Lure of the Night

by Bethany Knox

  “I’ve been so worried about you, Claire, have they looked after you?”

  “It’s all been fine, Mom, everything’s cool.” I lied. There wasn’t much point in saying too much, she’d only start to bitch, like moms do.

  “Well, I’m with you now, so I’ll make sure you’re even better looked after.”

  Well, she couldn’t do much worse than they’d done so far, letting me get kidnapped. Then she saw Megan coming down the steps with Dad and her expression froze into a look of hate. Well, I couldn’t really blame her for that. But it was so intense, her eyes flashed with menace, they were almost on fire, for one moment it was like one of those weird looks the Medusans gave when they were angry. Better get a grip, Mom, I thought, or they’ll mistake you for the enemy. The cars were waiting for us, a couple of SUVs with the inevitable darkened windows. We climbed in and settled down for the drive to the Pacific coast. Two hours later we got out of the vehicles at yet another small port, it looked to me little different than the one in Greece where we’d landed in the inflatable boat. A large motor launch was waiting for us. It looked powerful and modern. We went aboard and they invited me to sit in the cabin. I shook my head.

  “I’ve been sitting for what seems to be half my lifetime, I’ll stand in the back of the boat and get some fresh air.”

  I’d also been traveling for half a lifetime, I felt like a lost parcel, constantly circulating the world’s postal rooms. Mom came to join me and she seemed worried. “Are you really ok, darling? You must been through a hell of a lot these last few days, you look so tired.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  I always was, it didn’t do to show weakness, even to your Mom. She’d never let me forget it. I remembered the long skirt and the raincoat. Ugh.

  “So what are you planning to do on the island?”

  “Well, there’s this meeting with these people, the Medusans, you know about that?”

  “Tell me about it.”

  I was about to tell her everything, why not, she was my mom, she was on our side. But I saw Dad shaking his head behind her back. What the hell was that all about?

  “I don’t really know the details, Mom, you’d best ask Dad, I expect he knows more than I do.”

  “I don’t think you father would tell me anything. We don’t exactly get along, as you may have noticed, especially as he has his fancy woman with him.”

  I suppose she had a right to be bitter, but I liked Megan. I told Mom she was ok and she just gave me a fierce look and she went to go and sit in the cabin and sulk. I guess I felt a little bit disloyal, defending the woman that my dad had left her for. Dad came to stand next to me.

  “What’s up?” I asked him. “Why can’t I tell Mom anything, don’t you trust her?”

  He hesitated for a moment and I waited for him to explain. It had to be more than the normal dislike of a couple who had separated.

  “Claire, although she’s your mom and I was married to her, she’s not one of us, not an Amstrydae or Ardethan. This whole operation has to be kept to ourselves, no outsiders can know what we’re planning. I’m afraid that means your mom, she is an outsider too.”

  I watched the wake of the boat, white foam that streamed behind us as we cut through the sea. “She’s always been pretty nasty about vampires, every time one of those stories came up about them,” I said. “Did she always know you were, you know, one of them?”

  “Yeah, she did, I had to tell her before we got married. I thought I loved her, that would be enough, but she seemed to be jealous of the bond that tied me to my people. I was never quite sure what she wanted, to be one of us, or for me to be a normal human being like her. It was as if at times she had an alternate agenda, that I could never work out. Sometimes, I thought that I never really knew her.”

  “You can’t blame her just because she didn’t like all of that stuff, Dad.”

  “I guess not,” he smiled. “I don’t blame her. Sometimes I wonder about her. It’s almost as if she possesses powers of her own, like there’s something hidden there, something inside her that I can almost see, but still, she’s not one of us. So keep it zipped up tight, ok.”

  “Sure, Dad.” Yeah, Claire the go-between, as usual, the ping-pong ball they could bat backwards and forwards from one to the other.

  We landed at a small clearing, just a beach with a wooden jetty that was on the southern side of the island. It was a mysterious looking place, mainly jungle. All very Jurassic Park, thank God that dinosaurs weren’t real. A couple of old four by fours were drawn up ready for us, they looked like ex-army jeeps, olive green and rusty in places. We got in and they drove us along a track through the teeming jungle. There was the constant sound of crickets chirping, birds screaming and taking off, the odd animal call. It was very hot and humid, soon we were all sweating badly. Then we came to a clearing and a house stood on its own surrounded by a whitewashed wall. The house had two floors and looked to me to be in good repair, how did they manage to do that in this isolated place? The jeeps stopped inside the walls and we got out. There were several hard looking men patrolling the grounds, just like they had in Athens, at least these people were taking the threat seriously at last. An older man and woman stood outside the house, their faces lit up with warm smiles.

  “Welcome to our home, we have everything ready for you. Would you like to go straight to your rooms?”

  We were all in favor of getting cleaned up, it had been a long, tiring journey. I had an upstairs room to myself, Dad and Megan had the bedroom the other side of me, and Mom a room further down the passage. I ditched my bag on the bed and went to look out of the window, which overlooked the back of the house. There was a clump of trees and through them I could see a huge, open clearing, almost like an amphitheater. It had to be the meeting place. I went back downstairs and joined the others, Mom, Dad and Megan, Ulysses and Ethan were already there. They introduced me to the people that kept the house.

  “This is Joseph and Maria, they own this place and make it available to any of our group when we need it.”

  We all shook hands, afterwards Ethan asked me to go for a walk around the grounds.

  Outside, he took my hand, it felt so good to have him next to me, touching me. He must have showered, I could smell the faint tang of soap overlaying the musky, healthy odor that I always associated with him.

  “We need to talk about the arrangements for tomorrow, Claire.”

  “The meeting, it’s for tomorrow?”

  Once again, my stomach lurched. A crazy thought crossed my mind, it was going to be the vampires’ tea party, and I was on the menu for dessert. I giggled.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  “Oh, nothing. It’s a girl thing.”

  “Ok. Now listen, the whole of the Medusan community is arriving here later today and through tomorrow morning. They are assembling in the clearing beside the house, it’s a kind of natural amphitheater. The radioactive isotopes have already been buried there, but they are well shielded at present. We estimate that we need to get the Medusans there and keep them there for four hours with the radiation unshielded. That should be enough.”

  “Isn’t it dangerous to us too?”

  “No, we have prepared anti-radiation shots for all of us, we’ll be ok. But listen, we don’t want your mother to come to the meeting.”

  “Mom, why ever not?” Here we go again.

  He hesitated and looked a little embarrassed. “As you know, she’s not one of us. We cannot let anyone know who isn’t one of the Amstrydae or Ardethans.”

  “But, she’s my mom.”

  “We know, but there are no exceptions, she can’t be a part of this, it’s for your own safety. They are giving her the news while we are out here, we know she may not like it. She probably feels as your mother that she has a right to a place with you, to be at your side protecting you. But the best protection for you is to keep everything between us, not to let any outsiders know what is going on.”

  I shrugged
. “Well, you know best. I just hope you can persuade Mom. She’ll go crazy.”

  We walked around for almost an hour, it was so peaceful and restful, just Ethan by my side, holding my hand. There was a small arbor with a bench seat, the trees beside it woven into an arch overhead, threaded with a beautiful display of colorful orchids.

  “Would you like to sit here for a while?” he said to me.

  “Yes, I think I would.”

  We sat side by side, he put his arm around my shoulder. Then he pulled me closer to him, we turned our heads and we were kissing, passionately. After a minute, we broke apart, both breathless.

  “Claire, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” he said.

  “Me too.” I loved it, the feel, the touch, the smell of him. Don’t let it ever end.

  We sat there in silence for almost an hour, enjoying the feeling of being together, I loved just to touch him, to be next to him, to smell his musky boy scent. Then they called us into the house for lunch.

  We sat around the huge kitchen table while Maria and Joseph put food out. Then they sat down to join us. Mom was sat across from me, she was clearly burning with anger. Nobody mentioned the meeting the next day, until Mom couldn’t stand it any longer.

  “You know what they’re doing to me?”she snapped.

  I shook my head. Oh God, here we go again.

  “They’re keeping me here while this big meeting is happening tomorrow. I told them I needed to know the arrangements so that I could be with you to look after you, but they won’t tell me anything, they won’t even let me come with you. Claire, they’re keeping me here like a prisoner while you go to face those awful people. Do you hear me? I’m being kept a prisoner by these,” she was almost glowing red with indignation, “these vampires, these bloodsuckers!”

  “Mom, they’re not vampires, not really. You know that.”

  “They’re the same thing. You should realize what you’re getting into, what they’re getting you into.”

  “They’re nice people, Mom, they’re only taking care of me.”

  “By putting you in terrible danger?”

  There was no use in going over it, she was back in one of those ‘Mom’ moods. I saw Ulysses lean over and whisper something to Dad. He nodded and spoke to his ex-wife.

  “Catherine, look, maybe we have been a bit too harsh with you. We will talk about the arrangements later, maybe you can be a part of it after all, ok? We will talk again, now is not the right time. Maybe over dinner tonight we’ll go over it, we’re busy all afternoon. You’ll know more then, we can tell you what we’ve got fixed up.”

  Mom’s anger disappeared almost immediately, her face regained its composure, well, almost.

  “Well, alright then, I guess that’ll be fine.”

  I noticed the flash in her eyes as she spoke, what was that look I had noticed there? It was like triumph, as if she’d won a victory. Well, I guess she had won, but she just wanted to be near me, after all.

  I stayed with Mom all afternoon, the others were busy preparing for the next day. We walked around the grounds, just as I had with Ethan that morning.

  “Are you frightened about tomorrow?” Mom asked me.

  “Well, I’m a bit nervous, I guess. I mean, you never know what might go wrong, but they’ll take care of me.”

  “Of course they will, Claire, we all will. What time does it all start?”

  I told her I didn’t know, they hadn’t told me yet.

  “Of course, they’re going to let us know over dinner,” she said. “I’ll be happy when this is all over and I can go home. We can both go home, together, won’t that be nice?”

  “It sure will, Mom.” And I meant it, after all, home was home, despite the bullying and the boredom. Mom did her best, that was the important thing. I guess she was missing her Yoga class as well. Then she said a funny thing to me. “Claire, when it all happens tomorrow, I’ll be with you, you know.”

  “Yes, I know you will.”

  “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I’ll take care of everything, you can trust me, you know that. What does happen at that meeting, it is your destiny.”

  “Of course I trust you, Mom.”

  What the hell was she talking about? Of course I trusted her, why wouldn’t I? Except for little things like ignoring the bullying at school, stuff like that. And destiny? The last time she had used that word ‘destiny’ it was a fragrance she was buying at the local drug store.

  When we went back into the house I was still trying to puzzle out what she’d meant. Trust her, that was ridiculous. If you couldn’t trust your mom, who could you trust? Up to a point, anyway. I was still smarting over that crappy skirt, stupid, I guess. Over dinner, Ulysses told us about the arrangements for the next morning.

  “We’ll keep you here in the house with just two guards, Claire. We have arranged for a decoy so that the Medusans will think that you will be on the platform we have erected in the clearing. One of our people has a passing resemblance to you and we are going to dress her up, change her hairstyle and give them the impression that it is you out there. Just in case they try anything, but hopefully they won’t. Once the meeting has started and we have got general agreement we will bring you out and show them the real Claire Winter, The Carrier.”

  I could see Mom nodding as she listened to everything he said but I was totally confused, this was supposed to be an ambush, to finish them off, it was like Pearl Harbor, except that this time we were the Japanese. So what was all this ‘general agreement’ crap? I’d have to ask him afterwards.

  “You can be sure of one thing,” he continued, “no way would we ever agree to you being surrendered to them. We must find another way to keep the peace, after all, we want nothing from them, we are hoping we can make guarantees and sureties to them that will be enough to stop the hostilities. Any questions?”

  I had a hundred questions. Like what was all this nonsense, they knew very well what we were there for and it certainly was not for some agreement? They were aiming for the sterilization of almost the entire Medusan community, which would mean that the threat to me would die out, sooner or later.

  “Are there any women amongst their group?” I asked them.

  He smiled. “No, Medusans don’t normally include women in their negotiations. It’s all men.”

  It was so weird, there was some sort of an agenda here that they weren’t telling me about, but I knew better than to ask. We had a strained kind of evening, no one relaxed. Except for Mom, she was chattier and seemed happy, for Mom, anyway. When I asked her about it she said she was pleased that it was almost all over and we would be able to go home. When I went to bed, the clearing the other side of the trees was lit up by hundreds of lanterns, the Medusan camp. It should have been a pretty sight, like sparkling fireflies dancing in the jungle gloom but the thought that our enemies were so close was a somber one. I slept badly and in the morning, I showered, dressed and went down for breakfast.

  They were all quiet and somber, which was the way I felt too. Mom was the exception. She seemed happy and excited. I guess that as she wasn’t one of them, well, one of us, she didn’t understand the seriousness of what was going on down here. When we had finished eating and they were getting ready to leave, I was in for another shock. Ulysses spoke to me.

  “Claire, there are some last minute things we need to go over, would you come through to the library.”

  Mystified, I said, “Sure.”

  I followed him into a beautiful room, every part of the walls was covered in books. He turned to me.

  “We’re leaving now, we have to move fast.”

  “What are you talking about? I thought I was staying here for now, that you had a decoy.”

  “You are not going to the meeting, we are leaving the island.”

  I guess I just stood there with my mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

  “I’m sorry, Claire, we were never going to let you go near the meeting. As you know, it was all a
ruse to get the Medusans in one place so that we could deal with them. Sterilize them, end the threat that they’ve been to us for so long.”

  “But, won’t they want me there, I thought that was the plan?”

  “There is no need now, they have all assembled. They are already getting the dose of radiation.”

  I knew it was the plan but now it was actually happening I was still horrified. “Are you sure there are no women there?”

  “None. And I don’t think they will object when they find out what we have done, they must be sick of living their lives as virtual slaves. Besides, they just want the war to end, like we do. They can always find husbands from the humans, there’s nothing to stop them.”

  I thought of the woman who had helped me, Najat. It was true, she wanted what we all had. The freedom to live without the docile and obedient bondage that they all suffered.

  “It just seems so harsh, to do this to all of those men.” Well, maybe not quite so harsh when I thought of the Chief Slug, the Grand Master.

  “They had a choice,” he said. “We have begged them to leave us alone for hundreds of years, but they refused. Believe me, this is the only way.”

  “So while they’re all sat there expecting me to be on the platform at this meeting, we’ll be leaving the island?”

  “Yes,” he laughed. “It’s a good plan, they’re not expecting it.”

  “Let’s hope not. Will Mom and Dad and Megan be coming with us, Ethan as well?”

  “Not your mother. Come on, we must hurry. They’ll be here soon.”

  “Who?”

  “The Medusans.”

  “But, they think I’m on that platform waiting for the meeting to start.”

  “No, they think you’re being held here with just two guards.”

  “But how could they think that?” Then the enormity of the betrayal hit me.

  “Mom.”