‘Here, you’re too heavy! I can’t be carrying you home. It’s too far.’
‘Stop your whining, bitch.’
And with that the man seemed to press even more weight on the girl. They staggered along a track just outside the town. The man did not want to spend any of his stolen coin on tavern beds and since the weather was fine he had made a makeshift shelter off the track.
He shoved the girl downward to crawl into the small enclosure, prodding her rear as with cattle to move her faster. Once inside he began to tear away her clothes with dog-like ferocity.
‘Wait a minute,’ she said. ‘We haven’t set a price.’
‘Shut up,’ he shouted and slapped her hard across the face. She touched her cheek but did not seem overly shocked. She then proceeded to unlace the front of her bodice, but the man was impatient and brushed her hands aside before ripping her clothes clumsily with short bullish hands. Her protestation and skinny arms were no match for the weight of him. The faded brown bodice was stripped from her body to reveal a linen chemise.
‘What’s this? A secret stash of coppers!’
I heard the tinkle of coins. A woman often hid such in her hose but this girl still too young in the trade to bury her gains while she worked.
‘That’s my earnings. Leave them alone.’
From behind my tree I could make myself unseen to humans. So quiet were my steps and skill at camouflage that I could watch the events unfold.
The girl scrambled for her coins and was halted by a fist to the back of the head that thrust her forwards, face to the ground. She lost a moment’s consciousness before attempting to sit up. The man pushed her down again while shoving the coins in his own boots before beginning to fumble the front of his breeches. He pushed the girl’s skirts roughly up her thighs.
I could not, of course, stand to watch anymore.
As he raised his fist to land another blow – for it wasn’t just the impending intimate act that motivated him but something far more depraved and self-gratifying – I reached for his wrist. He found he could not move his arm from the strength of my grip and his face showed surprise that, at first, all he could do was blink drunkenly at me a few times. I released him to wait outside.
He lurched after me, unfolding his human form slowly and thrusting his chest forward several inches, presuming that his height would frighten me so that I might retreat. As you would expect, I did not.
Under the full moon we were now clearly visible to one another; though my sense of sight was far beyond anything any human could own. He charged at me, butting his head and shoulder into my chest – but with scant effect on one such as me – while I landed my own blow against his temple, splitting the leathery outer layers of skin and felling him to the ground.
‘Strong for a scrawny fellow,’ he rasped. ‘But bastards like you are all in a night’s work.’ While he contemplated his next move I helped the girl up and gave her my coat.
‘Stay where you are!’ the man bellowed to the girl trying to get up but, whether it was from the beer or as a result of the strike, his feet slipped from under him.
I used these spare moments to turn to the girl and kiss her hand. She seemed unruffled by what had just happened, no doubt hardened by such encounters.
‘Please seek me out,’ she said. ‘I promise I can reward you in kind.’
‘No, thank you,’ I said, pointing towards the track back to the town. ‘Now hurry!’
She picked up the remains of her coins and spat at the recumbent man before making her exit. It was unfortunate that her choices were so limited that she could not find alternate means to exist, and I could not guarantee her permanent safety from this kind of human, not to mention my own kind. Many of the newest members of my family hunted in these areas and were more open to opportunity; their interpretation of ‘degenerates’ slightly wider than the elders.
The man’s head was bleeding and it was consuming every thought, while every muscle in my body was contracting in anticipation. He stood up unsteadily until he found his balance once more.
Again he came, attempting to sink his thumbs into my eyes but I was quick to snap his wrists. He yelped in pain.
‘You slimy turd! We could have gone halves with her,’ he lied.
I circled him. It was a tactic I enjoyed using to further unsettle my victims. He looked cautiously at me then.
‘I don’t want any more trouble,’ he said, wincing from the pain, his hands dangling uselessly by his sides. But his eyes said that he would do it all again if he were able enough.
I threw him at a tree and heard his back snap. It’s not how I liked to kill. It was more enjoyable to paralyse them with my feeding and feel their heart slow. To feed on someone helpless took away a lot of the enjoyment. Still it was perhaps more torturous and if anyone deserved such treatment, it was this weasel.
I stood over him and watched his fear-filled eyes. Then I bent to draw from him his life.
Lilah
It was morning and time to leave. For the second time in my life I was required to take a new direction. I was yet to learn of the many times I would have to change course simply because I was born different.
Arianne stood at the gate to watch me go. She was resolute, her face slightly harder, less well-meaning than I was used to.
‘Goodbye, Lilah. Don’t look back. You are obviously meant for better things as perhaps am I. I will not forget what you did.’ With those parting words, I headed down the wide road between the rows of white clay and oak wood houses with their brown-orange roofs, towards the hilly edge of town where the houses were thatched and smaller. Beyond this was a world I had not seen.
I had grown so tall this last year. My stone coloured sheath was freshly laundered and lengthened to just cover my ankles. Over this, I wore a grey pinafore to replace my novice garment. I clutched at Arianne’s bag, which kept me closer to her and the place I was raised, while fighting the urge to look back.
I kept to Arianne’s directions towards her former home, feeling much anxiety about meeting her family. She had been quite secretive about them over the years, so much so I was unaware she had younger sisters. Arianne had only ever talked about her brothers and their riding and hunting activities. As she grew older she became distanced from her brothers and it was at this time her parents had agreed to give her to the abbey.
Outside the town, the pathways grew narrower, just enough for a horse and cart. The day was hot and the straps of my satchel began to rub my shoulder. I nibbled at the food but my stomach was churning, suppressing any hunger. Occasionally I passed another traveller or tradesman who, thankfully, rarely acknowledged my presence.
It was late in the day and I realised that I would soon have to rest for the evening. My legs had become weary and my body still weak from the amount of healing skill I had used in previous weeks. Shadows of trees fell across the pathway and I began to imagine the fearsome grunts, growls and shrieks that came from deep within the forest were almost upon me.
The light was dimming quickly and I dreaded sleeping on the side of the track without any form of shelter, at the mercy of bears and wolves. While I bent to collect some fallen branches and ferns to cover me during sleep, I felt a movement in the wind and a slight tremor through my body.
‘Who’s there?’
The forest bordering the pathway was dense. Large leafy conifers stretched indefinitely shading dark moist earth. A low mist wound its way around tall tree trunks forming floating pathways into the forest blackness.
No-one appeared from the dark recesses but I was convinced I was not alone. I’d had such feelings of ‘knowing’ many times before. There were strange occurrences like guessing what people were going to say before they said it, or hearing a conversation by people I did not know.
I waited a moment before I called out again.
‘Stop following me!’ I called to the wind only to be startled when I heard a faint crunching of dried grasses; of light-footed steps.
H
e stepped out from the shadows and into the fading light. I did not recognise his face yet there was a feeling that we had met and his voice sounded familiar. He was tall, with curling brown hair and dark blue eyes; older than me yet the skin on his face had the same creamy texture as that of a newborn.
‘Such brave words for a young girl all alone.’
There was no malice in his voice but it concerned me that he should suddenly appear this far from town carrying only an expensive-looking cane. He was too finely dressed for travel, his high boots shining and without sign of wear.
I waited nervously for him to approach, aware that I might have to run for my life should there be others hiding in the trees waiting to steal what little food I had. I had heard the stories of gypsies who stole everything from lonely travellers leaving nothing, not even undergarments.
‘I’m not going to rob you. You are quite safe,’ he said with a strange northern accent, ending his sentences high and musically.
‘What do you want? I must tell you that I am a cousin of the Köszegi family.’
He laughed softly into his chest. ‘Well then, I guess I have to bow and beg your forgiveness for taking up such valuable time of a noblewoman.’
He was humouring me and from the tone of his response I gathered he was somewhat harmless. He did at least recognise the name. ‘You have been trailing me for some time.’
‘Hardly surprising since there is only one road between towns.’
‘You came from the forest.’
I just stopped for a break.’ He smiled then, and I blushed thinking that he had probably just relieved himself.
‘You seem familiar. Do you live near the monastery?’ I asked.
‘Yes. I saw you leave there.’
‘Is there something you want from me?’
He laughed loudly this time. ‘What a bold girl you are. I want nothing from you. I have some business to attend to out this way. That is all.’
I stood awkwardly shifting from one foot to the other wondering if I should turn to leave. It was one of those habits acquired when you were younger: always waiting for the adult to give you leave.
‘Are you going to Arpok?’
‘Yes,’ I said.
‘Do you mind if we travel together?’
I looked back towards the darkening forest, wondering what others might be lurking there.
He followed my gaze. ‘There is no-one else with me.’
‘I was planning to rest here a while.’
‘Unwise,’ he said. ‘It is far too exposed to beasts that are more nocturnally active, not to mention unsavoury types who travel this way under the cloak of darkness.’
He saw my hesitation; he had yet to convince me he was not one as he described.
‘If it bothers you I will walk on ahead so that you can see I am no threat.’
I was left without choice, nodding my agreement and awaiting his commencement to walk in front of me. I was curious as to how he was travelling so far without a satchel of food and wondered of his origins; imagining him to be a baron with plenty of coin hidden in his pockets; someone rebellious, doing whatever he pleased and answering to no-one. As I would later discover this was not far from the truth.
As the light sank into the earth the mist swirled higher, obscuring our vision ahead. I could see no firelight from the next town and knew we were still a fair distance from our journey’s end.
‘How far to the town?’ I ventured to ask.
‘Another five hours of steady walk.’
Although his fixed stride and my heightened anxiety seemed to spur me on, my legs ached and I desperately wanted to sit down. It was also becoming much too late to request audience at a foreigner’s house. I suddenly wondered then if Arianne’s family would take me in. What if they rejected my request for work? Where would I go? I was told by Sister Gertrude that I must never return to the monastery for any reason. That it was both dangerous for me and for the sisters should any of us be seen together. Arianne had explained that the Papal authorities had deemed that any who practiced heresy in our circles must be given up for questioning and she said that such people were rarely seen again. I shuddered, a second time, at the thought of putting Arianne and the sisters in danger.
The air was cooling now and I wrapped my shawl around me.
‘If it is too far for you to complete the journey today, I know a small farmhouse where we can go to rest. I assure you my friends will welcome us.’
It meant following him away from the main track and into the night forest but I felt an unexplainable reason to trust him.
We came to a hut where an older couple lived, and they were genuinely pleased to see their visitor. ‘Gabriel!’
Gabriel introduced them as old friends. ‘This is Lilah.’ I was surprised to hear my name, suspecting that he had heard Arianne call her goodbye as I left the monastery. I did not sense danger once inside, only sincerity by it occupants and affection in their surrounds. The cabin was flooded with the peppery sweetness of steaming broth and the earthy smells of burning coal, and the couple seemed genuinely concerned about the thinness of my garment and how far I had walked.
‘I go to see my uncle, Istavan Köszegi,’ I lied in part. ‘Do you know him?’
‘The question is do you know him?’
I shook my head. ‘I have not met him before.’
‘Well my dear, I can tell you that he is not very amiable. He hordes his wealth and underpays his workers. I worked for him for a time but we parted ways. The coin was not worth the long labour in his fields. He is not a fair man. Once when one of his livestock died, the coin was taken from my pay. I could not have kept his sheep from disease and old age yet he is miserly and required someone to blame.
‘Don’t frown, girl. I hear he spoils his daughters and if you are family then I’m sure you will be looked after.’ Though even as he said this I saw the look he gave Gabriel. There was something else he wasn’t saying.
‘You can stay here the night if you wish. I will make up a cot.’ I humbly protested and lost. There was nowhere else to go.
I lay on a bed of blankets to sleep but continued listening to their conversations. Gabriel had known them a long time. They spoke of events from years ago and their gentle voices and camaraderie put me at ease. Based on the history they referred to, he must have been a very young boy when they first met.
They continued in hushed tones.
‘Be careful,’ said Gabriel. ‘There are some who don’t follow the rules any more. I have spoken to our master about this but he dismisses it as if he doesn’t hear. He lives in his own world presuming that everyone will conform. It is frustrating. I don’t like it.’
‘Tell us what has been going on.’
Gabriel lowered his voice further. ‘The reborn are more prone to mistakes. They do not have the history of memories in their veins. They are too taken with their new state to think rationally.’ He paused and lowered his voice. ‘You both have to be careful. He will come for you if he knows you are here. He is always recruiting.’
The older man laughed gently. ‘We have a few of our own skills, remember.’
‘Yes, I know, but the reborn are strong and stupid and they take the same skills as you with them when they convert: a lethal combination and an unpredictable match for the…’
‘… likes of our kind.’ I wondered what sort of kind they were talking about.
‘Anyway,’ the man continued. ‘We appreciate that you have not given us up.’
‘I don’t recruit those who do not choose to come willingly.’
‘The others are welcome to it. It is not something we desire,’ said the woman. ‘We are happy here and prefer to grow old. No offense.’
Gabriel laughed affectionately and the sound reminded me of the kindness of the sisters. ‘None taken; however, I will be sure to place flowers on your graves…no offense.’
The couple found this amusing also and the three shared the laugh.
‘Is she one?’
/>
There was a pause. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘The fact that you are here with her now, perhaps seeking for her a safe place. Not to mention that I can sense her.’
‘A safe place for a young girl? We both know the truth of that.’
I did not see the response. I wondered if he was talking about my skill. And if so, how did he know? Beside the crackling hearth, exhaustion soon consumed me and the sounds of their voices faded as I was claimed by sleep.
Chapter 5
Lewis
They came out of the shadows with their fire torches believing there was safety in numbers. Like rats they had taken the bait greedily.
Over centuries I had need to move our coven, discovered by those who would seek to harm us. To counter such attack we would steer our enemies towards abandoned houses. This present house, where I hid in the shadow, was a ruse; a place of entrapment far from our castle. We had led our assassins here, catching one and letting him go; the fool thinking he had found our secret location.
The group would be formidable if not for the fact that we were superior in every way. It was Gabriel who had laid the traps but he was not here tonight. Disappointingly, he was off dreamily walking the lands. But it didn’t matter. There were many more of us to enjoy the feast.
I watched from the top floor windows as they clumsily made their way to the front entrance. This house was rundown and uninhabitable for even the lowest class of humans; with its broken furniture, embers left untidy on the large rambling brick hearth, the broken banisters, missing stairs, and cracked windows. Gabriel liked it here to disappear into a different life away from his coven family. And he planned to come back after this attack. He played a dangerous game choosing to stay here so often. Humans often returned to places of interest, hoping to reinvent the past.
Tonight we would wipe out a whole village of men. The women would be distraught. They would pack up and leave their barren farms with their squawking children.
The human men circled the house like the brainless fools they were. They called out: ‘Strigoi! We know you are in there!’
Lilah Page 4