AHC2 Vampire Asylum

by Amy Cross

  "You're not going anywhere," I tell her, reaching under her naked body and hauling her up into my arms, before carrying her to the door. The whole of Tor Cliff is shaking now, and it's clear that we need to get the hell out of here as fast as possible. Whatever Dronigan's doing, he seems determined to shake the building until it collapses, and I can't say that I blame him. It's high time that this foul place was finally destroyed.

  "Felix," she whispers, "listen to me -"

  "You're going to be okay," I say firmly, hurrying along the corridor. "There are people who can help. I don't know who, but I'll find out. Someone out there can undo the damage that Dr. Cole caused."

  "Felix," she continues, "I don't want to spend my final moments arguing with you and trying to persuade you to see the truth. I'd rather talk to you honestly, and tell you how I feel, so that you'll remember me the way I want to be remembered."

  "I won't need to remember you," I reply, hurrying down the stairs. "I'll have you with me, always."

  "That's not possible," she replies. "Please. I don't have long left. Can't we just stop running and talk honestly?"

  "If we stop, you'll die," I tell her as we reach the main hallway and I carry her through the door, finally reaching the steps that lead down to the edge of the forest. It's cold out here, but it's safer than being in Tor Cliff, and at least we have a chance of finding a way to one of the other worlds. "I'm not going to give up on you," I continue. "Whatever else happens, I'm going to get you the help you need."

  She doesn't reply. Instead, as I carry her toward the forest, she leans closer to me and presses the side of her face against my bare chest.

  "One day," I continue, "we'll have children, and we'll grow old together, and we'll tell this story to our family and no-one will believe us." Refusing to look down at her, I keep my gaze firmly fixed on the trees ahead. "They'll call us liars, and we'll protest that it's all true, but finally we'll let them think what they want. We'll know it really happened. As long as we're together, everything will be okay."

  Suddenly I stop, still looking straight ahead.

  I wait for her to reply, but all around me there's nothing but silence.

  As a tear rolls down my cheek, I force myself to look down at her, and I see that she has finally died in my arms, with her face pressed gently against my chest. I open my mouth to say something, but I know that no words will ever be enough to express how I feel about her. In fact, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to speak again.

  Taking a deep breath, I get down on my knees and place her naked body on the damp leaves. After brushing the hair from across her face, I stare for a moment at her beauty, before leaning down and kissing her forehead. At least she's found peace, and I can't help but think of her soul lifting away from her body and making its way far from here.

  With nothing else to do, I settle down next to her, put my arm around her waist, and lie with her for a while as the fog rolls past and the dead forest falls still.

  Chapter Five

  Abby Hart

  Despite the pain, I'm finally able to get my eyes open. I hurry to a sink and use water to wash away most of the powder, and although it's still hard to see properly, at least I'm able to turn and make my way across the laboratory. The beast must have gained at least a couple of minutes' head start on me, but there's no way I'm going to let him get away.

  Glancing at the desk, I see that he's taken the box with him.

  I race out into the corridor and make my way to the top of the wide staircase that winds its way down to the bottom of the building. As the walls shake, I look over the edge, but there's no sign of the beast anywhere. Given the advantage he gained, he could be anywhere by now, so I run over to one of the large windows and look out at the gloomy blue forest that surrounds Tor Cliff. For a moment, I don't see anyone, but finally I spot a figure hurrying down the main steps at the front of the building, and sure enough it's the beast. Wherever he's going, he's clearly in a hurry, and I don't have time to simply run after him.

  I turn and head back along the corridor. I'm not entirely sure that this is a good idea, but it's my only chance to catch the beast, so I take a deep breath and then I start running. Picking up speed as I get past the top of the stairs, I pass the point of no return and finally I launch myself at the window, crashing through the glass and emerging into the cold air around the highest part of Tor Cliff.

  For a moment, it's almost as if I'm hanging in mid-air, a couple of hundred meters above the ground.

  This might not have been such a great plan.

  I can see the beast far, far below, still running, but I'm already starting to fall faster than I expected. There's an old stone buttress running along the front of the building, and I realize with horror that I'm falling straight toward its main line. I twist in the air, just about managing to lean my head out of the way as my shoulder smashes through the stone. The jolt is enough to rattle my bones, but I don't have time to recover.

  Somehow, I'd hoped that this would be an elegant descent. I was wrong.

  Still falling, I hit the slate roof of the third floor. I have to fight my instincts and force myself not to reach out for support; instead, I tumble down the side and then over the edge. There's still at least a hundred meters to go, and I honestly have no idea how much it's going to hurt when I land, but there are no more obstacles in the way and I'm plummeting faster and faster, hurtling through a thick layer of fog. I brace for impact and tell myself that somehow it's all going to be okay.

  And then I hit the ground.

  Slamming into the cold forest floor, I black out for a fraction of a second as I skid through the mud. Before I have a chance to slow myself down, I glance against the side of a tree, which sends me spinning off to one side until finally I come to a rest in a pile of leaves. My body hurts and I feel dizzy, but I force myself to get up and when I look around, I spot the beast running through the trees.

  It might have been painful, but at least it worked.

  Setting off after him, I manage to cover the distance between us within ease. He doesn't seem to have noticed that I've caught up to him, so I'm able to grab his shoulders and slam him into the ground, finally ending up on top of him as I quickly grab the box from his hands. He fights back for a moment, but ultimately he's too old and frail to be much of a threat and I manage to subdue him.

  "There's no point!" he shouts. "You can't do anything with it!"

  "It's mine," I say firmly, still short of breath. "It was in my head!"

  "But do you understand it?" he asks. "You're nothing but a fool! There are other people, better people, who can use that information. The code needs to be cracked, or it's useless! When your father hid that thing in your head, do you really think he never meant it to be found? He just wanted to ensure that whoever retrieved it was worthy!"

  "Let me guess," I continue. "You're willing to sell it to the highest bidder?"

  "Whoever wants it the most will pay the most," he replies.

  "You didn't set up Tor Cliff because of scientific curiosity," I tell him. "It was greed. You knew you could sell it, and you tortured all those innocent prisoners so you could make a profit."

  "They're not innocent," he gasps. "Most of them were murderers, warriors, liars... They all had blood on their hands! I didn't want to draw attention to my plans, so I abducted only the most miserable members of the species. I doubt anyone missed them, and by releasing them you've probably done far more harm than good. Still, if it makes you feel better, I suppose there's no need to worry too much, is there?"

  "This is over," I reply. "All the pain you caused, all for profit, it's ending right now."

  "Fine," he says with a faint smile, "but if you think that's the end of it, you're wrong. Your father was a slave to a prophecy, Abigail Hart, but you're a slave to destiny. You're going to end up at Karakh whether you like it or not, and I promise you one thing. You'll die there. No escape, no second chances, no miraculous recoveries or last-minute reprieves. You'll die at Karakh a
nd your remains will be churned into the ground."

  "Sounds like fun," I reply, reaching down and grabbing his head before twisting it violently first to one side and then the other, finally breaking his neck. "I'd send you a postcard," I mutter, sitting back, "but somehow I don't think you'd have a chance to read it."

  Around us, thick fog continues to drift between the trees.

  Catching my breath for a moment, I sit next to his dead body and look at the box in my hands. The beast wasn't a vampire, but he understood a lot about our species and even though he's dead, I can't dismiss any of the things that he said. I don't know anything about this Karakh place, but if there's even a chance that I'm going to end up there, I damn well need to do a little research. After a moment, I start to wonder if maybe opening the box would help. If the information is trapped in there...

  Suddenly, I realize that I'm being watched.

  There's a figure standing a little way off, partly hidden by the fog that floats gently through the forest. It's hard to make out any of the figure's features, but I'm clearly being observed, and as I get to my feet, I can't help but feel a cold chill pass through my body.

  I wait.

  The figure doesn't advance.

  "You want this?" I shout, holding up the box. I'm trembling with fear, but hopefully I'm far enough away for the figure not to realize that I'm scared.

  No answer.

  "You're gonna have to come and get it!" I call out. "If you want it that bad, you're gonna have to pry it out of my hand! You can't buy it off anyone! It's mine, and I'm not giving it up without a fight!"

  I wait.

  The figure doesn't reply.

  And then, slowly, he turns and walks away, disappearing into the fog.

  I stand in silence, my heart racing as I slowly lower the box. There's a faint itch around my neck, and when I reach up to give it a scratch, I realize that it's from the skin that's slowly healing the spot where my head was severed. I keep my eyes on the fog for a few minutes, just in case the figure shows up again, but finally I realize that whoever or whatever he was, he's gone. Clearly he was happy to buy what's in the box, but he wasn't prepared to come and take it by force.

  Behind me, there's the sound of Tor Cliff starting to crumble. I turn and look, just in time to see the front of the building fall in on itself, sending a vast cloud of dust and smoke up into the air, while shaking the ground. Finally, once the collapse is over, the forest falls silent again.

  Chapter Six

  Felix

  At first, I don't notice the sound of someone approaching. Finally, however, I lift my head and look back to see a tall, dark-haired figure approaching, with ice-cold skin and a curious frown on his face. It takes a moment before I realize where I've seen him before.

  "I tore it down," he says calmly, stopping to stare at me as I keep one arm around Nurse Silk's dead body. "It should have happened a long time ago, but Tor Cliff is no more. It feels very strange to look across the forest and not see the asylum, but in a way I think that perhaps this is how things are supposed to be. It occurs to me now that time exists for a reason. If things don't die and disappear and get lost, the universe might as well stay perfectly still. Entropy should be embraced, not feared." He pauses. "Is your friend sleeping?"

  "She's dead," I tell him. "They killed her."

  "Dead?" He pauses. "Yes. I can feel her soul nearby. She hasn't left this place yet, though. It's almost as if something is holding her back."

  "Tell her to go," I reply, getting to my feet. "Tell her that I'm sorry I couldn't save her, but that now she's dead she should just find somewhere else to exist. Tell her I understand, and..." I pause as I realize that even if I spoke for a million years, I'd never be able to find the right words to express the sense of loss. "Just tell her to go."

  "You seem sad," he says, tilting his head slightly, almost like a dog. "Time has affected you, hasn't it? Although I've returned to my original form and size, I've retained an understanding of certain emotional reactions. It's as if you mourn her death and wish she could be returned to you."

  "I love her," I tell him. "Even though she's gone, I don't think I'll ever stop feeling this way about her."

  "Love?" He pauses, and then finally he smiles. "Yes. I think I'm familiar with that feeling." Walking around and kneeling next to Nurse Silk's body, he stares at her for a moment. "It's most fortunate," he continues, "that we don't all love the same thing. Imagine how difficult it would be to organize the world. Thankfully, you love one person, I love another, and I suppose everything fits together quite nicely."

  "I'll never love again," I tell him, watching as he places his hands on the top of her head. "I'd rather -" Before I can finish, I see that he's starting to pull long, thin threads from her body, as if he's drawing them out from her soul. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Leave her alone!"

  "There are two parts to her mind," he replies, holding his hands up and staring in wonder at the threads. "There's the original part, which has been within her since her birth, but there's also..." He pulls a duller, grayer thread from the others and drops it to the forest floor. "Someone added something to her, didn't they? The beast, perhaps, or Dr. Cole... They added a whole second mind."

  "They tried to turn her into a wolf," I reply. "They thought she could be both a vampire and a werewolf, so they experimented with her body on a molecular level. I guess they succeeded, in a way, but she wasn't stable. There was no way she could ever survive, not with her body being pulled in two different directions."

  "They were fools," he continues, pulling more of the gray threads from her head. "I will never fully understand why people wish to meddle with the lives of others. Still..." He pulls more and more of the gray threads out, dropping them in a small pile on the forest floor. "I can pull out the vampire part as well," he adds after a moment. "It's rather amazing to see how a soul can be picked apart -"

  "There's no point," I tell him. "She's already dead."

  He smiles as he pulls out yet more threads.

  "You're wasting your time," I continue.

  "She's close," he replies. "Tell me, the werewolf part of her soul, did you want that removed? I've almost finished taking it out, but I could try to put it back if you'd rather. You'll need to decide before she wakes up, though. Once she's back, I'd rather not go rummaging through her mind again."

  "Back?" I stare at him, unable to let myself believe what I'm hearing. "You can't bring her back," I continue. "She died about twenty minutes ago -"

  "And her soul stayed close," he continues, finally dropping the last of the gray threads. "I think I'll leave the vampire part of her alone. If I took that too, there'd be very little left of her." He turns to me. "I've seen your dreams before. Would you like me to remove the part of your soul that troubles you? I know you've never been comfortable as a werewolf, so I'd be willing to relieve the pain."

  "My..." I pause for a moment. "No. I want to master my werewolf side, not remove it. There's no -"

  Before I can finish, Nurse Silk lets out a faint moan, and I look down to see that she's started to frown. All I can do is watch in disbelieving shock as she rolls onto her side and opens her eyes, and for a moment she stares at me as if she has no idea what's happening. I keep telling myself that there must have been some kind of mistake, that there's no way she could possibly have come back to life, but finally she sits up and takes a deep breath; when I reach out to touch her shoulder, all my doubt evaporates and I realize that somehow Dronigan has brought her back to me.

  "What happened?" she asks.

  I want to tell her everything, but I'm not entirely sure where to start.

  "It's gone," she continues after a moment. "The anger, the creature in my soul... It's gone."

  "I removed it," Dronigan explains, gathering up the threads from the forest floor. "It wasn't a difficult task, although now I have to decide what to do with the left-overs. I usually hang such things from the trees, like trophies, but that approach feels strangely inapp
ropriate now. Still, I'm sure something will come to me." He pauses. "I rather like bringing life to places that have been touched by death. It makes me feel as if perhaps I can contribute something to the world."

  "I felt myself die," Nurse Silk says as I help her up. "I felt my soul leaving my body, even though I didn't want to go. I waited, and I started to fade, but then something seemed to grab hold of me and force me to stay. I..." She turns to Dronigan. "You removed it, didn't you? You took away the monster that Dr. Cole put in my heart."

  "Monster?" He pauses. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it, although I myself have been referred to as a monster from time to time. I think I'd prefer to say that it was a part of you that didn't fit with the rest, and that was never meant to have existed." He glances over his shoulder, as if something in the distance has caught his attention. "You'll have to excuse me," he adds. "I think there's someone else who needs me."

  As he makes his way between the trees, Nurse Silk turns to me, and I can see the look of hope in her eyes.

  "We have to go far away from here," I tell her. "Tor Cliff is no more. The whole place has been destroyed, along with most of the staff. There's nothing here, so we have to strike out on our own."

  "I know a place where we can be safe," she replies, putting her arms around my waist. "I'm not sure that the world is quite ready for a vampire and a werewolf to be mates."

  "I don't care," I continue, looking deep into her eyes. "Whatever happens, we've defeated death, so I'm pretty sure we won't have too much trouble with anyone else who tries to stand in our way. We can always go to the Scottish Estate and seek sanctuary, and I have a few friends who'll be more than willing to let us stay with them."

  We continue making plans as we turn and walk away from the ruins of Tor Cliff. For the first time in many years, perhaps the first time I can remember, it feels as if there might be a bright future on the horizon. I have no idea how Nurse Silk and I are going to deal with the challenges that'll inevitably come our way, but I'm certain that together we can succeed as long as we stick together.