he looked so bewildered and lost.
“This is my twin sister, Alice,” Peter said, ushering a meek-looking girl to the foreground. Just like her brother, Alice had light blonde hair, which was long and curly. Both had hazel eyes, which were bright and keen. In fact, as I looked at the gathering of teenagers, I noticed all of them had eyes just like Kiera. All must have been half and half’s, just like her.
“Good to meet you,” Murphy smiled at the girl.
“Hello, she said, just above a whisper.
Sensing their unease, Murphy hooked a thumb in my direction and said, “This is Potter. He is a Vampyrus, just like me.” Then, looking at Kiera, he added, “And this is Kiera. She is a half and half, just like you.”
A soft murmur went through the small gathering of half and half’s as they all turned to look at her. I could see Kiera looked embarrassed at the sudden attention.
“Hi,” Kiera smiled back at them.
The others looked back at her in awe. They had followed her this far after all.
“Why were you not in that hospital with us?” one of the female half and half’s suddenly asked. Her voice was soft.
“I was never ill like you,” Kiera started to explain. “I am like you, though. I am half Vampyrus, half Lycanthrope, a half and half. But unlike you, soon after I was born, I was placed into these waters and they made me strong. Just like they’ve helped me, these waters have now helped you. You will no longer be fragile, weak, and ill. You will no longer need the red stuff to stop you from turning to stone. You will be the people you were born to be.”
“I feel my heart beating,” Peter smiled, pressing his hand against his chest.
“I feel mine beating too,” Kiera smiled back at him.
“I’ve never felt so hungry,” Alice said.
And she wasn’t the only one. Since being pushed back into this world, I had lost my appetite. Other than blood, food had just become a tasteless mush, but now, as I stood on the shore, my stomach ached not for blood, but food. Knowing that Kiera and Murphy had plenty to discuss with the others, I wondered what more I could bring to the party.
“How about I go and find us something all to eat?” I asked. “I’m sure I’ll be able to find something.”
“I could come with you?” Kiera said, looking over at me.
“No, it’s okay,” I smiled. “You stay. It looks like you’ve got a lot of explaining to do. I’ll be back real soon.”
Kiera stepped away from the others and came towards me. Slowly, she raised her hand and pressed it flat against my chest. “Your heart is beating too,” she smiled up me. Her skin looked radiant, her hair almost glowing in the moonlight. “It’s beating fast.”
“It always used to around you,” I said, gently placing my hand over her heart. I could feel it gently thumping away.
“Are you all right?” Kiera frowned. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind. I thought you’d be glad to be alive again.”
“I’m worried about Murphy,” I said.
“Murphy?” Kiera asked. “But why? He has his daughter back.”
“That’s what bothers me,” I said, glancing over my shoulder at where Murphy stood with Meren and the others.
“I’m not sure what you mean?” Kiera frowned at me again.
“You said at the end, when we push the world back, we go back to where we came from, right?” I said, looking into her eyes.
“Right,” she said.
“Well, Meren is dead back there, so is Murphy,” I breathed. “We’re all dead back in that world.”
“But the Elders showed me Murphy and Meren...” Kiera started.
“The Elders showed you statues, Kiera,” I said. “They showed you statues.”
“So what are you saying?” Kiera asked, looking suddenly sad and deflated again.
“I’m not sure,” I said thoughtfully. “But we both know statues definitely don’t have freaking heartbeats.”
I turned to walk away, and as I did, I heard Kiera say, “See you later alligator.”
Looking back one last time, I smiled and said, “In a while crocodile.”
I didn’t want to piss all over her happiness – that was the last thing I wanted to do. At first I’d been just as happy as she had been on seeing Murphy reunited with Meren again. But if we did push the world back like we were planning on doing somehow, would Murphy lose Meren all over again? Would I lose Murphy all over again? What were any of us going back to? We were all dead back there. Kiera said she was the only one who couldn’t go back. She saw that as a punishment, but was it? Perhaps it was her gift for finally making her choice. Perhaps Kiera was the only one who was going to survive this?
I took another smoke from my pocket. Lighting it, I headed back into the forest that surrounded the lake, in search of food. I hadn’t gone very far, when I saw movement to my left. I snapped my head around, fangs and claws out in an instant. Movement to my right this time. I span around to find a figure hidden by shadows between the tree trunks.
“Who’s there?” I snarled, bearing my fangs.
“Shhh,” the figure said, stepping from the shadows. “It’s me, Kayla.”
“Kayla?” I breathed on seeing her come towards me. “Where’s Sam?”
I didn’t even hear her answer. The back of my head exploded in pain, and my world went black.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kiera
Murphy built a fire so we could cook whatever culinary delights Potter managed to find in the forest. Potter had brought back road-kill once, before the world had been pushed, and had tried to kid us all that he had hunted the muntjac down. But Isidor had spotted the tyre tracks imbedded into the dead animal’s bloodied fur. Potter scowled at him and they didn’t speak for a day or two after that. Luckily, there weren’t too many roads around here, so whatever Potter brought back would have to be fairly fresh.
As Murphy lit the pile of sticks and branches he had collected from the forest, I sat with the others on the shore by the fire. The moon had started to dip in the sky and I guessed that dawn was no more than a couple of hours away. The Dead Waters continued to lap the shore in red waves, and in the distance I could hear the fountain thundering its way back up into heaven – if such a place existed.
“What’s that noise?” Alice asked, scraping her long blond hair behind her ears with her fingers.
“The Fountain of Souls,” I told her. It felt odd to be telling her such a thing. It didn’t seem that long ago that I had been here with Potter, Murphy, Isidor, and Luke. It was I who was then learning about this secret place hidden in the forest. “It’s believed that the fountain runs upwards, carrying souls back into heaven.”
“Souls?” Peter asked, crossing his legs as he sat next to his sister.
“The souls of all those the Lycanthrope have murdered,” I continued to explain. “A lot of them would have been children.”
“Why children?” Meren asked. “That’s a bit creepy, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said.
“So the water is red because of all the blood that has been shed,” Meren said, looking thoughtfully at the waves which crawled up the shore towards her. “The Lycanthrope took lives, but the water is somehow giving it back, right?”
“Right,” I said as she turned to look at me. I could tell that Meren was a quick thinker and nobody’s fool.
“But we’re all half wolves, aren’t we?” another girl in the group asked.
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
“Gayle,” she smiled.
“Yes, Gayle, we are all half wolves,” I said. Then, glancing up at Murphy as he dropped another armload of sticks onto the fire, I added, “but we don’t have to be like them. Every one of us here has a choice to make.”
“What’s that?”
asked Peter.
“We choose how we wish to lead our lives,” I said, looking at the group before me. “You can make your lives wonderful – make them count. Or you can choose a different path, like those wolves who decided to take the lives of others. That isn’t a life – that’s an existence. Forever looking over your shoulder, waiting for the Vampyrus to catch up with you.”
“But apart from my dad and his friend, Potter, there are no other Vampyrus here,” Meren said, as if in deep thought. “There are no more Vampyrus to police them. The Lycanthrope are the police here. So, who then will stop the wolves from killing?”
“Us,” I said, looking at the group.
“But there is only a handful of us,” Gayle spoke up. “We can never defeat the wolves.”
“Not on our own we can’t,” I said. “But together we can. Together we can do anything – if we’re determined enough. Maybe that’s why the Elders forbid mixing between the Vampyrus and the Lycanthrope. Perhaps they feared what we would become. If we choose wisely, we can become the best of the Vampyrus and wolves. Like wolves, we have great sight, we are loyal to our own kind, our jaws have an incredible crushing pressure when we bite...”
“But doesn’t our enemy have these exact same traits too?” A girl sitting near the back of the group spoke up.
“You’re right. They have those skills too – but do they have a set of these?” I half-smiled, releasing my fearsome claws. “Not only can we swipe, slash, and rip, but they are also pretty neat at causing some serious blunt force trauma. You should see the damage my friend Potter can do with his fists when he gets going.” Then, glancing at Meren, I added, “Your father is pretty handy too.”
Meren smiled back at me.
“Unlike the wolves, we can move at incredible speeds,” I said, then flashed amongst them in a fleeting spray of shadows, so as to prove my point.