by Izzy Shows
This was not my fault. I had to remind myself of that fact, and it was hard, but I had to cling to it. All that was my fault was whatever happened next, because I had to get out of this situation, had to kill these fangs, and save my friends. I wasn’t going to watch them die.
“I am going to kill you,” I said at last, a simple statement, but a fact.
They stared at me for several seconds, their unease visible on their faces, before the girl looked at the other two men.
“Throw her in the basement cell. Tonight, we will raise The Dark One and begin, she will be dead soon enough.”
34
The upside to being thrown in a cell was that they removed my chains. My skin bore welts where they had crossed it on my arms, calves, thighs, stomach, and haphazardly across my chest where it had touched skin around the pentagram cut-out of my top. I felt the pain mounting, threatening to break out of the corner of my mind that I had pushed it into. Have you ever been on your feet all day, to the point where you feel they might just break and start bleeding at any moment, and then when you’re finally sitting down and off your feet, it hurts even more?
That’s what was happening now. The bonds had been removed, but now the marks were throbbing and blistering and dear Gods above and Demons below, it hurt so much.
The downside—yes, the pain was not the downside—was that the bars were made of iron, as my palms had soon learned, and the floor was solid stone. There were no windows, and the walls were brick. There was no escape that I could find, short of smashing a hole through the outer wall; but that wasn’t going to be possible. I wasn’t any stronger than I had been in the alley, and my will was starting to feel the beating.
I heard a whimper and a sob, and after a moment of being startled, I realised it had come from me. I sniffed and shook my head, pushing any self-pitying thoughts out of my head. There was no time for that.
Except that there might be plenty of time, if I was going to be down here permanently, waiting to be trotted out so that I could watch the deaths of those I cared for most. Watching the world end around me.
How had I got here, in this kind of situation, again? What was wrong with me that I attracted this kind of destruction? I was the common link—of course I was, I couldn’t not be the common link in my own experiences—and that must mean that somehow, someway, this was my fault.
“You OK?” A soft voice came from the corner of the cell, and I stared in its direction until my eyes adjusted to the darkness. A woman and a man were huddled in the corner; they must have been hiding from the vampires when they had brought me in.
I didn’t want to break it to them that hiding in a corner in the dark wouldn’t do them any good; vampires had heightened senses and would be able to see through such conditions. If there was something they could draw comfort from I wanted them to have it. There wouldn’t be a lot of supply in that regard.
“Ah, no. No I am not OK. I am in a cell, with a house full of vampires above me, and I have no way out of here and no idea what I’m going to do about this whole world ending plot. Not that I think they understand what constitutes ending the world, but still…” My voice trailed off as I realised I was getting away from the point. I felt it was valid though; they were a small group of psychotic vampires obsessed with the idea of world domination. They probably hadn’t thought any of it through other than what they were going to do in this one location, they hadn’t thought of the other vampires, other factions out in the world that would get in their way.
It was unlikely the destruction would extend beyond Europe, at the most, but still. That was a large amount of destruction and I had to do something to stop it.
“I’m sorry. I wish I had some uplifting words for you, but we’re going to die down here.” She sounded so forlorn, but so accepting of what she had just said.
“No, we are not. I’m not going to let that happen.”
In the darkness, I could just make out her sad smile. I realised that nothing I said was going to change her mind. I resolved to simply take care of the situation, she would believe me when it was all done and dusted.
“How long have you been down here?” I asked.
“Two weeks,” she said.
“A month,” said the man beside her, speaking up for the first time.
“A month?” I asked, incredulous. “You can’t be serious. How have you been down here for a month?”
“I wasn’t alone the entire time,” he said, his voice dead and empty. “I’ve watched a lot of people leave this cell and not come back.”
I gulped, nodding my head as I adjusted to that information. No wonder the woman had accepted her lot; she had spent two weeks listening to a man who had lost every piece of his soul losing people. Perhaps she had seen people go as well.
I was supposed to watch one of them go, I realised, and then the people that I loved. Maybe one of them would be eaten tonight. I couldn’t let that happen, which meant that I didn’t have any time to lose getting out of here. I had to figure out something that would get us out of this cell…
My mind was coming up blank.
“So, every time they come down here…?” I wanted to get some more information, maybe something that would help jog the thought process in my mind.
“No, not every time,” he said, answering the question I hadn’t been able to bring myself to ask. “A lot of the time they come down here and just…stare at us. It’s like they’re tempting themselves, they get close but they don’t touch us, or sometimes they’ll cut one of us and try to stay at the far end of the room. Once they lost control, but after that they made sure they had a thrall in the room to feed on instead. It’s like we’re the guinea pigs for them to test themselves on. I don’t know why they do it, but it happens.”
“Hm,” I said, pondering on that for a moment. So, they were testing themselves, seeing how much they could handle before they lost control. “Your average vampire isn’t going to have much of a problem staying away from blood if they’ve set their mind on not indulging. I don’t see why that would be such a problem for them. They didn’t seem brand new, although I assume they have newborns that they’ve created. Is it always the same three that come down here?”
“Yeah, always the original three. Sometimes they have a new guy with them, but that one’s always outside the cell. It’s the three that seem to test themselves.”
“So, it’s just them that’s having the problem with their bloodlust. They’re trying to see what control they still have. They did seem off when I saw them, at the Thames and then again just now. Their eyes were wrong. Why, though? Why would they be losing control? There’s no reason for it. It doesn’t make sense.” I couldn’t figure it out, couldn’t find what the reason for it would be. It seemed important though; it could be what was driving them and their mad attempt at dominion.
“There’s something wrong with them, I’m certain of it,” the woman said, eager, scooting towards me. “The way they look at us, once, one of them had to throw themselves against the wall to keep from touching me.”
“Mm, yeah, OK,” I said, nodding my head. “That’s obvious now, but the question is, what is wrong with them?”
“Do you think if you figure that out, you’ll be able to get us out?” She was breathless as she asked the question.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Sara,” the man said, scornfully. “No one is going to get us out of this. We are going to die. We’re already dead, we’re just waiting for them to finish the job.”
“But I don’t want to be dead! I want to get out of here, I want to go back to my family, I want to hold my husband one more time and tell him how much he means to me. Our last words were a fight,” she said, starting to sob. “It just can’t end like that; the universe couldn’t possibly be so cruel.”
“Snap out of it! The universe is that cruel. It always has been, we just didn’t know about it. Did you think the universe had creatures like that in it before? No one can change what they are, and no one is strong
enough to stop them. It’s a wonder they’ve only just decided to take over the world, they should have done it a long time ago. Or have you gone back to pretending this is all a bad dream you’re having?” His tone was mocking.
“Hey!” I said, standing up. “Stop talking to her like that. Yes, it’s hard to come to terms with your world being turned upside down like this, I’m sure it took you some time to adjust as well. So, stop being such an utter arsehole to her.”
“There’s no use in coddling her!”
“Well you’re bloody wrong! Because they are not the only thing out there, they aren’t even the strongest things out there. There is a whole universe of other creatures, and I am one of them. And I am going to take care of this.”
“You can’t possibly do that,” he scoffed.
“Watch me,” I said, the grin on my face not friendly in the slightest.
35
I stomped to a corner of the cell and started rooting around until I found what I was looking for; growling when I found it by jabbing myself on the nail. I snatched it off the floor and gashed my finger until it started to bleed, really bleed. It hurt like hell, but it didn't matter, this was what I had to do, this was what I had to work with. I drew a circle on the floor with my blood, chanting as I did so. I felt the power rising even before it snapped shut with the ounce of will I pushed into it. Its energy thrummed in the room, powerful in a way that no other circle I had drawn before was.
I had never used my own blood before.
I heard Sara whimper in the other corner, but shoved her out of my mind. She could be terrified of me for all I cared, so long as she survived to be terrified of me. I was the hunter in the darkness that was going to keep this Gods be damned planet safe. Everyone could hate me. I didn’t give a fuck.
I sat down in the circle, cross legged, and placed my palms on my knees. “Malphas. Malphas. Malphas. Meet me in my mind.” With every utterance of his name my voice rose louder. My hands balled into fists, blood dripping from the right hand, I could hear it splattering against the ground as it rolled off my thigh, my energy was running so high, my senses so heightened.
I entered the dreamscape a moment later, one of my own building. We were on a Scottish moor, thunder crackling overhead as the heavens threatened to break loose and pour down upon us. I hadn’t intentionally created it this way, it had developed out of the mood I was in.
Mal showed up a moment later, a bemused expression on his face, he turned one way and then another until he just looked at me. “Blair?” He seemed surprised, and then his face turned indignant and angry, and I knew it wasn’t at me, it was at the circumstance. “What the bloody hell are you doing? What is happening?”
“Do you want the short version? Vampires are trying to destroy the world and I’m stuck in this fucking cell because I fucked up because I’m a fucking idiot.” I growled, baring my teeth at him. I knew I wasn’t angry at him, but my frustration at the situation was building up in me and it needed an outlet. I didn’t want to scream at him, I wanted to hug him, I wanted to cry, I wanted someone to help me handle this situation because I was terrified that I couldn’t do it on my own. But I couldn’t do any of those things. I couldn’t let anyone else get involved in this, because I wasn’t willing to risk them.
The likelihood that the vampires could hurt Mal was low, I admitted, but it was a chance, and I wasn’t willing to take a chance like that. I wasn’t going to lose anyone, no matter the fact that I didn’t trust myself around Mal right now, didn’t know what his mark was doing to me. None of that mattered when faced with the idea of losing the people I cared about.
He took two steps and wrapped his arms around me, his head nestling on top of mine. “It’s going to be OK, Blair. We’re going to get you out of this.”
“No!” I said, pulling away from him. “No one is going to get me out of this, I am going to get myself out of this, and then I am going to get this cleaned up. I will take care of my own mess.”
“You expect me to believe this is your mess? Blair, you didn’t force any vampires to turn rogue. You didn’t set them on a course of destruction. This isn’t your fault!”
“Says you!” My voice cracked. “You don’t know that it isn’t. No, I’m not risking anyone in this, I’m not risking you!”
He blinked, staring at me, and I couldn’t make out the look that shifted across his face before he had his emotionless mask back in place. He looked away from me, staring down at the ground in quiet, and I knew I had unsettled him.
“You have to let us help you. Let me get Finn, I can have him tell Emily if you don’t want me to get near her, I don’t care about that. You need someone to help you, at the least, damn it, let me help you,” he said, pleading, reaching to grasp my hand. “You’re not risking anything by letting me help you with a pesky vampire infestation. No one is going to hurt me.”
“But I don’t know that. I don’t and I can’t know that, and I’m not going to play fast and loose just to find out. No, I’ve made up my mind, Mal. That’s not what I called you here for.” I turned away from him, taking my hand from his, feeling the tears prick at my eyes. Of course I wanted Finn and Emily with me, I would never feel safer than I did with Emily’s back pressed against mine during a fight. She was so solid and strong; she could take care of anything and I knew that. We had faced down an army of the undead together. So why did vampires scare me so much?
Because they were stronger and faster, I told myself.
Because they threatened her. I knew that was the real answer, but I couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge it. It hurt so much to even think about her being touched by the vampires, never mind that I knew she could handle herself, never mind that I had seen her in all her glory, geared up for battle in actual armour. She was a Warrior of the Lord; how could I doubt her abilities?
I didn’t. I doubted my own ability to withstand losing her.
“I don’t expect you to understand, Mal, that’s not what I’m asking for here. I’m just asking you to work with me in the way that I need you to.” I said, my voice low. It would reach him anyway, regardless of whether I was looking at him. That was the benefit of meeting him in a dreamscape, the laws of reality just didn’t apply any more.
“It’s a good thing you don’t expect me to understand, because I don’t. Did you not stop to think that we can’t stand the idea of losing you either? What do you think it will do to them if you never come back? Never mind that, do you know what it would do to me?” I could hear the pain in his voice, but I shook my head.
“Why?” I demanded, turning around to face him again. “Why would it do anything at all to you to lose me? I’m not anyone special to you, I’m just the mage you fooled into sealing a deal a year ago. Who cares? You shouldn’t.”
“If you think that’s all you are…” He shook his head, looking away from me again.
I didn’t understand him. We’d shared one kiss, once, and he’d given me the power to save London. That meant a lot to me, yes, but I didn’t expect it to mean anything at all to him. Why would it? I was just another human in the long string of humans I was sure he had duped in his time.
“Mal?” I asked, waiting for him to finish whatever it was he had been about to say.
“No, never mind. You clearly don’t care about what I think or what I have to say,” he said tightly, dragging his eyes back up to look at me again. “What can I do for you, then? What am I good for?”
I flinched, and now it was my turn to look away. Gods, what a sight we were, barely able to maintain eye contact for more than a moment. I hadn’t meant to hurt him—hadn’t known that I could hurt him. This was something that I was sure needed to be explored more later, but I didn’t have time for it. I didn’t have the time that we were wasting right now. Who knew if the vampires had already returned for Sara? If my body died while I was in a dreamscape with Mal, would I even know, or would I be stuck in this place forever?
Lightning cracked overhead, as if the world had
picked up the increase in anxiety.
“I’m sorry,” I said, the words barely audible.
He touched my shoulder gently. “Blair? At least let me help with…with this.” He gestured at my form, and I knew that he meant the burns crisscrossing my body. “I can’t believe someone did that to you,” he said softly. “It hurts to even look at it.”
“Imagine what it’s like to be the one feeling it,” I said, with a wry grin. “Actually, I can’t right now. My mind seems to be giving me some peace from the pain I was going through in there, which is a blessing. I don’t know how much more of it I can endure.”
“If you’d just let me come there, I could bring some salve, clean those up for you before you go and get yourself banged up even more. You must admit that that’s a good idea. You don’t want to go into battle already bleeding.” He tried for a smile.
I laughed. “You’ve got me there, that’s not a bad idea. I was going to ask you to come here anyway.”
“Oh? Thank goodness, now I can convince you to let me stay and help you,” he said with a grin, though I tried to convince myself he was teasing me.
“No, you can’t, but I think you already know that,” I said. “No, I need my gear obviously. And a change of clothes. And shoes, because these are killing me.”
“Are you alone?”
“No, why?”
“You’re going to change in front of them?” He asked, and I saw the aggravation writ across his face.
I rolled my eyes. “If I was it wouldn’t matter but no I’m not changing in front of vampires. I am changing in front of strangers though, not that it matters at all. They’re just people, Mal, and it’s not like I can go anywhere to change. And I am not fighting dressed like this, especially not in these shoes. I would prefer to not do it barefoot and in my underwear—because we both know this skirt isn’t going to survive a fight—but if that’s the only option you’re going to give me…”