Looks of concern and what was perhaps regret crossed their faces as they looked to one another, then to Alex who had begun sobbing, and then back to each other again. I sensed there was something they wanted to say, but not in front of Alex.
“What?” I said.
“Alex, let’s go up to your room. I’ll sit with you for a little while so you can will yourself to sleep. Things will look better when you wake up, ok?”
Alex shook his head no, and continued to cry. “Go on now,” Duncan said with a much firmer tone than Holly had used. “You know she’s right. It will all be sorted and put right soon,” he said, patting Alex on the back.
Holly turned with him still in her arms and led him up the stairs. Once we heard the door click shut, Duncan motioned to the table and I sat once again, as did he.
“What is it?” I said. “What are you not telling me?”
“Leiv just isn’t a good vampire, Rachel. He doesn’t have the temperament for it. Holly and I feared he would lose control at some point but we didn’t think it would be with you. If anything I expected it to be with a human during feeding, which has almost happened a few times.”
I was floored. “What?”
“Yes. At the blood den he is so thirsty for blood, hungry or not, that he comes to the point of killing over and over again. That’s why I have never let him go feed on his own. He needs that controlled environment. Leiv would kill an innocent the first chance he got.”
“I’m the last person who could judge him for that,” I said, remembering the innocent I’d killed on my first night.
“No, none of us could, but the difference is that he seems to enjoy the prospect of it. I sensed it long ago but said nothing.”
“So you’ve been feeding him exclusively at the den? He hasn’t hunted at all?”
“No. It’s too risky. We wanted to bring you into the loop and tell you months ago, but given everything else you’ve had to deal with we thought it could wait. We thought we had it under control, but it looks like we were wrong and you almost paid for it with your life.”
“No. I knew what he was going to do. I stopped him easily.”
“Good thing for that. But still, we got lucky. Rachel, vampires like this are seldom able to be rehabilitated. Mostly they have to be…”
“Have to be what?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
“They have to be euthanized.”
I let the revelation hang in the air for a moment. I said nothing, simply allowing it to sink in. Leiv? Euthanized? Surely he wasn’t serious.
“We can get him some help though, can’t we? I mean there has to be another way, there just…there has to be, Duncan!”
“Well, a good long death sleep might calm him down. Sometimes that works, but sometimes it just makes things worse.”
How could things possibly get any worse? “What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, sometimes violent vampires wake up subdued, but mostly they wake up angrier for having been put into the sleep against their will.”
I didn’t like the sound of either one of those options. “Ok, besides death sleep and death itself, what else can be done?”
“Only talking to him. Trying to get him to see reason which if it could be done I think Holly and I would have accomplished it by now. Leiv doesn’t want to talk about it and that makes it difficult to know how to truly treat him.”
I leaned forward, rubbing my forehead with my fingers and trying to fight off the headache that was slowly creeping across my brow. “So many problems,” I said. “So many things going wrong. I don’t know what to do,” I cried. “I just don’t know.”
Duncan leaned forward and put his hand on my shoulder. “Rachel, some people just aren’t suited to this life. I think we need to face the fact that Leiv is one of those people.”
I knew he was right. “It’s going to kill Alex.”
“He’ll survive.”
“Maybe. But either of those options, if I order them, he’ll hate me forever.”
Duncan shook his head. “No. He’ll forgive you in time. Have faith, girl. And I hate to say it but you have bigger problems to deal with right now than Leiv. We’re only a few weeks away from Jacob doing what he promised.”
“Non-confirma,” I said. “Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten. I have to get everything in order before I have to face that. Will you help me?”
“You know I’ll always help you, but let’s try to think positively about this. The clan is split in half, so that means you have a lot of supporters.”
“It certainly doesn’t feel that way.”
“I think you’d be surprised.”
“I think it doesn’t matter. Jacob is on the council and if he brings up non-confirma, which we know he will, I’ll have to fight him.”
Duncan straightened up in his chair and hardened his voice. “And you’ll beat him. He’s certainly not as strong as Angus was when you took him down.”
“Perhaps not, but I’m not as strong as I was when I took Angus down either.” Feeding the orphans and running the clan had left me weak and a few weeks wasn’t time to get myself into any kind of shape to have a proper fight against Jacob.
“You need a show of strength. Something to get the entire clan behind you, not just half. It will be hard for Jacob to call you out if everyone thinks you’re a just and benevolent leader.”
I sat in silence contemplating what Duncan had just said. He was right, although I couldn’t imagine doing anything I’d done in the last year differently.
Just then I picked up a set of panicked footsteps making their way up the dirt covered driveway. Someone – obviously a vampire – was running to my front door and a moment later the noise was followed by an equally panicked knocking.
Duncan and I exchanged a quizzical look. Certainly it wasn’t someone who meant me any harm because they would have burst through the unlocked door without warning. I stood and crossed the kitchen to open it and saw one of my older clan members, a woman, standing on the other side. She looked as though she’d been crying.
Her name was Jane and I recognized her as a vampire who was living in Soldiers Cove as a human and the wife of Saul, one of the vampire volunteers who had mated with the niads.
Her appearance was that of someone in her early thirties, as was her husband, but in actuality she was about Holly’s age. Approximately four hundred years old. I opened the door and let her inside. “Jane? What’s the matter?”
Jane choked on her words, barely able to get them out, she was muttering something about Saul as she unsuccessfully fought back tears. “S-Saul, he’s so sick. H-Holly needs to come now.”
“Sick?” Holly said, rounding the corner. She was concerned and rightly so. Vampires didn’t get sick unless there was the breaking of a blood bond, and Jane was his only progeny. “What do you mean?”
“He can’t get out of bed. Sweating, vomiting, talking nonsense. I’m scared, Holly.”
Holly grabbed a bag she kept by the door and said, “Take us to him.”
I followed them both, leaving Duncan behind.
Chapter Four
Saul was struggling to breathe. I picked him up using my distance hearing when we were still quite a way from the house. “Better hurry,” I said to Holly, and we all broke into a run.
Upon entering the house Jane led us to a bedroom that was just off the bathroom in their tiny mobile home. They had raised four children on this go round in this little place, but now they had all moved out and were getting on with their lives. Gratefully none of them was there to see how sick their father actually was. None of them had turned. One had been offered but had refused and as such had been forced to forget what she knew.
Holly sat down on the bed and reached up, pulling the covers off Saul who was sweating profusely. Beads of what looked like water were forming all over his face and chest and he opened his mouth to speak, but only a small gurgle sound came out.
“Holly, what’s going on?” I as
ked.
“I have no idea. I’ve never seen anything like it. He’s sweating but he’s freezing cold,” she said, covering him back up with the blanket. She took out her stethoscope and listened to Saul’s chest. “It sounds like he’s got some kind of fluid in his lungs. Has he been underwater?”
“Not since a few nights ago with the niads. He expelled all the water from his lungs that night. I watched.”
Saul’s dark tanned skin suddenly went from its normal rich color to grey and ashen as his breathing grew more laboured. He tried to speak again but couldn’t and instead he reached out for his wife’s hand. She sat on the opposite side of the bed and held it for a moment before the sweat that had been covering his body encompassed him completely, forming a layer of water on top of his skin, then, he closed his eyes and turned to water, soaking the sheets in the process.
Jane screamed and wept as Holly pulled her off the bed and led her to the couch in the living room. “Why?” she screamed as she pounded her fists into Holly’s small chest. “Why?”
“I wish I knew, Jane. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
I said, “Holly, I think we need to pay a visit to the rest of the men who mated with the niads.”
“Yeah,” she said, still holding Jane close. “I think you’re right.”
Chapter Five
Owen Spike had been working on something in his tool shed behind his two bedroom home. He lived alone, but had a human girlfriend who, thankfully, was not around when he turned to liquid. The circular saw spun around and around on its stand, spewing water all over the walls. Water that used to be Owen himself, as his clothes lay there over the tool, drenched.
“Looks like it hit him pretty suddenly,” Holly said, picking up the deserted clothing. The sight was disturbing and Holly turned the saw off, then headed for the door, closing it behind her when we got outside.
“I’m not sure I want to check on the rest of them,” she said. “I think we pretty much know what we’ll find.”
“I know. I think Owen and Saul were the only ones living in the community. I’m pretty sure the rest of them reside in the sanctuary right now.”
Holly swallowed hard. “All right,” she said. “We may as well face the music.”
It was one thing for somebody like me to be disturbed at the sight, but if Holly was bothered by it I knew it was unusually bad. Even as she said the words she continued to simply stand there, hesitating before going to the sanctuary. Finally we left.
I arrived at the grounds and entered with my pendant, Holly only a few seconds behind me. When we were just inside the door we were greeted, surprisingly, by Gavin. “I was just on my way to find you,” he said. “Where were you?”
“Long story. Owen and Saul are dead.”
Gavin paled. “And I guess I don’t need to tell you that the volunteers who were living here are dead as well.”
“You know?” asked Holly.
“Well, to be fair, it’s not every day you watch a vampire turn to water in front of your eyes. Ashes, yes. Water, no.”
“Damn,” I said, slamming my fist into the wall. “How the hell did this happen?”
Jacob rounded the corner and joined our conversation, crossing his arms as he did so. “It happened, dear Rachel, because you were more interested in keeping the peace than taking care of the situation. If you had given the order to exterminate them, those vampires would still be alive.”
His smug demeanor told me everything I needed to know. Jacob didn’t care one bit for the lost vampires or their families. In fact he was pleased. Now he was secure in the knowledge that his non-confirma vote would be justified. He smiled to himself.
“Our brethren are lost. Try not to look so happy about it,” Gavin said.
“Oh, I’m not happy about it. I’m simply pointing out the obvious, again, like I’ve done many times since you’ve appointed me to the council. This is just the latest in a long line of mistakes. Your days are numbered, Rachel. I hope you know that. I mean, they were before, but now… now you’ve no hope at all. I just hope you last long enough to see the next few weeks. I’d like a formal challenge, but I’d take an execution. I love a good surprise.”
I could feel the anger welling up inside me, my field of vision decreasing and everything around me growing red. Jacob backed up a couple of steps and released his fangs, I released mine in response. “Unless you want to fight right here and now. We could end this.”
“You don’t want that Jacob. If I fight with you here I don’t have to kill you with a sword. I can kill you any way I want, and it would serve you to remember that I have a few skills that you just don’t.”
He put his hands up as if suddenly remembering my fire gift. “No need to be unreasonable,” he smiled. He knew I’d never kill him out in the open unprovoked and so he was safe, for now.
I turned my back and headed for the exit, pushing the heavy iron door so hard that it swung completely outward, almost coming off its old hinges.
“Where are you going?” Gavin said.
“To make sure this never happens again.”
Chapter six
The moon reflected off the frozen pond, the surface making everything exceptionally bright. It was like shining a light on a mirror and the trees surrounding it were lit up as if spotlighted from above. Anyone else would have looked at the scene and found peace. After the events of the evening, however, I was simply seeing red.
“Rachel,” I heard Gavin say. Unbeknownst to me he had followed me there. “Don’t make any hasty decisions. Remember what we talked about. Don’t forget about Ryan.”
“Fall back!” I snapped. “Remember who your leader is.” My voice echoed off the surrounding ice and snow. Gavin backed up a few steps, but maintained a look of anger. “Nobody will tell me how to deal with this. Nobody! Vampires are dead. There needs to be justice.”
The pond was fed by a body of water called, The Bras d’Or Lakes. It was small but had a fresh supply of new water running into it on a regular basis. It would also provide a nice escape route for any of them who wanted to flee what was coming.
Quickly I scanned the area and found several large downed trees and picked them up, fueled by my anger, and piled them underneath the bridge where the water flowed underneath.
I stood under the bridge next to the pile of trees and with one great motion, brought my fist down on the ice. A crack formed just below the surface that spread out, all the way across the frozen pond, and as it did a large hole opened up in the center. Zarah floated upward, covering her ears.
“What are you doing, Rachel?” Gavin said, coming to stand next to me. I ignored him.
Zarah was visibly annoyed at first, and then a look of fear crossed her delicate features when she saw me standing there. Steadying herself she said, “What seems to be the trouble?”
“What seems to be the trouble? The trouble is that I let you mate with my people and now they’re dead. All of them. Did you know this would be the case?”
“Why have you cut off our water?”
“I asked you a question,” I said, taking a few steps toward her. “Did you know what you were doing?”
“Oh, Rachel,” she said, pity in her voice. “You make so much over a few lives. Ten lives, is that so many? Each of them mated with more than one of my daughters so potentially there will be more lives gained than lost.”
“So, you did know.”
She nodded. “Of course. Would you have let me take them if you had known? Probably not. We did what we had to do, and most of those vampires had lived long enough and killed enough anyway.”
“That’s not for you to judge,” I said.
“Really? You seem to be standing here passing judgment on me. Are we not the same? We’ve discussed this. I know you can see reason.”
“You know what, Zarah? You’re right. I am passing judgment on you, as is my right as leader of this clan. My judgment is this. For what you have done, you will die.”
/> The heat filled my body and I focused all of my anger, all of my hatred, fear and frustration on Zarah. A moment later she was screaming, diving under the water as she burned alive. For a moment the flames were extinguished, but her attempt was short lived.
I focused on the water this time doing something I had never done before. I gave it everything I had. Every ounce of evil I had in me that I’d held back over my entire existence as a vampire came pouring out and the water grew warm in the cold night air, steam rising up from it as it began to boil. One by one niads crawled up out of the bubbling pond collapsing on the shore, gasping for breath. When they did I focused on each of them in turn, lighting them on fire as they screamed and screamed, their flesh melting, their bones liquefying, their bodies turning to nothing but piles of ash. The women, the infants, all of them were put to death.
Zarah was the last to come up. She was scared and shivering, wounded from her previous bout with the flames. “Why have you done this to us? We only asked to live as you have.”
I didn’t answer. I was so focused on my hate and her death that I set her alight once more. “There is no action that is without consequence, and this is yours,” I said over her screams.
“Very well,” she spat out, tears falling down her once beautiful, now mutilated face. Her words were slurred and contorted as her jaw could barely move, deformed by the lack of skin, her teeth showing themselves through a hole in her left cheek. “But consider this, vampire. One day you will face consequences as well for all the evil you and your kind have spread. Now, do it quickly if you must, and may the gods have mercy on you,” she spat.
I set her on fire once again and a moment later she was ashes, along with her daughters. All of them piles of nothingness, being carried off already by the winter night’s icy breeze.
I felt my hatred surge even more and looked around, making sure they were all dead, but secretly hoping they were not. I had killed and the urge to kill again was coursing through my veins. Off in the distance a voice was calling my name. It might have been Gavin, or Holly, or Duncan. I had no way to tell. Everything I was hearing and seeing was distorted through a sea of redness.
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: Sacrificial Children Page 8