“For God’s sake Patty,” I thought I heard him say, “just stop would you.”
“No chance,” I muttered under my breath, grinning and pretending he was there with me. It felt comforting in the darkness of the evening that had suddenly gathered around me. My clothes blended in well and would protect me to a certain extent from the nosy mortals that would undoubtedly be out at this hour of the evening. But with the immortals, my scent carried far and wide as did any other human’s; that would be my own undoing.
I stopped beside a tree, and leant backwards against the large wide trunk. I frantically rubbed my ankle and felt the tenderness of the swelling. It was here I had to cast my own spell of protection to surround me and prevent anyone who tried, particularly immortals, from stealing my life, something that wasn’t rightfully theirs.
The bubble surrounded me and made me look like I had mist that followed me. The air inside was clean and fresh. The safety was undeniable as I sensed other vampires somewhere around me; I heard them. I could tell they were near; every hair on the back of my head picked itself up on end and I began to run, puffing and panting across the roads. Ducking and diving over and under tree branches and stones that were blocking my path, I eventually lost them. Only a witch could sense them around, especially with the bubble surrounding me, it alerted me to the dangers and blossomed outwards whenever there was danger near.
Slowly Matace’s house began to become more clearly focused in my view. My eyes watched longingly for the house to come closer; I wished I could just use the portal to get there rather than use the normally formal mortal ways of transport, walking. Using the portal though would have alerted Lilly to the fact that I was alone, and that Luke wasn’t anywhere near me. No vampire had dared to try and use the portal to cross from one side to the other; it hadn’t been tried and tested and nobody was sure of the safety of venturing into the unknown.
Finally, clutching my stomach from the stitch that had built up, I leant against the stones that paved the driveway of Matace’s house. The lights were off inside, and the darkness loomed outwards seemingly to capture me into its fold.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” Luke stepped out of the shadows, angrily watching me, “I knew you were headed here. Why didn’t you stop when I called you?”
“Luke,” I gasped, “How did you get here without me seeing you?”
“I know you sensed me,” he said pointedly looking at the bubble around me, “hence, you covered yourself. Good idea but I’d rather you didn’t climb down the trellis and leave the safety of the house.”
“I felt like a prisoner,” I complained, “and besides, unless you’re thinking of tying me up, I’ll do anything I damn well please.”
“I’m strongly considering what you’ve just said,” he remarked laughing at me, “but until then, you’ll have to put up with me following you.”
I shrugged and hobbled towards the house, my wretched ankle throbbing and hurting, I almost wished I didn’t climb down the trellis.
“You’re injured,” he commented, “let me help you,”
He walked alongside me and placed his arm around my waist, giving me the opportunity to place all my body weight onto him.
“Do you think it’s a good idea?”
“I know what you did earlier Patty,” he reprimanded. “That wasn’t nice. I should have known you’d use anything to get rid of me for your own little plan. However,” he said, “I’m not totally useless and I can control my thirst for your blood a little longer and I promise not to bite you.”
I stopped and stared at him, unsure whether to trust him. Although he was a part of the realm, there was no telling whether he would happily turn against the grain and bite me, thus ending my life and of course getting himself into deep trouble with everyone else.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes,” he laughed, “Don’t look so shocked; I told you earlier for some reason having you at such close proximity has wreaked havoc with my self control. I cannot explain it and I won’t even try but there’s something about you that I can’t shake off.”
“I know what you mean,” I smiled shyly, “I’ve dreamt about you without wanting to, and I know you didn’t put the dreams inside my head. They appeared, whatever this is has to end. We can’t get involved with each other beyond that of working colleagues.”
“I agree,” he said softly, “Now, how about a lift up to the house?”
Before I could even begin to fathom what he meant by the term ‘lift’ he’d lifted me off the floor and began running full pelt towards the house. The garden whizzed by at such a speed it made me feel slightly nauseous from looking at it.
“Luke,” I laughed, “that kind of thing doesn’t happen in the mortal world.”
“It does in mine,” he laughed. “Now, what if I agree to help you unravel this mystery of the murders, as long as you promise to tell me everything you know and everything you find out?”
“And will you tell me when Lilly tells you stuff?”
“I will,” he agreed meekly, “but we will have to work together and you can’t go wandering about on your own. You could be next on the list and I have to protect you.”
I knew without a shadow of a doubt what he meant, if as it had been suggested that everyone who had been close to Matace was being targeted and killed then I would be somewhere on the list. It wouldn’t be a pretty sight either and I was sure that whoever was responsible had their own reasons why they were doing this. One thing was for sure, it wasn’t within my powers of the realm to decide what to do with those responsible; it would have to go to the high court.
Once at the high court and in the safe hands of Lilly and the others who’d been termed as the elders of different institutes of immortals, they’d listen and make the decision. They would determine whether to kill them or simply extradite them to another portal world, the one where many people had been sent and expected to survive.
“Listen,” Luke whispered muffling my voice with his hand over my mouth, “can you hear that?”
I nodded, in the direction of the house the low moan resounded softly across the garden; it sounded almost animal like but yet there was something whimsical and compelling at the same time.
“What is it?” I asked softly, keeping my voice as low as his had been.
“I don’t know,” he shook his head, “but I think we’re going to find out.”
As the words left his mouth, around the east corner the animal appeared, or was it animals? I couldn’t quite make it out with the darkness, encased with black and being black coated as I suspected it would be. It shuffled along easy enough, moaning softly in the breeze, its tail swinging with some kind of new found emotion it seemed to have developed. There was definitely more than one, by the shadows cast alongside the wall of the house there seemed to be more than one head appear, but where the other two were hiding neither of us knew.
“What are they?”
“I’m not sure,” Luke whispered holding me tightly against him, with his hands placed against my waist and his body remaining dangerously close to my own, “I haven’t seen anything like them in a long time.”
The animals ears pricked upwards and it stopped, one leg propped upwards as it sniffed the air and began to growl which was followed simultaneously by the other two who still hadn’t made themselves known. Freezing and replacing the bubble around me, I tried to stretch it so it could cover Luke as well without success. Witches’ magic didn’t seem to be quite as accommodating towards the vampire race, one race that didn’t belong in this world according to the folklore teachings from Matace.
“I don’t think it saw us,” Luke whispered softly into my ear, “I think its smells our presence more than anything.”
“Let's get inside the house,” I nodded and gestured towards the trap door beside us. “This way.”
Trustingly he watched me lift the door and step inside. While he remained watching behind us, I waited on the steep steps for him to close the door
and take the lead. I had to remain close to him as he was my protector and already I’d managed to end up with a sprained ankle for my efforts to deceive him.
“Please stop thinking so loud,” he moaned, “it’s effecting my thoughts and I need to keep my wits about me. Just for the record though,” he stopped beside me as I looked up into the eyes that always seemed to be catapulting themselves into my head, “I’m not cross at you for deceiving me; I’m not going to eat you and I am going to protect you. If you can please stop thinking anything other than that, it would be a great help.”
I grinned up at him, knowing I’d gotten to him made me feel good. Considering his dream weaving when he crept inside my head and my dreams, it was the least I could do to get back at him. We crept down the stairs, with Luke listening and being able to hear more than I could. His eyes swept the area keenly, as he kept me stowed behind him using his own body to shield me, even though I had my protective shield wrapped snugly around me.
“It's clear,” he whispered, beckoning me forwards, “come on.”
“It looks like we’re in the cellar,” I whispered back trying not to stumble and fall against him. His back was facing me and he could feel the pain I was in. That much was evident by the way his hand swept towards me and he held onto my elbow; he attempted to hold me up while I perched my injured ankle against one of the many sacks that lined the wall, “I hope there’s no rats down here.”
I shivered at the thoughts and heard Luke’s faint rumble of laughter.
“I have a feeling you’re safe for now,” he muttered. “I can’t hear any of them right now. They must be resting.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope,” he said and pointed to the floor where I could make out the faint droppings that had been recently left behind, “just don’t scream or anything if any of them do come out.”
“I won’t,” I whispered shivering violently, “where’s the door to the upstairs then?”
“Over there I think,” he said, “are you alright to walk or do you want me to carry you?”
“I think I’m alright,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t decide to carry me against my will. It was bad enough with him holding my hand and trying to force the images of him back, rather than getting caught up inside my imagination which seemed to be out of control.
“Good.” He turned to smile at me and squeezed my fingers reassuringly as he stepped towards the door. He turned the handle gently and when it didn’t give, he muttered a curse under his breath.
“It’s locked,” he said.
“You think,” I said sarcastically, “open it then.”
He sighed. “If I do that, anyone who’s behind this door will hear us.”
“So,” I shrugged, “I have my shield and a vampire to protect me.”
He smiled and released my hand. The feeling of loosing something and a desire to take hold of him swarmed through me, shocking me and causing me to stumble slightly on the small shallow step I’d stood up on to be close to Luke.
His sharp pull against the handle caused the wood to split and splinters flew outwards towards me, their sharpness grazed my cheeks.
“Great,” I said, my voice muffled by my sleeve as I’d tried to stop them from catching me, “Another injury to add to my mortal body.”
“Are you ok?”
Luke had turned to face me, his eyes concerned and widened when he spotted the small drips of blood on my cheek. I turned away sharply from his view, remembering the fact that he couldn’t stand to be in close proximity of me for losing control, so there was no possible way he’d be able to stand the sight of my blood or the smell.
“Get away from me,” I slapped his hand away angrily. “You can’t see it and I want you to hold your nose.”
“Why?” he laughed softly. “I’m finding it oddly comforting, the smell of your blood, the smell of having you so near to me. Since earlier Patty, I’m learning to gain control and get used to the way you smell. Let me see.”
“Don’t touch me Luke,” I warned through clenched teeth, “I’m telling you. Don’t you dare touch me!”
The floor rumbled slightly; the unsteady movements caused me to fall off balance and land with a crash into the frame of the door; I slithered to the floor with a thud.
“Ouch,” I rubbed my bruised back, “What was that?”
“You don’t know?” he asked with genuine surprise crossing his face. “You honestly have no idea what just happened?”
I shook my head, feeling dazed and confused and ultimately bruised with the new injuries to add to my old ones.
“Patty,” he clucked his tongue smiling gently down at me and then holding out his hand for me to take, “you’re entirely a new experience. What you just did I have only seen a handful of times. The power inside of you is like a magnetic force to earth and to the forces that charge nature.”
“What are you talking about?” I snapped, pulling my hands free from his.
His touch ignited a fire that shouldn’t be allowed to be recognised, he was a vampire and I, a witch, a forbidden combination. Anything that happened would be like the telling of the tale of Adam and Eve all over again sampling the forbidden fruits and tempting the fates. All the darkness would rise from every vampire both exiled and still living on earth, not to mention the distaste and fury from the realm which would be ultimately aimed directly at me.
“I’ll explain later,” he shrugged sensing my demise. “We’d better get inside. We’ve made enough noise already to rise whatever that creature was outside.”
Chapter Six
Luke entered the house first. The first room was a spacious kitchen area linked to the dining room. A small planned but well laid out house, the pristine cleanliness hit my nostrils and I covered my nose to prevent me from coughing or gagging on the smell. For some reason it felt weird being inside Matace’s home; I’d never been here before even when he was alive and I didn’t feel comfortable.
“This way,” Luke nodded in the direction of the study door; he could see it was wide open with the windows facing outside into the garden.
Startled I shrunk behind Luke when two eyes appeared in the glass from the other side. Luke steadied me and shoved me against the wall using his body as a shield. When the danger had passed he gently took my hand and led me forwards entering the study and immediately closing the curtains.
“Won’t they see you’ve just done that?” I asked, “Closing the curtains I mean.”
“Probably,” he said. “What choice do I have? Either that or they’ll see us in here and come in.”
“True,” I whispered.
“Where do you want to start?”
“I guess I’ll start with the desk and you start over there,”
I pointed to the shelves that held large ring binders stuffed full with papers. I wasn’t sure what they were and I was almost certain that in this room we’d find something that might help assist us to unravel the murders, preferably before they came after me for whatever reason.
I sat behind the overly large desk and began to shuffle through a small pile of papers that was facing me. Nothing interesting seemed to pop from the pages. As I began to shuffle through some more, Luke remained silent and the soft shuffle of paper was all that could be heard in the room.
The room itself had been encased with dark wooden panels lining every wall; the ceiling had been painted with a Muriel of fairies dancing, their wings angelic and the soft touches of the artist’s brushes shone through. The faces were detailed to show a picture of pure extravagance and were lovingly decorated with silver and gold ribbons painted through and around the picture; every fairy had at least one ribbon attached. The older symbols of the realm had been entwined discreetly providing the secrecy that we’d always existed under and would continue to do so for many centuries to come.
“I feel like this is absolutely useless,” Luke commented as he shuffled his way through another file. “We’re going to need more than just today to take a look
through all of this.”
“Stop moaning and get on with it, would you?”
“I’m not moaning,” he smiled, “just saying it’s a futile attempt to find something that might not even be here in the first place.”
“It's here,” I said. “I don't know how I know, but I do.”
I switched on Matace’s computer hoping it might shred a glimmer of light into the existing murderous games. The cursor flashed asking for a password. Before I knew what had happened my fingers stretched and began to type; it was a peculiar feeling as if someone had taken control of me and was doing their best to try and show me what to do and how to access whatever it was that I needed.
“Hey Luke,” I squeaked excitedly, “come here; look at this.”
There on the screen in the first set of password protected documents was the answer, not very clear or in depth but enough for me to ascertain some truth and what the creatures were that were being developed.
“It looks like phrases taken from websites during a Google search,” Luke said as he leant over the chair behind me. “Look,” he pointed at the screen, “Isn’t that some kind of three headed animal?”
“Sure is,” I agreed. “They haven’t been around in many centuries; most people started to believe they were pure myths, but I guess someone found a way to develop them and bring back into this age. We can’t let this animal get out and loose amongst anyone, whether they’re human or not.”
“I know,” he sighed running his fingers through his hair distractedly. “It's dangerous. The people involved are trying to keep their tracks covered as best they can. If they find out you’ve had a look at these documents then you’re next on the list, that’s providing they don’t already think you’re involved and helped Matace before his death.”
The Depths of Darkness Page 8