Star Crossed

by Louise Matchett

  “Oh jeez, look we aren’t here to hurt you, we need your help as much as you need ours.”

  “Why would I need your help?” Julie asked.

  “We can help you find your husband, now get in!” the woman replied.

  I might as well go, even if they do kidnap me at least I’ll be closer to Rome she thought and without another word she approached the van and with a final look around she climbed in as the doors closed behind her.

  Chapter 7 - Four Keepers. One Vampire

  “Step on it!” The blond haired woman yelled to the driver.

  Julie turned and found that there were four of them, two men sat up front, one with black hair that was almost touching his shoulders was driving, the other had platinum blond hair that was tied back into a short ponytail, he watching her as if she was going to attack them at any moment.

  The tyres squealed as the van pulled away, Julie fell forwards almost hitting her head on the two shelving units that hung across one side of the van. A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders, preventing her head from colliding with the cold metal. Julie turned her head and the hands let go of her, the blonde haired woman gave her a small smile and pulled down the fold out wooden bench that was secured to the lower side of the van.

  Julie turned and found a twin fold down wooden bench attached to her side of the van. She pulled it down, the van taking a sharp corner causing her to fall onto the bench. The brown haired woman who had been standing, watching them sat down next to her college. The sleeve of her jacket was half raised, displaying the pale skin of her forearm and the tattoo that dominated it.

  Julie stared at it. It was a tattoo every vampire was told to recognize and commit to memory. The tattoo was a bold, black outline of a heater shield with a circle in the middle, thin bold waves where emitted from the circle whilst a pair of crossed, narrow bladed swords cut across the circle, defending it.

  “Hello Keepers” she said with a small grin.

  “So you know us.” The platinum haired man said narrowing his eyes.

  “I know of your tattoo. A heater shield, with a radiant sun in the middle guarded by two crossed swords.” Julie explained, meeting his eye.

  The man looked away and Julie turned her attention to the brown haired woman.

  “Yes, we’re Keepers. I’m Kate Katheryn, leader of this group.” Kate said. “This here is May Rosie.” She nudged the blonde woman beside her.

  “I’m Jonas Philips.” The man with the black hair said while keeping his eyes on the road as they made another sharp turn.

  Julie turned to the only one left of the group, whose name she didn’t know.

  He frowned, his eyebrows knitting together “Lucas Riles” he said finally.

  “Julie Colray. You said you can help me get Rome back.” Julie said turning away from a still frowning Lucas and facing Kate.

  “We can help each other. We’re trying to find a vampire, someone we think you know.” Kate explained.

  “Despite whatever you’re told at your training facilities, not every vampire in the country knows each other.”

  “You know this one, a male called Zath, no last name that we could find.”

  Julie swallowed “Sorry I don’t know who you’re on about.”

  “Don’t lie, after all if you don’t help us take him down, we won’t help you get your husband back” snarled Lucas.

  “What exactly had Zath done to deserve having four Keepers at his door?” Julie asked.

  “Kidnapping humans” said Jonas.

  “Murder of both humans and vampires” said Lucas.

  “To name a few, he’s broken the laws that both species agreed to” said Kate.

  “I haven’t seen him in years” said Julie.

  “We’re known one of Zath’s alleys, we’re heading to his home in Scotland right now.”

  “Good, what about Rome?”

  “Zath kidnapped him” May said.

  “WHAT?!” Julie cried.

  “It’s true, he’s the one who send those men to your house to take him and again to get you and burn your house down.” Lucas said, no longer frowning but Julie thought she saw the tips of his mouth turn up at the burning your house down part.

  “We don’t know why he would kidnap Rome, but I can tell from your face that you do.” Kate said.

  “Rome and Zath were turned by the same Vampire, before he died he told Rome his secret to making sunlight rings, we were all shocked. We all thought Lawrite would tell Zath the secret not Rome.” Julie explained.

  “Zath took it badly, he would follow Rome around begging for a ring and how they were made but Rome refused telling him to wait a few years, Zath wasn’t happy but he went away and we left our home country and began to travel.”

  “Well that tell us why Rome was taken and what Zath is up to” said Lucas, climbing over the passenger seat and sitting next to Julie.

  She regarded him with caution before Kate asked.

  “Where was your home country?”

  “Italy for most of our lives, then we moved to Spain and then to Russia for a while before finally settling in London.” Julie replied, unable to stop a small smile spreading across her face as she remembered the time she had thrown a snowball at Rome in Russia.

  Suddenly something sharp poked her neck, Julie lashed out, knocking whatever it was to the floor of the van. She watched as the syringe rolled across the floor before snatching it up and holding it to the light. Her vision blurred as she tried to focus on the syringe but as the van turned she tried to stand up but her feet fell from beneath her and she found herself on the cold floor of the van.

  She laid there as Kate, May and Lucas watched her until they too began to become blurry and dark. She unwilling closed her eyes and was lost to the Keepers around her.

  Chapter 8 - Dead and Alive

  Sound returned to Julie faster than her sight. She could hear the heartbeats of the people around her, four steady sets of thumping organs, they weren’t worried or afraid that she would wake up and attack them. But the other thing she noticed was that she was no longer moving, she could no longer hear the rumbling of the road beneath the van’s wheels, which could only mean one thing; they had stopped and reached their destination.

  A door opened and then closed. A pair of footsteps came from her left and then the van doors where being opened, Julie could feel the cool night air on her skin.

  “Let’s go” said Lucas.

  His heartbeat was the loudest out of the others, which told Julie that he was the closest. Good she thought and opened her eyes and launched herself at Lucas.

  His blue eyes widened as she grabbed his throat and pushed him up against the side of the van, he clawed uselessly at her hand and she gave him a little shake before moving to the side to address the whole group.

  “Next time any of you do that again, I’ll tear your throats out, regardless of the laws. Do I make myself clear?” she said.

  The group gave a small nod, not one of them daring to move to Lucas’ aid. Julie faced Lucas and grinned. “Do I make myself clear?” she asked him.

  Lucas tried to nod but her grip on his throat wouldn’t let him. He opened his mouth and tried to speak.

  “Y-yes, I understand.” He croaked.

  Julie nodded and quickly released him.

  He doubled over gasping for air, hands at his sore throat.

  “Excellent, now then shall we?” Julie didn’t wait for an answer as she jumped out of the van, her shoes colliding with loose gravel.

  She breathed in the scents the night air brought with it and, turning away from the van, she took a step forward and stopped. In front of her were a pair of tall, iron gates but one of them was half swung open, leaving a gap just big enough for them all to squeeze through. But that wasn’t what made her stop, beyond the iron gates and surrounded by an array of trees from oak to sliver birch, she could see a large castle.

  Julie turned to the rest of the group and watched as they gathered their equipment; guns,
grenades, knives and stakes were pushed into pockets and gaps in their clothing. The Keepers each slid on a pair of strange looking goggles. Julie could just make out a greenish tint in the glass then it hit her: they were night vision goggles.

  “Do I get a stake?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I have one with your name on it” Lucas murmured and Julie shot him a dark look before taking a small knife and a stake from Kate.

  “Lucas shut up. And follow me.” Said Kate.

  She walked past Julie, taking the lead. With the others following close behind, Julie darted ahead of the others until she was walking side by side with Kate.

  Kate slid through the gap in the gates with ease. She stood survey the surrounding area as the rest of her team came though. Kate turned to Julie.

  “Can you see anything watching us?” she asked.

  Julie glanced around and shook her head, “all clear.”

  Kate nodded as Jonas emerged from the gap. “Let’s go.” She said.

  The path leading up towards the castle was wide and it seemed never ending. There was no sound coming from the castle, not even a heartbeat. Suddenly a light breeze picked up, sending a ripple of motion across the trees. Bringing with it a smell that made Julie’s mouth begin to water.

  “What is it?” May asked, walking over to her side.

  “I smell blood.” She replied.

  “So, what it’s probably the people inside” said Lucas.

  “Yet apart from ours I don’t hear any heartbeats” Julie replied.

  “How old?” Kate asked as they slowed their approach.

  “A few hours, I’ll have to see it to be sure though.”

  Kate nodded and as the castle came into view they all stopped and glanced around for any signs of life outside. But as the breeze died down all movement seemed to stop with it. The castle itself was a crumbling ruin of its former self, with much of its outside wall and turrets looking fragile with age.

  As they stepped into the courtyard they were greeted by a ground littered with corpses. Julie knelt down to the closest corpse, a young man with his hair cut so short he was almost bald and his eyes wide open in fear, she lightly turned his head, a set of small puncher marks in his throat told them what had happened.

  “This one is still warm” she muttered.

  “We need to search this place top to bottom, there has to be something left behind that we can use to find Zath.” Kate said.

  As the others nodded, Julie closed the man’s eyes and joined them as they went left. There was little light and Julie was grateful that she didn’t have to wear those ridiculous night vision goggles. But she like the others were irritated when they reached a dead-end.

  They made their way back to the courtyard and this time they went right, making their way along the brick corridor. Unlit torches stood in their brackets, a thin layer of cobwebs covering them. As the corridor went left they had no choice but to follow it as it went left and then right and then left again before coming out back at the courtyard.

  “What the hell is up with this place?” Lucas asked, running a hand through his hair. “It’s like a brick maze.”

  “Many royals had tricks, mazes and hidden entrances to confuse and outsmart their enemies should they come knocking.” Julie explained.

  “So there’s a hidden passage?” May asked.

  Julie shrugged “More than likely though I have no idea where they would be.”

  “I’d settle for the stairs to go up.” Said Kate.

  The rest of the Keepers nodded.

  “Maybe if I have a look around I might find something we originally missed?” Julie suggested it will also give me the chance to look for any signs of Rome.

  Kate nodded, “Go ahead, we’re report the bodies in to our headquarters.”

  Julie gave them all a nod and turned to the passageway they had taken.

  Running her hands across the wall she ignored the roughness of the stone as she felt around for a hidden notch or latch that would reveal the stairs to get up to the first floor.

  The sounds of the Keepers muttering amongst each other faded leaving nothing but the sounds of her own footsteps. Her fingertips ran up the wall until they suddenly touched something cold making her jump and yank her hand away. Julie chuckled as she realized that she had touched one of the brackets for the torches. She frowned. The torch hadn’t a shred of cobweb on it, as if someone had brushed them away. There was a slot beneath and above the torch strange she thought, running her hand along both slots it can be lowered and raised, this must be it Julie thought as she raised her hand and grabbed the ancient torch. Slowly she pulled it down. There was a crank and a click and a cry from the group of Keepers echoed along the corridor. Julie raced back to them. They had grouped together, weapons raised, facing whatever it was that had appeared.

  “What is it?” Julie asked as she came to a stop next to Kate.

  “Stairs.” Kate muttered.

  Julie turned, before them was a narrow wooden staircase, that seemed to rise up and lead off to the first floor of the castle. She walked over to it and raised her foot onto the first step. It creaked under her weight. Julie swallowed. And raised her other foot off of the secure ground and onto the second step. As she made her way up the stairs she could feel the Keepers watching her but not heading for the staircase themselves. I don’t blame them, if the stairs do collapse at least it’s just me on them. She thought. She reached the top and stepped off of the last stair and onto the first floor.

  “I made it!” she called down to them.

  She watched as they quickly made their way up the stairs, ignoring the unnerving creaking that came with every footstep.

  “Left or right?” Julie asked, pointing each way that lead off into darkness.

  “Right.” Said Kate.

  The others nodded and they all headed right. A thin, faded carpet covered the floor but there was no furniture and no artworks unlike many of the other castles Julie had been in. She led the way and none of the Keeper objected. They reached a wooden door, with a thick iron ring attached to it acting as a handle. Julie reached out and turned it. The door creaked open. And they entered one by one.

  The room was small and cold but it was far from empty. Tables ran along the room, on top of them were bottles and vials full of strange liquids. Microscopes and safety goggles were next to much of the equipment, as if someone had told everyone inside the room to stop work, put down their things and leave.

  “Why would someone leave all these things behind?” May muttered as she carefully picked up one of the vials.

  “I don’t think they did.” Said Jonas.

  “What do you mean?” Julie asked as she walked along one of the tables.

  “There is someone’s identification badge here, it has a photo on it doesn’t he look familiar.” He said holding the ID badge up as Julie crossed the room towards him.

  She took the ID badge from him and examined it. It was covered in thick plastic to protect it and a barcode ran along the bottom of it but what draw her attention was the photo. It was of a man, who was nearly bald and as Jonas said he did look familiar.

  “He was the man downstairs, but that must mean that all the people working here…” she trailed off lowering the ID and glancing around.

  “They were all killed.” Jonas continued.

  “Because whatever they were working on, whoever hired them didn’t want anyone to know” said Lucas.

  “Zath’s ally perhaps?” Julie speculated.

  “Or Zath himself” said May.

  “The question is what were they working on and where is this ally” said Kate.

  “Well if we split up, we could check the rest of this room and the other-” began Lucas.

  “Hush.” Julie hissed.

  “What is your problem vamp?” Lucas asked as he took a step in front of her.

  “Will you shut up, I thought I heard something” Julie hissed at him.

  Lucas frowned but kept quiet as Julie lis
tened. After a moment of silence Kate whispered.

  “What is it?”

  “I-I can hear hearts beating from downstairs” she replied.

  The Keepers exchanged a look as Julie crept towards the door, she left the room and the Keepers followed her. She peered over the landing to the ground floor below but the corpses had vanished from sight. May gasped but Julie didn’t stop walking as she made her way down the stairs the sound of a beating heart grew louder and louder. She was numbly aware of the Keepers now standing next to her but she was too transfixed on that beating heart. Julie took a step forward as a figure stepped out of the dark.

  “Well hello everyone, welcome to my home. A pity you won’t survive long enough to finish your search” said a voice Julie hadn’t heard in centuries.

  The Keepers raised their weapons but didn’t say a word.

  “Hello Zath.” Said Julie.

  Chapter 9 - Us against Them

  “Ah Julie, a pity you are here with this lot but then I suppose it was always going to end this way.” Said Zath with a grin, he turned his head to address whoever was hidden in the shadows. “Kill them all.”

  Humans stepped out of the shadows. Dried blood was encrusted on their necks, their eyes lifeless and dull, and their faces pale and unmoving.

  “They were dead, how are they moving?” Kate asked as the horde shuffled towards them.

  “Some kind of mix of magic and science.” Julie replied.

  The group moved closer together as the horde surrounded them.

  “How exactly are these guys meant to hurt us, I mean it’s not like they have knives or anything” said Lucas.

  As soon as the words left his mouth the humans opened their mouths and they all watched as a pair of needle sharp fangs descended from their gums.

  “Now then, the lot of you play nice. I have to go and prepare for the beginning of the first day of my conquest” came Zath’s voice, Julie thought she had him in her sights but a reawakened vampire blocked her view before she could act.

  “Conquest of who?” Julie called out.

  “Why all the humans of the world” replied Zath and then with chuckle he bounded for the ancient staircase and raced up the stair disappearing from view.