by Devon Ashley
“Like Abby?” she dared, her eyes finally meeting his.
The tea kettle whistled. Valerie returned her attention to the stove and poured water over her tea. She blew gently as the flavors and colors seeped.
Noel didn’t like the way she said it. It never occurred to him that an individual within the manor walls would have the ability to see what he didn’t wish to share. Coming here was a bad idea.
“What do you know about that?” he asked, each syllable toneless.
“More than you would like,” she answered, continually lifting the tea bag up and down in the water.
“Good. Then you know not to piss her off.” He rolled up the bag of chips and tossed them aside on the counter.
“The red hair alone tells me she can be temperamental.”
“So what have you seen?” Noel asked curiously, and worriedly.
Valerie didn’t respond right away. Instead, she squeezed the tea bag, threw it away and stirred in a little honey. As she turned around again, she replied, “I know who she is, what she is. And although she’s an amazing warrior, three fights in particular left her seriously injured.”
“Two, actually.”
Valerie shrugged. “Then the third has yet to happen.”
She left the kitchen, leaving Noel with a sinking feeling in his chest.
Unsettled, he left the manor in search for what was keeping Abby. Walking down the mountain, he came across Emily and her friends. The girls looked worn out, particularly Mira, whose left side and back were covered head to toe with wet dirt.
“Wild night?” he asked light-heartedly.
“Wasn’t disappointing,” said Darby.
“Till the freakin’ demon attacked!” cried Mira, pulling grass from her hair.
“What!? Where’s Abby?” he asked Emily, panicked.
“We just left her. Down the path a bit.”
Concerned, Noel pulled Emily aside and whispered, “What the hell happened? Is Abby alright?”
“Yeah, she’s fine,” she replied. “I don’t even know what happened. It was so quick. Some lizard looking thing. Abby’s taking care of it.”
“Alright. Stay here a few minutes and I’ll take you the rest of the way. I just need to check on Abby.” She better not be injured!
“Yeah, sure.”
Darby and Mira settled down in the dirt, happy to rest. Emily continued to stand, alert to everything around them.
It only took two minutes for Noel to find Abby. She stood above a small creature dead on the ground. She was frustrated, trying repeatedly to secure the knot in the muffler around her wound with one hand. Unsuccessful, Noel did it for her.
“Thank you,” she said, clearly stressed.
Trying to lighten her mood, he teasingly said, “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t go looking for trouble while we were here.”
“If only I could.”
Noel took a closer look at the creature.
“Is this – ?” he trailed off. He recognized it but was unable to remember what it was called.
“Yep. Long way from home,” added Abby.
“I’ve never seen one in person before. It looks young, only a few weeks maybe.”
“Tell me what was so important that a demon indigenous to deserts would travel all the way to Austria?”
Noel began to scan the forest around them. “Even better question for the moment: Where’s its mother?”
“I guarantee you she won’t be far.”
“We need to find her. I’ll take care of this and catch up to you.” He swept kindling from the trail and gathered it around the dead body.
“Don’t worry about me. Just make sure Emily and the other two make it back to the manor. They could come across the mother before I do.”
Don’t worry. Yeah, right. He couldn’t help but think of Valerie’s comment to him less than fifteen minutes ago. Three fights left her seriously injured, one he had yet to witness.
“I think you should wait for me.”
Abby was surprised. The two of them commonly worked solo and had always turned out okay - mostly.
“It’s not exactly a high level demon, Noel,” she rebutted.
“No, but once it smells the baby’s scent on you it’s going to be incredibly ticked off.”
Abby looked to her clothes and hands. The look of realization on her face told him she had indeed pressed the demon’s body into her own.
“Find it, but don’t engage.” He picked up the dagger in the snow and passed it to her. Then he gathered a bundle of twigs from the ground and waved them in front of her. She wasn’t amused. “Got a light?” he asked.
Firmly, she replied, “Weren’t you the one worried I may visit the dark side while I’m here?”
He sighed. They had had this conversation more times than he could count. Knowing what could happen in the days to come, he was more determined than ever to make her see reason.
“You’re a good witch, Abby. You were given a gift that allows you to conjure the elements. Fire is an element.”
“It’s also a power most commonly found amongst evil-beings. I’m not using it.”
She pulled a lighter from her pocket, tossed it to Noel and left silently. Sighing, Noel surrounded the creature with more brush and tried several times to set it on fire. The debris was too wet to do the job without an accelerant. Frustrated, he left the body to attend to the huntresses waiting up the hill.
After getting Emily and the other two safely back to the manor and successfully burning the demon with lighter fluid, Noel went in search of Abby and the creature’s mother. Unsuccessful in finding either in the nearby mountains, he was forced to retreat back to the safety of the manor. Dawn was approaching fast. He and Abby had made a pact the moment he turned her into a pure vampire. Regardless of what the mission was and the stage they were in, they would return to the designated safe house before dawn - no exceptions. Never had they failed to do so. Therefore, he had no doubt she would be heading in as well.
God, it’s sad we consider the manor a safe house.
He entered through the back door as the sky behind him lightened. His attention was immediately drawn to the red smears along the wall and floor. Concerned, he lightly slid his fingers through the liquid and smelled it. Abby.
His eyes widened in fear. He hurried through the blood-smeared corridors, fearing the inevitable.
He rounded the third corner. Abby’s body was lying face down on the floor, lifeless. The pool of blood beside her body rippled as his footsteps neared.
“Abby?” Noel called in shock, rolling her over. She was bruised and had several deep scratches in her arms, neck and chest. Her blood was smeared everywhere across her skin.
“Noel,” she whispered. Her eyes barely fluttered.
“I’ve got you.”
Noel gently picked her up off the floor and carried her further down the corridor.
Chapter Thirteen
Emily didn’t sleep much that night. The burning in her chest and stomach could have been from the excess alcohol or even her nerves. She couldn’t stop thinking about how she left Abby alone in the woods. Rightfully so; and that annoyed her most. Had she not gotten herself drunk she could have been more helpful. Noel could have been more helpful. Instead, he had to baby-sit her drunk-ass back up to the manor. So stupid.
Emily had long given up on sleep by the time the sun crept over the horizon. Morning practice was due to start shortly. She figured after last night, the least she could do was attend and burn the alcohol out of her system.
“Darby?”
Emily rolled her back and forth but she stubbornly moaned and hid underneath the covers.
“Fine. You leave me no choice.”
She picked up the clock and blared the music into Darby’s ear. Her body jolted to life.
“Oh, you witch!” she cried out. Suddenly sick, she added, “Oh, God. What the hell did I drink last night?”
“I think the better question is what didn’t you drink
last night.” She threw Darby’s covers to the floor as she tried to bury herself again. Still freezing after curling into the fetal position, Darby determined it wasn’t worth fighting and reluctantly sat herself up in bed.
A few minutes later they entered the arena. The Chancellor, along with a few advisors and hunters, had made their way there before them. Mira and her roommate Calley were amongst them.
Calley was stretching on the floor. Once a natural brunette, her bleached hair looked odd with her dark brown eyebrows. All the trips to the tanning beds made her skin look raw and older than she really was. Emily had always found her prissy but had honestly never bothered to know her.
“Morning,” Calley offered, but more out of habit than caring.
“Good morning, Calley,” Darby answered while yawning.
Mira was lying on her stomach trying desperately to catch a few more minutes of sleep. Emily playfully nudged her in the side with her foot. Mira moaned.
“Mira?”
She mumbled, “Too early. Need sleep.”
“Oh, come on. Abby goes out every night, all night and still trains with me in the morning.”
“Yeah, well, she can. She doesn’t get hurt as easily as we do. She’s indestructible.”
Emily didn’t answer. Her attention was drawn to the double doors in the back, to the fair skinned body draped limply in Noel’s arms. A red stain was smeared all over her body.
“My God! What happened?” cried the Chancellor.
Noel didn’t stop but coolly responded as he passed, “She just hit her head. Most of this was the demon’s blood.”
“But she’s cut!” he cried, following behind.
“They’re superficial.”
“We have an in-house doctor. I’ll send for him.”
“No!” exclaimed Noel. “I’ll take care of it. It’s just a few scratches.”
The Chancellor fell back. His mouth ajar, his eyes stricken with worry for his last line of defense. “What demon?!” he yelled out.
Noel paused by Emily and quietly asked her what her blood type was.
“O-negative.”
“Come with me.”
Abby’s frail and tired body sank heavily into the bed. Her face was expressionless and her skin paler than normal, almost gray. A needle was placed inside her arm, blood flowing inward from a sterile, plastic pouch. Across the room Emily was sitting, staring in disbelief. Her body swayed back and forth, as if she lost her sense of balance. She pulled the cotton ball away from her arm. A tiny prick of blood surfaced.
Noel emerged from the bathroom wiping his dampened hands with a towel, now stained light pink.
Emily was tired; really tired – and dizzy. She lifted her head to face him and slowly formed the question, “Have you ever had to do this before?”
“Yeah. Long time ago.”
“So it works?”
“To an extent.”
Confused, Emily asked, “You guys are the same. Why can’t you just transfer your own blood into her?”
“We need fresh cells. Our bodies no longer make them.”
He squeezed the pouch of blood and forced it to flow through faster.
“And O-negative? What type of blood does Abby have?”
“We don’t know. Either of us. The whole blood group system thing didn’t get created until long after we had turned. We choose O-negative blood because it’s the only blood type lacking antigens. It doesn’t seem to cause any problems when it comes into contact with our tainted blood.”
He picked up a jar with a home-made remedy in it, unwrapped Abby’s bandages and spread it across her wounds.
“I thought your cells were immortal,” Emily said.
“They are, but they don’t have the ability to make more. She has to be given fresh cells to make up for what she’s lost. What blood she has left will transfect your live cells and make them immortal too. When the process is complete, she’ll be back to normal.”
The information seemed to go right over her head. It literally went in one ear and out the other without allowing her to process it. Emily tried to shake the dizziness away.
“How long will that take?”
“This much blood loss? A few days.”
Noel replaced the cap on the jar and wiped his hands with the towel again.
“Abby said you can’t bleed to death.” She said it mostly to herself. Abby looked pretty much on death’s doorstep.
“She’s right. Should we lose all our blood, we would lay dormant, but not dead. I would imagine we would just be too weak to move.
“God help us if we ever get that far. Once our bodies reach that point, it would be really hard physically to come back from. Months at least. Then there’s also the risk we’ll never gain back the same amount of strength we had to begin with.”
The smell of the cream circulated around her and made her extremely nauseous. Her hand covered her scrunched-up face and moaned, “God! That’s awful! What is that?” A rising feeling of queasiness traveled from her stomach up through her throat. She gagged, but nothing but air was released.
Noel tried not to laugh, but he was amused by her sensory overload. “The smell will go away when it dries. Our bodies can’t make fresh white blood cells either. The cream will fight infection.”
She leaned forward and buried her head into her legs. Muffled, she asked, “How can you stand that smell? I’m way over here and I’m gonna be sick!”
“You get used to it.”
Emily slowly lifted her head back up. The burning in her stomach returned and she groaned. “I’ve gotta get outta here.”
“Freeze!” Noel cried. He actually pointed at her. “I found some blood in their clinic but I had to take more from you than you realize. If you stand up now you’ll hit the floor.”
Ignoring his command, Emily dropped heavily to the floor. “I’m fine,” she said stubbornly. Her yearning for fresh air far outweighed her vertigo. Oh, maybe not! Her legs jiggled like jelly and gave way. She smacked the floor hard, knees first, then palms and chest. She moaned in pain.
“What the hell did I just tell you?” Noel berated as he picked her up off the floor and helped her toward the bed.
“Head rush,” she said breathlessly. The room was spinning violently and her legs kept trying to fold underneath her. Emily’s body fell heavily into bed, head buried face first. Though she couldn’t see it, she felt every spin the world made around her and the massive pressure building up behind her eyes.
“You’re not going anywhere until your body recovers.”
“But the smell is awful!” she cried through the blanket.
“It’ll be gone in ten minutes. Until then, suck it up.”
He dropped a pillow on the back of her head. Emily roughly rotated stomach side up and embraced the pillow over her face.
Emily’s eyes fluttered slowly, focusing in and out on the blurriness until they opened all the way. Her vision was slow to sharpen. When it did, she could read the clock on the wall - ten-thirteen. Morning? Night? The curtains were drawn shut.
The transfusion equipment lay on the nightstand. Cotton was taped on the inside of her and Abby’s arms. Abby’s color was returning to her normal ivory shade.
Noel was situated in an arm chair reading another book. She recognized the chair from one of the nearby common rooms.
“How long was I out?” she asked, her voice dry and scratchy.
“Really long time. Guess the Order doesn’t factor sleeping into your schedules anymore.” He passed her a bottle of water.
“Not really. How’s she doing? She looks better.”
“It’s still going to be a while.”
Emily tried lifting her body but it ached and fell heavily back into bed. Instead she rolled sideways to drink, finishing half of it with five large gulps.
“Why don’t you get some fresh air? I’ll watch her.” She sank back into bed.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah. I’m too tired to go anywhere.”
“All right. I won’t be long,” he said tiredly, stretching and yawning as he stood.
Noel gathered his coat and slipped his shoes on. Just as he prepared to open the door, Emily quietly asked, “Vampires can sense fear, right?”
“Yeah. It’s how they choose their victims. Why struggle with one when you know the other will buckle in your arms?”
“Do you guys have that type of sensory perception?”
“Somewhat,” Noel said. “But it’s not as profound as our twisted descendents.”
Emily gazed softly at Abby. Her wounds had already begun to heal but the original damage to her body still lingered; ripped muscles and loose skin – the pain she must have endured.
“Then why weren’t you able to find her earlier? Why was she out there bleeding, struggling to get back here before the sun came up?”
Noel released a heavy sigh. He rubbed his eyebrows, searching for the right words.
“This beating may seem severe to you and I but it wasn’t to Abby. I didn’t know to help her because she never once feared for her life.” A moment later he added, “Abby’s not afraid to die.”
Emily reviewed Abby’s body once again. How could someone on the brink of death with this much damage not fear for her survival?
“Is she afraid of anything?”
Hesitant, Noel responded, “Yeah. One thing.”
“What?” asked Emily, mostly in disbelief.
“Did she tell you about her parents yet?”
“No,” replied Emily. “I didn’t think any hunter knew their family. We were all brought here after birth.”
Noel slowly sat down in the arm chair again. “Not Abby. The Order never even knew she existed until the day I brought her here when she was three.”
“Yeah, she mentioned that to me. So you didn’t work for the Order then?”
“No. They only made me her honorary advisor when we left.”
“How’d they miss her?” inquired Emily.
“Her mother cast a protection spell to hide Abby from her father, which incidentally, hid her from the Order.”
“Why?”
“Because, her mother was a good witch and her father – well, he was an evil warlock.”