by Tim O'Rourke
My heart raced in my chest like a trip hammer and those feelings that I had felt so passionately when with Luke came rushing back. But it was more than that. The feelings which were making my heart race were not of lust or desire, but guilt and betrayal. While Luke had been suffering at the hands of Phillips, Sparky, my mother, and God knows who else, I had been making love to his friend – I had fallen in love with his best friend.
Every part of me wanted to look at Potter again, but I just couldn’t. I didn’t want to look into his eyes. What would I see there? So, very slowly, I walked towards Luke and hugged him.
Brushing his bristly cheek against mine, Luke whispered in my ear and said, “I never thought I would see you again, Kiera.”
“I didn’t think I would ever see you again either,” I told him as he held me tight. I could feel his body against mine, and just as I had remembered it, it felt as hard as stone.
“What did they do to you?” I whispered, still not able to look into his face.
“It wasn’t so bad,” he said. “Potter told me that they hurt you, Kiera. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’ll never be able to thank Potter enough for taking care of you for me.”
To hear those words threw images of me and Potter across my mind, our bodies entwined as we had made love. I pushed the pictures away. Opening my eyes, I looked over Luke’s shoulder as I hugged him and could see Potter watching me. His face looked hard and haggard. But it was his eyes, there was a sadness to them – something I had only ever seen once before, the day Murphy had been murdered.
Taking the cigarette from the corner of his mouth, he flicked it away. He looked away from me, crossed to where Sparky lay nursing his leg on the ground, and kicked him in the guts. Sparky howled in agony and screwed himself into a ball.
Pulling away from Luke, I turned to face Potter and said, “What in the hell was that for?”
“He’s a fucking liar!” Potter said, looking at Sparky and not at me.
“What are you talking about?” I said, heading back towards Sparky and the others as Luke followed me.
“He said that you would find this Elias Munn in the Dust Palace,” Potter hissed, still unable to look at me.
“So?” I shrugged.
“That’s impossible,” Potter barked, and this time he did look at me. The sadness had gone from his face and was now replaced with anger.
“Why is it impossible?” Isidor asked, coming forward, his eyebrow piercing twinkling in the moonlight.
Potter looked at him, but said nothing. Instead, he shoved another cigarette into the corner of his mouth and lit it.
“Potter’s right,” Luke cut in. “The Dust Palace is the home of the elders. He couldn’t possibly be there.”
“Why not?” Kayla asked, as she brushed snow from her red hair.
Blowing smoke from his nostrils in two thin jets, Potter looked at Kayla and said, “Listen, sweetheart, you don’t just stroll into the Dust Palace. It’s the most sacred place in The Hollows. It’s where the Elders, or as some like to call them, the gods live. It’s their home. To me, I think it’s just a bunch of bullshit, but one thing I do know for certain is that place is a fortress and there’s only one way in.”
“And where’s that?” Seth asked.
“Shit, who invited you along?” Luke suddenly groaned, as if noticing Seth for the first time.
“Good to see you too, Luke Bishop,” Seth snarled. “It was Potter’s idea.”
“I had no choice,” Potter said, looking at Luke.
“Didn’t you say this scum was responsible for helping to kill Murphy?” Luke asked in disbelief.
“That’s right,” Potter said, flicking ash from the tip of his cigarette. “But I’ve gone some way in getting even,” he added, then glanced at me.
“How could you ever possibly get even over the death of Murphy?” Luke asked, his black beard now turning white with snow.
“Just like Seth helped take Murphy’s heart, I took the heart of his lover,” Potter told him, and again he looked at me, as if trying to gauge my reaction.
Those images of Potter striding across the floor of the facility and ripping Eloisa’s heart out swam in front of my mind again and they sickened me. I broke Potter’s gaze and looked away. I still couldn’t understand why he had done that, he had confused and scared me.
“I think you’ll find that I’ve lost more than Eloisa,” Seth barked at Potter, his eyes blazing like hot coals. “I’ve lost my son, Nik too.”
“What, you mean he’s dead?” Potter asked, and for a moment I thought I could see the briefest of smirks tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Yes,” Seth spat. “He was killed in a vampire attack a few miles from here.”
“Aww,” Potter groaned. “My heart bleeds for you. Don’t tell me any more or I think I might just start crying.”
Before anyone knew what was happening, Seth launched himself at Potter and had him by the throat. “We have unfinished business, Potter, so I wouldn’t be too cocky if I were you!”
Tearing Seth’s claw from his throat, Potter stared into Seth’s eyes, blowing smoke into his face. “Bring it on anytime, wolf-man, I’ll be ready for you.”
“Oh, please.” I groaned. “What is it with you two and all this schoolyard crap? Okay, so some of us don’t like each other much – and that’s putting it mildly – but we have to find a way of getting along, because if we can’t, then we might as well die, right here, right now, and save Elias Munn the job of killing us.”
“She’s right you know,” Luke said, stepping between Potter and Seth, pushing them apart.
Potter scowled at Seth and wandered away back towards the tree.
“So what’s the one and only way into this Dust Palace?” I called after Potter.
“You have to be invited in by the gods,” he shouted back over his shoulder at me. “And somehow, I can’t imagine them ever inviting Elias Munn around for tea!”
“It’s true, I tell you,” Sparky snivelled, still clutching his stomach where Potter had kicked him.
Kneeling down beside him, I looked into his wild yellow eyes and said, “You better not be leading us into some trap!”
“I’m not, I promise,” he said.
“Your promise had better be as good as mine,” Kayla told him, yanking on the rope still wrapped about her fist, “or you’ll be dead.”
“I’m dead anyway,” Sparky yelped as Kayla pulled him to his feet. “When Elias Munn discovers that I’ve betrayed him, he’ll kill me anyway.”
“Then you better start praying that we kill him first,” Isidor said, placing his crossbow across his back. Then, looking at me he added, “So what’s the plan, Kiera?”
Looking up into the sky, the clouds had started to spread out and the storm started to ease. It was still bitterly cold and we were all covered in a coating of snow. “We head down into The Hollows,” I said, looking at Luke then over my shoulder at Potter, who was leaning against the tree with his arms folded across his chest. “I’ve got to find someone called Felix Coanda.”
“There’s no entrance to The Hollows for miles,” Potter said. “And we know the whole area has been sealed off.”
“What about the huge hole the Vampyrus have the humans digging?” Kayla asked.
“What hole?” Luke asked.
“We came across this…crater, I guess you could call it,” I started to explain. “The Vampyrus are building some kind of giant escape hatch so they can flood the country at great speed. They’ve got the townsfolk from Wasp Water digging it, human slaves. It’s a few miles from here.”
“We could enter The Hollows from there,” Luke suggested, rubbing his beard with his fingers.
“Good luck,” Seth growled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Luke asked him.
“We barely got out of there alive,” Seth said. “The whole area is teaming with vampires.”
“There is another way into The Hollows,” Sparky said, looking at
me, half-smiling.
“Where?” I snapped at him. I didn’t want him to smile at me, I didn’t like or trust him.
“The Vampyrus built another tunnel, an escape route if you like,” he said, “just in case the main tunnel collapsed and they needed to get out.”
“How can we trust you?” Luke asked him.
“We can trust him on that,” I said thoughtfully.
“Why?” Luke asked.
“Remember that disc I took from the monastery?” I asked him. “Well, I had a chance to check it out on a computer back in Wasp Water and there were plans and drawings of places that the Vampyrus were using. There was a plan of what I now suspect was that huge hole they’re digging. There was a tunnel leading from it, but it didn’t show where it led to.”
Looking at me, then at Sparky who now hobbled on one leg next to Kayla, Luke said, “Okay then, lead the way, but this better not be some kinda trick or…”
“I know, I know,” Sparky whined, “or I’m dead.”
Turning, Sparky limped away, Kayla only feet behind him as she held onto his leash. “This way,” he said back over his shoulder. Silently, Seth and Isidor followed.
Luke took my arm and said, “Stick close to me, Kiera, I’m still not convinced we can trust Sparky.” He led me away towards the mountains in the distance, and looking back over my shoulder, I could see Potter standing alone by the tree.
Chapter Five
We followed Sparky as he limped and hobbled over the rocky ground that spread out before us like a white blanket. The snow had eased, and a grey sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. It was cold and my hands felt numb, even though I had them tucked into my coat pockets.
Every so often, Kayla would pull on Sparky’s leash and tell him to hurry up. How much of this she did out of spite and hatred for Sparky, or just because she was desperate to get out of the cold, I didn’t know. Kayla seemed tougher now – harder – and I wasn’t sure I liked it. But could I put the blame for the change in her solely at the feet of Potter? Yeah, he told her she needed to toughen up and prepare herself for what might lay ahead, but I wondered too if everything she had been through hadn’t also changed her.
Luke walked beside me and said very little. When I did sneak a sideways glance at him, he looked lost in thought. I found it hard to strike up a conversation with him as it felt uncomfortable. I felt bad about what had happened between Potter and me while he hadn’t been around. I didn’t regret what had happened between us, and I wouldn’t go back and change that for anything as I had fallen in love with Potter and I knew that now – but I had to tell Luke somehow and I didn’t know when. The guy had just come back from hell, he had put his life on the line for me as I had for him, back in the caves beneath the Fountain of Souls. So how would he take the news that I had fallen for his best friend? What would that do to him? What would that do to the friendship between the three of us?
And what of Potter? Had I fallen for the wrong guy? However much I tried, I couldn’t get those images of him ripping out Eloisa’s heart out of my head. Why had he done that? And those words written by Ravenwood, “...Elias Munn plunged his fist into her chest and tore her heart out…”
Had Potter really murdered Sophie in that way? Had he slipped up in front of me by killing Eloisa in the same manner? The only way I would know for sure was to ask him. Looking back over my shoulder, I could just make out his lonely figure as he followed us up the mountainside from some distance away. Slowing down, I decided to hang back and wait for him so we could talk.
Noticing that I was no longer beside him, Luke said, “Hey Kiera, we don’t have much time to lose, keep up.”
“What about Potter?” I asked.
“He’s big and ugly enough to look after himself,” Luke smiled at me.
“All the same, I still think we should…” I started.
Then, blowing warm breath over his hands, Luke said, “C’mon, Kiera, it’s freezing out here.” Taking my arm, he pulled me close to him. Gently, I pushed his hand away.
“Is everything okay?” Luke asked, a look of puzzlement on his face.
“Everything’s fine,” I said, starting to move forward again.
“Are you sure?” Luke asked, catching up with me.
“It’s just that I don’t need to be told what to do, okay?” I told him. “I’ve survived this long. Things have changed, Luke. I’ve changed.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, sounding surprised.
“Look, all I’m saying is that I’ve had to learn to fend for myself over the last few months,” I explained. “So it’s hard for me to have you tell me what to do and what’s best for me.”
“I wasn’t trying to tell you what to do, Kiera,” he said softly. “I just didn’t want you to get cold.”
“I’m already cold,” I half-smiled.
“Okay, I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just…it’s just that I still care for you, Kiera. My feelings for you haven’t changed. I still lov-”
“Please, Luke,” I said, looking away from him. “Don’t say any more.”
“Okay, I won’t for now” he whispered, and we walked the rest of the way in silence.
Halfway up the mountainside, Sparky turned down a narrow crevice set between two giant slabs of granite stone. The wind whistled through the gap and sounded like the cries of lost children searching for their mums. This break between the mountains was only wide enough for us to walk single file and Sparky led the way, shuffling onwards and mumbling in pain. Looking at him like that made me remember how he had once been. He had been my friend, or so I thought. We had shared coffee together at Starbucks, gone to see movies, sat in front of the T.V. in my poky flat back in Havensfield while we ate my poor attempts at cooking. That was when we had been friends, and all the while, little did I know he was watching me, keeping an eye on me, until Elias Munn was ready to strike.
I could feel little pity for him, as he had brought this situation upon himself. But still, it was hard for me to reconcile what he had once been and what he had now become. I could see fear in his eyes. I had seen it back at the truck and it hadn’t been fear of being killed by any of us – his fear was of Munn.
We made our way through the narrow fissure in the rock, which led out to a narrow ledge running around the side of the mountain. Sparky sniffed the air, looked back at us and said, “This way.”
The path was narrow and one slip would have sent any one of us crashing down the side of the mountain. Low-flying cloud swept past and gave me the sense of being in another world. The mountain stretched up high above us, and below in the distance, I could just make out the huge crater that the Vampyrus had the humans digging. Vehicles filled with rock they had removed still came and went. Peeking through the cloud, the crater looked huge, like a giant mouth in the earth which was soon to spew hundreds or thousands of Vampyrus above ground to take to the skies and attack villages, towns, and cities across the country. I couldn’t help but remember the nightmare I had while staying at Hallowed Manor. I’d dreamt of London being overridden by the Vampyrus. Black-winged creatures had flown through the sky, so many of them that they had blocked out the sun. St Paul’s Cathedral had been reduced to rubble; Big Ben had been burning like a giant candle; vampires had rampaged through the streets feeding on any surviving humans. Had that been just a nightmare? Knowing now what the Vampyrus had planned, I knew that it was a premonition of what was to come. Why was I now so certain? I’d also dreamt of the London underground being overrun with Vampyrus and vampires and that had happened. Watching the T.V. back at Kenner’s Farm as we had fled those vampire-cops, I had seen the news reports claiming that wild animals had gone berserk down below ground.
Knowing what was going to come didn’t help. Perhaps it should have – I mean, who wouldn’t want to know what their enemy had planned for them in the future? Any army would want to know that. But the task ahead seemed too much. There were only a handful of us against thousands upon thousands of bloodthirsty Va
mpyrus. Knowing that didn’t inspire me – it scared me. And like the mountain we now climbed, the end of our journey appeared to be too far out of reach for me to be confident in an outcome that would save the human race. But whichever way I looked at it, the humans or the Vampyrus had to die and I had to decide that. However hard I thought of a way out of it, I couldn’t see one.
Just say what Ravenwood had written in his letter was true. What if I did have to choose between the human race and the Vampyrus – how could I ever make such a decision? How could I let an entire species die? How would I decide? Spin a coin?
“I do not have to tell you that the burden on you is a great one. The fate of two entire races lies in your hands. The decision to destroy an entire race is not an easy one – so choose wisely, Kiera Hudson.” The words that Ravenwood had scrawled inside that book kept flashing across my mind and I wanted to scream out at them – tear them up, set fire to them. But I’d already done that and even as I’d watched those words disappear in a ball of flames, I knew in my heart they wouldn’t really go. They would be burnt into my mind until I made that terrible decision, and with every step I took around the mountainside, that decision was getting nearer and nearer.
Then, as if speaking in the wind that whipped about me, Ravenwood’s voice whispered in my ear the passage from his letter that had haunted me since I’d read it.
“But be careful, Kiera, of who you befriend and love on your journey, for it is said that if Elias Munn can get the half-breed to love him as a father, or a brother, or a lover, then just like his first love – he would have taken your heart as his own and he will be given the power to choose which race lives and which race dies.”
Without being able to help myself, I glanced back over my shoulder and could see Potter making his way around the ledge some way behind us. His head was down as if in deep thought or prayer. But, knowing Potter, he wouldn’t be praying. There was something on his mind and it was more than just his fear that I might truly be in love with his best friend Luke. No, there was something else. If Potter really was Elias Munn, I knew that I’d fallen in love with him, and although that scared me, there was little voice inside me that said, “Kiera, pass the decision to him. Let him choose which race survives. It wouldn’t be your fault; no one can truly help who they fall in love with…”