by Morgan Rice
Caleb knelt and undid a secret latch in the floor. A floor trap opened up, and she could see that the staircase continued downward, into the depths.
Caleb looked right into her eyes, “Are you ready?”
She wanted to say No. But instead, she took his hand.
*
This staircase was narrow and steep, and led into real blackness. After winding and winding, deeper and deeper, she finally saw a light in the distance, and started to hear movement. As they turned the corner, they entered another room.
This room was huge and brightly lit, torches everywhere. It mirrored the upstairs rooms identically, with soaring, stone, medieval ceilings, arched, covered in intricate detail. There were large tapestries on the walls, and the huge space was filled with medieval furniture.
It was also filled with people. Vampires. They were all dressed in black, and they moved casually about the room. Many of them sat in various seats, some talking to each other. In the other coven, under City Hall, she had felt evil, darkness, had felt in constant danger. Here, she felt strangely relaxed.
Caleb led her across the long room, right down the center. As they walked, the movement subsided, and a hush descended. She could feel all the eyes on them.
As they reach the end of the room, Caleb approached a large vampire, taller than he was, and with much broader shoulders. The man looked down, expressionless.
“I need an audience,” Caleb said simply.
The vampire slowly turned and walked through the doorway, closing the door firmly behind him.
Caleb and Caitlin stood there, waiting. She turned, and surveyed the room. They were all – hundreds of vampires – staring at them. But no one moved to come close.
The door opened, and the large vampire gestured. They entered.
This small room was darker, dimly lit by only two torches at the far end of the room. It was also completely empty, save for a long table on the opposite side. Behind it sat seven vampires, all staring grimly back. It looked like a panel of judges.
There was something about these vampires which made them look much older. There was a harshness to their expressions. Definitely a panel of judges.
“Council in session!” the large vampire yelled, banging his staff on the floor, then quickly exiting the room. He closed the door firmly behind them. It was now just the two of them, facing the seven vampires.
She stood tentatively at Caleb’s side, unsure what to do, or say.
An awkward silence followed, as the judges studied them. It felt as if they were staring through their souls.
“Caleb,” came a gravelly voice, from the vampire in the center of the panel. “You have abandoned your post.”
“I did not, sire,” he answered. “I have kept my post faithfully for 200 years. I was forced to take action tonight.”
“You take no action but for our command,” he answered. “You have jeopardized us all.”
“My duty was to alert us for the coming war,” Caleb answered. “I believe that time has come.”
A gasp came from the Council. There was a long silence.
“And what makes you think this?”
“They doused her in holy water, and it did not burn her skin. Doctrine tells us that the day will come when the One will arrive, and will be impervious to our weapons. And that she will herald war.”
A hushed gasp spread across the room. They all stared at Caitlin, scrutinizing her. Several of the judges began talking amongst themselves, until finally the one in the middle slammed the table with his palm.
“Silence!” He yelled.
Gradually, the murmur died down.
“So. You risked us all to save a human?” he asked.
“I saved her to save ourselves,” Caleb answered. “If she is the One, we are nothing without her.”
Caitlin’s head spun. She didn’t know what to think. The One? Doctrine? What was he talking about? She wondered if he thought she was someone else, thought she was someone greater than she is.
Her heart sank, not because of the way that the Council looked at her, but because she began to worry that Caleb had only saved her for his own sake. That he didn’t really care for her. And that his affection for her would disappear when he knew the truth. He would find out that she was just an average, ordinary girl, no matter what took place over the last few days, and he would abandon her. Just like all the other guys in her life.
As if to confirm her thoughts, the judge in the middle slowly shook his head, staring at Caleb with condescension.
“You have made a grave mistake,” he said. “What you fail to see is that you are the one who began this war. Your departure is what has alerted them to our presence.
“Furthermore, she is not the one you think she is.”
Caleb began, “Then how do you explain–”
Another council member spoke this time, “Many centuries ago there was a case like this. A vampire was immune to weaponry. People thought he was the Messiah then, too. He was not. He was just a half-breed.”
“Half-breed?” Caleb asked. He suddenly sounded unsure.
“The vampire by birth,” he continued, “one that was never turned. They are immune to some weaponry, but not to others. But that does not make them one of us. Nor does it make them immortal. I’ll show you,” he continued, and suddenly turned to Caitlin.
She felt nervous with his eyes staring through her. “Tell me young one, who turned you?”
Caitlin had no idea what he was talking about. She didn’t even know what his question meant. Once again this night, she found herself wondering what the best answer was to give. She hesitated, feeling that whatever she said would have a great impact not just on her safety, but on Caleb’s, too. She wanted to give the right answer for him, but she just didn’t know what to say.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was never turned. I don’t even know what that means.”
Another council member leaned forward. “Then who is your father?” he asked.
Of all questions, why had he had to ask her that? That was the question she had always asked herself, her whole life long. Who was he? Why had she never met him? Why did he leave her? It was an answer she wanted more than anything in life. And now, on demand, she certainly could not provide it.
“I don’t know,” she said, finally.
The council member leaned back, as if in victory. “You see?” he said. “Half-breeds are not turned. And they never know their parents. You are mistaken, Caleb. You have made a grave error.”
“Doctrine states that a half-breed will be the Messiah, and that she will lead us to the lost sword,” Caleb snapped back, defiantly.
“Doctrine states that a half-breed will bring the Messiah,” the council member corrected. “Not be.”
“You are parsing words,” Caleb answered. “I am telling you that war has begun, and that she will lead us to the sword. Time is swift. We must have her lead us to it. It is the only hope we have.”
“A child’s tales,” answered another council member. “The sword you speak of does not exist. And if it did, a half-breed would not be the one to lead us.”
“If we don’t, others will. They will capture her, and find it, and use it against us.”
“You have committed a grave violation in bringing her here,” another one of them said, from the far end of the panel.
“But I—” Caleb began.
“ENOUGH!” shouted the lead council member.
The room grew silent.
“Caleb. You have knowingly violated several laws of our coven. You have abandoned your post. You have disgraced your mission. You have sparked a war. And you have risked us all for a human. Not even a human, but a half-breed. Worse, you have brought her here, right into our midst, endangering us all.
“We sentence you to 50 years confinement. You will not leave these grounds. And you will cast this half-breed out of our walls at once.
“Now, leave us.”
Chapter Thirteen
Caitlin and Caleb stood together on the large, open terrace outside the Cloisters, looking out at the night. Far-off, she could see the Hudson River, peeking out between the bare trees of March. In the distance, she could even see the tiny lights of cars heading over the bridge. The night was completely silent.
“I need you to answer some questions for me, Caleb,” she said softly, after several seconds of silence.
“I know,” Caleb answered.
“What am I doing here? Who do you think I am?” Caitlin asked. It took her a few seconds more to summon the courage to ask the final question, “And why did you save me?”
Caleb stared off into the horizon for several seconds. She could not tell what he was thinking, or if he would even answer.
Finally, he turned to her. He stared right into her eyes, and the power of his stare was overwhelming. She couldn’t look away if she tried.
“I am a vampire,” he said, flatly. “Of the White Coven. I have lived for over 3,000 years, and I have been with this coven for 800 of them.”
“Why am I here?”
“Vampire covens and races are always at war. They are very territorial. Unfortunately, you stumbled right into the middle of it.”
“What do you mean?” she asked. “How?”
He looked at her, confused. “Don’t you remember?”
She stared back, blankly.
“Your kill. It ignited all of this.”
“Kill?”
He slowly shook his head. “So, you don’t remember. Typical. First kills are always that way.” He looked her in the eye. “You killed someone last night. A human. You fed on him. In Carnegie Hall.”
Caitlin felt her world spinning. She could hardly believe she was capable of harming anyone, yet somehow, deep down, she felt it was true. She was afraid to ask who it was. Could it have been Jonah?
As if reading her mind, Caleb added, “The vocalist.”
Caitlin could hardly take it all in. It felt too surreal. She felt like she had just been branded with a black mark that she could never undo. She felt awful. And out of control.
“Why did I do it?” she asked.
“You needed to feed,” he answered. “Why you did it there, and then, that is what no one knows. That is what started this war. You were in another coven’s territory. A very powerful coven.”
“So, was I just in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
He sighed, “I don’t know. There may be more to it than that.”
She looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe you were meant to be there. Maybe it was your destiny.”
She thought. She thought hard, afraid to ask the next question. Finally, she summoned her courage. “So does that mean…I am a vampire?”
He turned away. After several seconds, he finally said, “I don’t know.”
He turned and looked at her.
“You are not a true vampire. But you are not a true human, either. You are somewhere in between.”
“A half-breed?” she asked.
“That’s what they would call it. I am not so sure.”
“What is it, exactly?”
“It is a vampire who is born into it. It is against our law, our doctrine, for a vampire to breed with a human. Sometimes, though, a rogue vampire will do so. If the human should give birth, the result will be a half-breed. Not quite human, not quite vampire. It is very much looked down upon in our race. The penalty for interbreeding with a human is death. No exceptions. And the child is considered an outcast.”
“But I thought you said that your Messiah will be a half breed? How can they look down on a half-breed it if will be their savior?”
“Such is the paradox of our religion,” he answered.
“Tell me more,” she prodded. “How exactly is a half-breed different?”
“True vampires feed from the moment they are turned. Half breeds usually don’t begin to feed until they come of age.”
She was afraid to ask the next question.
“When is that?”
“18.”
Caitlin thought hard. It was starting to make sense. She had just turned 18. And her cravings had just begun.
“Half-breeds are also mortal,” Caleb continued. “They can die, like regular humans. We, on the other hand, cannot.
“In order to be a true vampire, one would have to be turned by a true vampire, one who fed with the intent. Vampires are not allowed to turn just anyone—it would inflate our race too greatly. They must receive permission in advance from the Master Council.”
Caitlin furrowed her brow, trying to take it all in.
“You have some of our qualities, but not all. And since you are not a full breed, unfortunately, the vampire race will not accept you. Every vampire belongs to a coven. It is too dangerous not to. Normally, I could petition to accept you in our ranks. But given that you are mixed…they would never allow it. No coven will.”
Caitlin thought hard. If there was anything worse than finding out that she was something other than human, it was finding out that she wasn’t truly something. Finding out that she couldn’t belong anywhere. She was neither here nor there, stuck between two worlds.
“So then what was all this talk about the Messiah? About me being…The One?”
“Our doctrine, our ancient law, tells us that one day a messenger, a Messiah, will arrive, and lead us to the lost sword. It tells us that on that day, war will begin, a final, all-out war between the vampire races, a war which will even drag in the human race. It is our version of the Apocalypse. The only thing that can stop it, that can save us all, is this missing sword. And the only person that can lead us to that is the Messiah.
“When I witnessed what happened to you tonight, I felt certain that it was you. I have never seen any other vampire immune to such holy water.”
She looked up at him.
“And now?” she asked.
He looked off into the horizon.
“I am not so sure.”
Caitlin stared at him. She felt a desperation welling up.
“So,” she asked, afraid for the answer, “is that the only reason you saved me? Because you thought I would lead you to some missing sword?”
Caleb stared back, and she could see the confusion in his face.
“What other reason would there be?” he answered.
She felt the wind sucked out of her, as if she had been hit by a bat. All the love that she had felt for him, the connection she thought they had, went rushing out in a single breath. She felt like crying. She wanted to turn and run, but didn’t know where to go. She felt ashamed.
“Well,” she said, fighting back tears, “at least your wife will be happy to know that you were just doing your job. That you don’t have any feelings for anyone else. Or for anything but some stupid sword.”
She turned and walked away. She didn’t know where she was going, but she had to get away from him. Her feelings were just too overwhelming. She didn’t know how to make sense of them.
She had only gone a few feet when she felt a hand on her arm. He turned her back around. He stood there, looking down into her eyes.
“She’s not my wife,” he said softly. “We were married once, yes, but that was 700 years ago. It only lasted a year. In the vampire race, unfortunately, they don’t forget things easily. There are no annulments.”
Caitlin tossed his hand off of her, “Well, whatever she is, she’ll be happy to have you back.”
Caitlin kept walking, right for the steps.
Again he stopped her, this time getting around her and standing directly in her path.
“I don’t know how I’ve offended you,” he said, “but whatever I did, I am sorry.”
It’s what you didn’t do, Caitlin wanted to say. It’s that you didn’t care, that you don’t really love me. That I was just an object, a means to an end. Just like every guy I’ve ever known. I had thought that this time, maybe, it was different.
; But she didn’t say that, instead, she just lowered her head, and did her best to suppress a tear. She couldn’t, though. She felt the hot tears streaming down her cheeks. There was a hand on her chin, and he raised it, forcing her to look up at him.
“I am sorry,” he said finally, sounding sincere. “You were right. It was not the only reason I saved you.” He took a deep breath. “I do feel something for you.”
Caitlin felt her heart swell.
“But you must understand, it is forbidden. The laws are very strict on this. A vampire can never, ever, be with a human, or a half breed, or anyone who is not a true vampire. The punishment would be death. There is no way around it.”
Caleb looked down.
“So, you see,” he finally continued, “if I were to feel something for you, if I were to act for some motive other than for the general good, then it would mean my death.”
“So, then, what’s to become of me?” she asked. She looked around, “Clearly, I’m not welcome here. Where am I supposed to go?”
Caleb looked down, shaking his head.
“I can’t go home,” she added. “I have no home left. The cops are looking for me. So are these evil vampires. What am I supposed to do? Go out there on my own? I don’t even know what I am anymore.”
“I wish I had the answer. I tried. I really did. But there is nothing more I can do. One cannot defy the Council. It would mean both of our deaths. I am sentenced to 50 years confinement. I cannot leave these grounds. If I did, I would be banished from my clan forever. You must understand.”
Caitlin turned to go, but again he spun her around.
“You must understand! You are merely human. Your life will end in 80 years. But for me, it’s thousands. Your suffering is short. Mine is endless. I cannot be banished for eternity. My coven is all that I have. I love you. I feel something for you. Something even I don’t understand. Something I’ve never felt with anyone in 3,000 years. But I cannot risk leaving these walls.”
“So,” she said, “I’ll ask you again. What’s to come of me?”
He just looked down.
“I see,” she answered. “I’m not your problem anymore.”