by Tim O'Rourke
With drool swinging from my lips and chin, I staggered away from the scene of our crime. I stumbled and lurched forward, my legs wanting to give way beneath me. It was like my body wanted to give me up, throw me to the ground, so I would be caught by the police and be punished for what I’d done. And however much I knew what I’d done was wrong, it had just been a mistake. I had never meant for it to happen. I hadn’t meant for the humans to die. And neither had Theo. But was that so true? Perhaps the Wicce had been right about the vampires after all. Perhaps the vampires enjoyed recklessness and danger a bit too much? Perhaps I should’ve listened to my parents and those who truly did love me, and I now realised, they had just been trying to protect me. Had they been trying to protect me from the vampires or more from myself?
With the sound of sirens ringing in my ears as more emergency vehicles made their way to the scene, I struggled to keep my balance and not let my fear and guilt of what I’d done cast me to the ground so I could be caught. I tripped and stumbled through the bracken that covered the ground I needed to cross to make my escape. I felt thorns and broken branches snag at my face and grab at my hair. I ran harder and faster until my heart felt like it was going to burst in my chest. My lungs burnt as if they were on fire.
Breaking through the thick and dense undergrowth, I scrambled out. I tripped one last time, my head bashing against a rock. I felt the warm sensation of blood as it gushed over my forehead and down into my eyes. Rolling onto my back, I looked up into the sky. The corners of it seemed to be closing in on me, growing ever darker and darker until I was finally consumed in darkness. As I welcomed the dark, I hoped that it would hide me from the police but also from the reality of what Theo and I had done… and from those humans who now lay dead and bleeding out across the road…
Chapter Ten
…I had the unnerving feeling that I was being watched. Even in my sleep, I was convinced that someone or something was very close by. Was I still dreaming? I couldn’t be sure. Whatever the case maybe, I couldn’t help but feel that there was someone standing at the foot of my bed. I wanted to open my eyes but was too scared to do so. The nightmare I was slowly waking from still had its claws buried into my mind and wasn’t yet ready to let go. I wanted to be released from it. I wanted to be free of the nightmare. I wanted to be free of it, for I knew that it was more than a nightmare. My sleep had been haunted by very real memories. They were memories that I had tried for so long to bury, to forget, to tell myself I had played no part in it. But to try and hide such memories is a bit like burying a corpse in your back garden. Although the corpse might be hidden from the casual observer, every time you look out across the lawn you know what is secretly buried beneath the earth. There’s also the constant fear that one day that body might be discovered. I knew those feelings of paranoia all too well. For however hard I’d tried to change my life and to make amends for what I had done, I’d never truly been able to forget. The memories of the dead forever haunted me. So was it one of those dead humans who now stood in the dark at the end of my bed? Had he or she somehow managed to seep through from my nightmare? Was that not the real reason I didn’t want to open my eyes, fearing that if I did, I might look upon the face of one of those humans I’d killed? So I rolled over onto my side, pulling my knees up beneath my chin, screwing my eyes shut. I tried to think of happier times – of Pariac and not Theo. But had either of them ever really brought me happiness? If they had, I wouldn’t have stepped down in front of the train, desperate to flee the devastation I had created. I knew that if I ever was to try and put right what I’d made so wrong, lying like a coward in the darkness wouldn’t help me. Perhaps I should find the courage to open my eyes and look upon the face of one of those humans who had died out on the road. Had I shied away for too long? Hadn’t I spent my life running? But not anymore. I’d stopped running – that was why I was here.
Just as sleep was about to take me again, there was a noise. Not in my room this time but out on the landing. But was I not confusing sleep and the approach of an oncoming dream with reality? Was the sound I could hear not one of those dead humans coming to seek me out in my dreams – to make me face the harsh reality of what I’d been a part of – what I’d done?
The noise came again. Then again. It was the sound of somebody creeping along the landing outside my room. As I lie there, eyes screwed shut and cradling myself on the bed, I knew those sounds were not part of any dream. The cold realisation that there was somebody creeping about inside my house as I slept forced me wide awake and I sat up. The candle had almost burnt down and the flame was weak. My bedroom was shrouded in darkness and the book I’d been reading lay open on the bed beside me. My heart thumped in my chest as the sound came again. I placed one hand over my mouth to stifle a gasp. Picking up the candle, I listened for any noise. There was only silence, and it was so loud it sounded almost like a scream. On tiptoe, I made my way around the edge of the bed and headed toward the door. My hand shook so much that the flame flickered back and forth before me. But my hands did not tremble with magic – not this time. In fact, for the first time since coming awake from my two-week spell of unconsciousness, I realised those wavering tendrils of light inside of me had gone out. But what was the meaning of this? I’d never known a time when I hadn’t been able to fill the ebb and flow of magic within me. Had I used so much magic to form the protective wall around Shade that I had been left completely drained? It seemed like an impossible and crazy idea, but had I used up all my magic? But that would have been impossible! Magic can’t be turned on and off like a tap. It never ran out. It was what made a Wicce whole. Magic was what defined me, it was what made me different from the werewolves, vampires, and humans. It was magic that made my people unique. For now at least it seemed like the magic inside of me had been snuffed out like a wavering flame. I felt the feeling disconcerting and I grew fearful that my magic would never come back however much I knew this was an impossibility. Maybe my full strength would return if I took proper rest. Maybe then I would be able to feel those tendrils of light twitching and listing through my veins again. The book of spells I’d brought with me from my own world – surely reading that would help reignite the magic that, for the moment, seemed to have dwindled away.
The sound of footsteps came again from the other side of the door. I inched forward, closing my free hand around the doorknob. Holding my breath, I slowly pulled open the door. Holding the candle out before me, I peered down the length of the landing. But all I could see was shadows.
With my heart thumping in my chest, I called out, “Hello, is anyone there?”
My question was answered by the sound of footsteps moving at speed. They came from below and this time there was no mistaking them. The hurried footsteps were not part of any nightmare or dream. They were very real. I ran to the top of the stairs and looked down into the hallway. A shadow moved swiftly over the walls and headed toward the front door.
“Hey, who’s there? Calix, is that you?”
I didn’t want to blame Calix for everything that had gone wrong since stepping into this new layer, but I had caught him creeping around my house, so wasn’t it only natural for me to suspect him first, before any of the others? But why would Calix have come back? Why would any of my companions want to sneak into my house while I slept? What could any of them be looking for or hoping to find? From the top of the stairs, I couldn’t see the front door, but I heard it swing open then slam shut.
With the candle still held out before me, I raced down the stairs and into the hallway. By the time I’d reached the front door, it was swinging slowly open and closed in the wind that was blowing in from outside. I went to the door and peered out along the front garden path. Whoever had been in my house had long gone. There was no sign of anyone.
Feeling unnerved and rattled, I stepped back into the hallway and shut the front door. I knew that from my bedroom window I could see out across the park, so, wasting no time, I charged back up the stairs. Reaching the landin
g, I noticed for the first time that the study door was open. Hadn’t I closed it earlier after choosing one of the many books to read? I couldn’t be sure that I had. Peering around the edge of the door, I raised the candle. On first glance, everything seemed to be in its place and just how I’d left it. But then as I turned to leave, I noticed something. My heart shot up into my throat. The painting of the steam train was hanging at an odd angle once more. Hadn’t I straightened that picture once already? I made my way across the room to the painting. After setting the candle down on the desk, I lifted the painting once more from the wall to reveal the hole hidden behind it. With one trembling hand, I reached into the hole and searched for the spell book. It was no longer there. Whoever had crept into my house while I had been asleep had taken it.
I turned away from the hole feeling numb and confused. Why would anyone want that spell book? Which of my companions would have wanted to steal it from me? Again, my mind went straight to Calix. I remembered how he had offered to take it from me as I’d climbed from the boat on the shore. But did that make Calix the thief? What about Rea? It could have been she who had stolen the book. But other than the fact that she didn’t like me, I couldn’t think of a reason why she would want to take it. What possible good could a spell book do for a bunch of werewolves? None of what had happened made any sense at all. I turned away from the hole in the wall knowing one thing for sure. With my magic fading within me and without the spell book to help, I had grown weak. I had become vulnerable to my enemies. But did I have any enemies? I heard Calix’s warning as if he were breathing the words into my ear.
Don’t make an enemy in Rea, Calix had warned me.
Not knowing what to think or who to trust, my head began to pound and my skin flushed hot. I knew I was still not over the fever that I’d woken with. Taking the candle with me, I left the study and went to the bathroom. Placing the candle to one side, I turned on the taps and filled the basin with water. Cupping my hands and filling them with water, I splashed it across my face. It felt cool and made my skin feel prickly.
I splashed more of the water onto my face until my fringe and the ends of my hair were damp. With my skin feeling a little cooler, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes still looked sunken and my face was ashen and gaunt. I knew it would take more than a few strips of rabbit meat to bring me back to full health. I turned my head slightly to the left, wanting to see how Calix’s bite mark was healing.
Stumbling back from the mirror and clapping my hands to my face, I cried out loud. Hoping I had been mistaken by what I had seen in the mirror, I tilted my head further to the left so I could inspect more closely the bite mark. With my heart raging in my chest, I knew I had not been mistaken. The bite mark had changed. Out of those two black and purple wounds now sprouted clumps of bristling black hair.
Feeling suddenly distraught and confused, I couldn’t help but fear that Calix’s bite was now slowly turning me into a wolf.
To be continued...
‘Vampires of Maze’
(Part Four)
Publishing May 2016!
More books by Tim O’Rourke
Kiera Hudson Series One
Vampire Shift (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 1
Vampire Wake (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 2
Vampire Hunt (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 3
Vampire Breed (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 4
Wolf House (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 5
Vampire Hollows (Kiera Hudson Series 1) Book 6
Kiera Hudson Series Two
Dead Flesh (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 1
Dead Night (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 2
Dead Angels (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 3
Dead Statues (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 4
Dead Seth (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 5
Dead Wolf (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 6
Dead Water (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 7
Dead Push (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 8
Dead Lost (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 9
Dead End (Kiera Hudson Series 2) Book 10
Kiera Hudson Series Three
The Creeping Men (Kiera Hudson Series Three) Book 1
The Lethal Infected (Kiera Hudson Series Three) Book 2
The Adoring Artist (Kiera Hudson Series Three) Book 3
The Secret Identity (Kiera Hudson Series Three) Book 4
The White Wolf (Kiera Hudson Series Three) Book 5
The Kiera Hudson Prequels
The Kiera Hudson Prequels (Book One)
The Kiera Hudson Prequels (Book Two)
Kiera Hudson & Sammy Carter
Vampire Twin (Pushed Trilogy) Book 1
Vampire Chronicle (Pushed Trilogy) Book 2
The Alternate World of Kiera Hudson
Wolf Shift
Werewolves of Shade
Werewolves of Shade (Part One)
Werewolves of Shade (Part Two)
Werewolves of Shade (Part Three)
Werewolves of Shade (Part Four)
Werewolves of Shade (Part Five)
Werewolves of Shade (Part Six)
Vampires of Maze
Vampires of Maze (Part One)
Vampires of Maze (Part Two)
Moon Trilogy
Moonlight (Moon Trilogy) Book 1
Moonbeam (Moon Trilogy) Book 2
Moonshine (Moon Trilogy) Book 3
The Jack Seth Novellas
Hollow Pit (Book One)
Black Hill Farm (Books 1 & 2)
Black Hill Farm (Book 1)
Black Hill Farm: Andy’s Diary (Book 2)
Sydney Hart Novels
Witch (A Sydney Hart Novel) Book 1
Yellow (A Sydney Hart Novel) Book 2
The Doorways Saga
Doorways (Doorways Saga Book 1)
The League of Doorways (Doorways Saga Book 2)
The Queen of Doorways (Doorways Saga Book 3)
The Tessa Dark Trilogy
Stilts (Book 1)
Zip (Book 2)
The Mechanic
The Mechanic
The Dark Side of Nightfall Trilogy
The Dark Side of Nightfall (Book One)
The Dark Side of Nightfall (Book Two)
The Dark Side of Nightfall (Book Three)
Samantha Carter Series
Vampire Seeker (Book One)
Vampire Flappers (Book Two)
Vampire Watchmen (Book Three)
Unscathed
Written by Tim O’Rourke & C.J. Pinard
You can contact Tim O’Rourke at
www.kierahudson.com or by email at [email protected]