Black Heart

by Justin Somper

  She nodded. “I guessed that, Connor. We’ve always been close, haven’t we? I think, on some level, we’re able to pick up on each other’s moods—to know what each other is thinking.”

  “Maybe,” Connor said cautiously.

  “We just need to refine that process, strengthen the connection,” continued Grace, “so that we can communicate even when we are physically apart.” She smiled. “Now, answer my question!”

  “What question?”

  “The one I asked you before. Where am I?”

  He frowned once more. “You mean besides here?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Where is my physical body?”

  “Tell me,” he said. “It’s late. It’s been a difficult day. I’m not in the mood for guessing games.”

  Grace wrinkled her brow but then smiled again. “I’m in Crescent Moon Bay, on the beach.”

  “In Crescent Moon Bay?” Connor’s eyes were wide. “Are you serious? You’ve gone home?”

  “Just for a visit,” Grace said. “Mother wanted to see where we grew up. Oh, Connor, we’ve had such a lovely time. It’s been the most perfect day. She’s been telling me all about how she met Dad. I was wrong, before, when I told you I thought he must be a vampire. They met on the Vampirate ship the Nocturne. But he wasn’t a Vampirate. He joined the ship to work in the kitchen—just to be near Mother! He was trying to persuade her to leave the ship!”

  She was about to continue, but he held up his hand. “Wait, Gracie,” he said. “Slow down. You’re going too fast.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “But I have so much tell you, and this astral travel is problematic. I don’t know how long I’ll have to talk to you.”

  “Grace,” he said. “Look, if time is limited, then you really need to let me say some stuff to you.” He reached out his hand to hers, then remembered it was pointless. “It’s very important.”

  “Okay,” she said, acquiescing far more readily than he had expected. “Talk to me, Connor.”

  “Do you remember Commodore Kuo?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course,” she said. “The headmaster of Pirate Academy.”

  “That’s right,” he said. “Well, he’s been murdered.”

  “Murdered?”

  Connor nodded. “He and two students from the academy were murdered by Vampirates during a race to mark Cheng Li’s investiture as captain.”

  Grace’s face went dark. “You say he was murdered by Vampirates? How do you know?”

  “His body was found. He was killed out at sea, we think. But his body was brought back to the academy by whoever killed him. Grace, it was entirely drained of blood.”

  Grace bit her lip.

  “It has to be Vampirates, Grace. You must see that.”

  She didn’t protest. “It sounds like Sidorio,” she said. “He’s obviously growing his forces. Who knows where he’ll stop?”

  “I’m going to stop him,” Connor said.

  “No!” said Grace. “You tried that once before, remember? You set fire to his ship. But the fire didn’t kill him, it only made him stronger. It was as if he fed upon it.”

  “It’s different now,” Connor said. “I’m part of a mission.”

  “A mission?”

  “Yes. The Pirate Federation has given Cheng Li’s crew a special mission. We’re to be Vampirate assassins.”

  “Assassins?” Grace looked shell-shocked. “You’re going after the Vampirates?”

  “Yes.” Connor nodded. “That’s what I need to talk to you about.” Once more he reached his hand toward her, unable to restrain himself. “You need to get away from them. I don’t want you to get caught up in all this.”

  Grace laughed, but it was a hollow laugh. “You don’t want me to be caught up in this? You tell me you’ve been given a mission to assassinate people I care about, and then you tell me not to get caught up in it? That’s impossible, Connor. How can you be so dense? I’m not going to stand by and let you attack the captain and Lorcan and Darcy. They’re my friends!”

  “Wait!” he said. “Calm down! That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I know the close connection you have with Lorcan and the others. I see that. And we’re not going after them. Not to begin with. Of course, you’re right, Kuo must have been murdered by Sidorio. It has his name written all over it. We’ll go after him and that expanding crew of his, and we’ll wipe them out.”

  “Wipe them out?” Grace exclaimed.

  “Grace,” he implored, “I’ve given this a lot of thought. I’ve talked to Cheng Li about it, too. I’ve told her that not all Vampirates are the same.”

  “Cheng Li!” Grace exclaimed. “Can you really trust her after everything she’s done?”

  Connor frowned once more. “She’s my captain now, Grace. Besides, there was a time when you trusted her, too, remember?”

  “Yes,” Grace said. “And look where that led me! She won’t stop at attacking Sidorio and his crew. She’ll come after the other Vampirates. I know she will.”

  Connor nodded. “I hope that isn’t the case, but I’m concerned it might be. Grace, I’ll do everything I can to convince her, and the Federation, that the captain and his crew on the Nocturne are good… people, that they’re not dangerous. But we have to be realistic about this. I don’t know if they’ll recognize the distinction. And I’m scared to death that you’ll get caught in the crossfire. Please, please get off the ship. Stay in Crescent Moon Bay. I can come and pick you up from there. I’ll talk to Cheng Li in the morning.”

  “No.” Grace shook her head.

  “Look,” he said urgently, “I’ll go and talk to her right now. I could set off tonight. We could be there by sunrise.”

  “No,” Grace repeated, “I won’t leave them. Not now. Not ever.”

  “What are you talking about, Grace?” Connor was angry now. “Look, I’m trying to take care of you. All my life I’ve tried to look after you. I’ve indulged your strange fascination for them. But I should have nipped it in the bud.”

  “Stop it, Connor. Don’t talk to me like this! I don’t need you to look after me. I can take good care of myself, thank you. And for your information, you didn’t let me do anything. It wasn’t up to you to let me.” It was clear from Grace’s face that she was as angry as Connor had been. Angrier than he’d ever seen her before.

  “Grace, I only want you to be safe.”

  “Really?” she said. “Don’t you want me to be happy? Because that’s what I am, here with Lorcan and Sally. At least I was. I felt happier today than I have been in ages. The only thing that was missing was you. But now you’ve spoiled everything.”

  “Grace,” he said. “We’re caught up in something bigger than both of us here. When we went out to sea, when we got shipwrecked in that storm, we couldn’t have known it. But something’s coming. It’s big and it’s merciless, like a tsunami. There’s no stopping it. We’re all going to be caught up in it.”

  Grace sighed and shook her head. “I see that, Connor,” she said. “But the fact is, it’s already too late. If you think there’s any easy way out for either of us, you’re wrong.”

  “No!” Connor cried out. Grace’s image was fading. Now he could fully appreciate that this was only a vision. He began to panic, wishing he had handled this differently. But how?

  “Grace! You’re fading! Don’t go!”

  “I have to!” Her voice was breaking up now, as if there was static on the line. “I told you I didn’t know how long…”

  Then there was only silence. Grace’s image had disappeared just as suddenly as it had arrived.

  28

  SOULS REUNITED

  Grace was back on the beach. Beside her, she saw that Sally was waking up. Her mind was in turmoil. Should she warn Lorcan and Mosh Zu about what Connor had told her? But she had so little time left with Sally—she didn’t feel she could afford to waste a moment. Connor had said that there was no immediate danger, so perhaps it was safe to wait.

  “There are so many things
I want to say to you, Grace,” Sally said, interrupting her daughter’s thoughts. She sat up and put an arm around Grace’s shoulders. “I never thought I’d get the chance, and now it feels like I have to pack a lifetime of conversations into one day.” She sighed and shook her head. “If I could leave you with one message, Grace, do you know what it would be?” She gazed intently at Grace. “Don’t ever give up on yourself. Whatever happens. Whatever challenges you face. Don’t ever stop believing in yourself.”

  Grace was stunned. It was as if her mother knew exactly what was going through her mind. She nodded. “I won’t,” she said. “Don’t worry.”

  “It paid off for me, you know, when I went to see the captain.”

  Grace took a deep breath. Maybe now she would find out what had really happened between her mother and father. Suddenly, everything else seemed unimportant.

  “The captain reminded me that the bond between a donor and a vampire is not one to enter into lightly. I told him I knew that. I told him that I had had to ask, but I understood that the die was cast. But he shook his head. He told me that he would make an exception in my case. He would let me leave the ship with Dexter, just as soon as a new donor could be found for Sidorio.”

  Grace smiled in relief. “So Dad was right.”

  “Yes.” Sally nodded. “Dexter was right. The captain truly is a remarkable man.” She smiled, then turned her face toward the horizon. “Look,” she said. “Our day has come to an end. The sun is setting.”

  Grace turned her own eyes to the shore where the sun was sinking into the inky waters and the sky burning into sunset. “I wish we could just stay here,” she said, “hold on to this moment forever.” And stop the conflict she knew was coming.

  “Me, too,” Sally agreed. “But we have an appointment to keep. We said we’d meet the others in the graveyard.”

  Grace nodded. She remembered. The looming deadline had cast shadows over most of the afternoon. Yet still she wished that somehow the sand might magically reach up and bury her feet—and her mother’s, too—shackling them both to the beach and preventing them from ever having to leave.

  “Come on, my darling,” Sally said, already on her feet. Her sandals were in her hand, and Grace thought that she had a new energy about her, strong yet peaceful. Perhaps this was what happened to all the souls as they finally shed the last of their ties. They achieved a moment of perfect peace. As Grace reluctantly drew herself up onto her feet, she stole another glance at her mother. In the golden light of the fast setting sun, Sally looked more alive and beautiful than ever.

  This time, it did not take them long to walk up the cliff path, past the lighthouse, and to the small graveyard where Dexter Tempest had been laid to rest. Grace opened the gate and led her mother through the scattered graves until they came to the simple headstone inscribed with her father’s name. There it was, a solid block of pink granite inscribed simply with his name and the dates of his birth and death. Grace reflected on some of the thoughts that had bubbled feverishly in her head recently. That Dexter might not actually be dead. That he could be a vampire! She shook her head, cross with herself. Now she knew these had been fanciful thoughts. Here was where his story had come to an end. She looked at the oblong granite gravestone, drawing a sense of calm from its solidity. It reminded her of her father.

  Grace knelt and set the bouquet of flowers she had gathered earlier on the base of the stone. “These are for you, Dad,” she said. “I hope you like them.”

  She stepped back, watching the sea breeze run through the heads of the flowers, ruffling the petals and setting free their heady scent, all the better for her dad to smell them. Grace smiled.

  “Would you like to be alone with him for a while?” she asked her mother.

  Sally nodded. “Yes, my darling. If you don’t mind, I think that’s exactly what I’d like.”

  Grace nodded and turned to walk away. As she did so, she saw that the graveyard gate had opened once more. The others had arrived.

  “Wait a moment!” Sally said. As Grace turned, her mother swept her into her arms. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for bringing me here, for bringing me back to him.” She held Grace very close, her breath a cool breeze in Grace’s ear. “Thank you for everything, my darling daughter. I’m so glad I got this chance to know you.”

  Grace felt her mother’s arms reluctantly release her, like the ocean forced by the tide to retreat from the sand. Grace did not linger. She knew what she had to do to uphold her part of the bargain. She walked away, her eyes seeking out her companions, who lingered on the other side of the graves.

  “Grace,” said Lorcan, quickly stepping forward as she neared and putting his arm around her. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded. “She’s ready,” she said, looking at Mosh Zu. “Isn’t she?”

  Mosh Zu nodded. “I think so.”

  “What happens now?” Grace asked.

  “Let’s wait here for a moment,” said Mosh Zu.

  Lorcan held Grace close as the three of them watched Sally from a distance. She was kneeling in front of Dexter’s grave, her silhouette clearly framed against the block of pink granite. The moon was rising fast, and as it did so, the gravestone seemed to glow more brightly. It became almost luminous. Grace turned for a moment, about to ask Lorcan about it, but something compelled her not to take her eyes away from the grave, not even for a moment.

  There was a second figure at the gravestone. A man. Who was he? Where had he come from? Grace’s heart began to race as the man extended his hand to Sally and she looked up at him. Grace could tell she was smiling. And she suddenly knew why. She knew who the figure was.

  “Dad!” she exclaimed. At the word, Lorcan drew her into his arms more closely. Grace twisted her head. “That’s my dad,” she said.

  Lorcan nodded. “Perhaps his soul has come to help your mother to pass on.”

  Grace smiled, though her face was damp with tears. Now she need not worry that her mother would be alone on her journey.

  At the graveside, Sally was back on her feet. Dexter had drawn her into an embrace and was kissing her forehead. Sally held the bouquet up to him, and he took it in his hands and brought it to his nose for a moment, smiling and nodding. Then he whispered something into Sally’s ear. She smiled once more and took his free hand. They began walking away.

  “Where are they going?” Grace asked. But her question was left unanswered. The night was darkening, and it soon swallowed up the two figures walking arm in arm through the churchyard, souls at long last reunited.

  After they had gone, Grace stood there, surrounded by the others, saying nothing. It was as if they were all still waiting, watching. But for what?

  Suddenly, she saw a shaft of light extending out over the beach. The light had a different quality to it than the soft light of the moon. She glanced up to the deserted lighthouse, her former home. It had been dark before, but now the lamp had been lit once more.

  Up in the lamp room, she saw two figures. She could clearly make them out as Sally and Dexter. They came and stood at the window, looking down over the bay. Dexter seemed to be pointing things out to Sally. Once more, Grace felt comforted at the thought that her mother and father were together again. Now they would never be separated.

  At last they turned, and she knew they were looking directly out at her. She watched her father draw her mother more tightly into his arms. Then both her parents raised their hands and began to wave at her.

  At first she thought they were asking her to join them, but then she realized they were waving good-bye. She lifted her own hand, though it suddenly felt as heavy as lead, and waved back.

  As she did so, inside her head Grace heard her mother’s voice once more. “Remember what I told you, my darling girl.”

  She nodded. Then she heard her father’s voice, clear as day. “I’m so proud of you, Gracie. Look after your brother. And trust the tide!”

  She nodded once more. She would honor both of these promises.
>
  She was still nodding as the lamp began to turn. Its beam spun out across the beach, then continued its arc around the bay. After a time, the light reached the churchyard itself. The beam was so strong that Grace not only had to close her eyes but also to raise her hands to cover them. She waited for a moment, giving the light time to move on, then uncovered her eyes. Looking back up at the lamp room, she saw that it was dark again. The room was empty, the lighthouse once more deserted. Her parents had moved on.

  Trembling, Grace broke free from Lorcan’s hold and began running back toward her father’s grave.

  “Wait!” Lorcan called after her, but she was fast. The grave was drawing her like a magnet, glowing pink in the moonlight. Standing before it, she could not believe her eyes. There was a fresh inscription beneath her father’s dates. It hadn’t been there before; of this she was quite certain. But now, unmistakably, were the words “and Sally, beloved mother and partner. Home at last.”

  Grace’s heart was beating fast, so fast she wasn’t sure if she could contain it. She felt giddy and hot and nauseous and thought she would have to sit down. The pink gravestone was a blur in front of her eyes. Her body felt as formless as jelly. She reached out to steady herself, but it was no good. She slumped to the cool earth in front of the grave. The last thing she was conscious of was the grass racing toward her, then everything went pitch-black.

  It did not take the others long to reach her. Mosh Zu was the first to speak. “So it ends,” he said. “So it begins.” He turned to Lorcan. “We must take her back to the ship now.”

  “I’ll carry her,” said Lorcan, bending down to lift Grace into his arms.

  “Do you need help?” Mosh Zu asked.

  Lorcan shook his head. “No,” he said, cradling Grace’s limp body. “No, she is light as a feather.” He smiled at Mosh Zu. “Almost as light as the first time I carried her.” Then he turned his eyes back to Grace, gazing down at her, thinking how peaceful she looked. This was a good sign, he thought, a good omen as she embarked on the next stage of her journey.