“I love the dress,” Harriet said, trying to be as friendly and normal as possible, just in case she never saw her again.
“Oh thanks, yours is very pretty too; green really suits you,” Caroline replied, the excitement at the night ahead clear in her voice. “Actually I was going to wear something similar for the ball tomorrow night. Anyway, I guess you must be going to the party. Does that mean you’re dropping all of this death and destruction stuff?”
“I don’t want to argue with you Caroline. You’re one of my best friends. Just try and be careful, please.”
Before either of them could say anything else, two taxis pulled up. A driver stepped out of the first one and called for Caroline.
“See you there then,” her friend said, stepping calmly into the car.
No one got out of the second taxi, but Harriet assumed it must be for her. All the windows were completely blacked out. She knocked lightly on the driver’s window, but there was no response. She managed to open a back door and climb inside.
“Is this my taxi?” she called. “I’m Harriet French.”
“It is indeed Harriet. Sit down, make yourself comfortable and we’ll be on our way.”
Harriet couldn’t see the driver, as there was a solid black glass partition between the front and back of the car. The voice however sounded oddly familiar and unusually well spoken for a taxi driver. They drove in silence for a while. As with her mother’s car, the windows were darkened on both sides, so she could no more see out than anyone could see in. It made the ride very disconcerting.
Eventually the car stopped and the partition slid down. “Archie!” she said, surprised. “Why have they got you driving? Isn’t it dangerous sending you out during the day?”
“Oh, if I went into the sun it’d kill me, but the younger we are the better we’re able to stay awake during the day and it’s quite safe in the car.”
“So I suppose this is another of your attempts to prove that you’re a team player, like when you got the swords.”
“Something like that. I intend to prove my loyalties quite conclusively tonight.” He sounded exhausted and rather sad. “Come and sit in the passenger seat. It’ll be easier to talk that way and there’s a lot I want to say. We’re in the underground car park in the Westgate Centre, so it’s quite safe for you to open the door.”
Harriet much preferred having a closable partition between them. Nonetheless, she got out of the car. She wasn’t entirely sure she was doing so of her own free will, but couldn’t believe that Archie could be strong enough to mesmerise her.
Nervously, she sat down beside him. He was wearing the full Cavaliers’ outfit, white tie with the blue and silver waistcoat and bow tie. He was as attractive as the other vampires, but looked rather more frail than most of them. His blue eyes were almost glowing, and his skin was oddly flushed.
“Will this be your first summer party as a vampire?” Harriet said, trying to normalise the situation by making conversation.
He laughed softly. “I hope it’s my last. It’s astonishing just how well everyone seems to adapt to being a murderous animal. Do you think there’s something wrong with them to begin with, or do you think the fact that I’ve still mostly got my human emotions and feelings means there’s something wrong with me?”
Harriet was surprised by the direction the conversation was taking. Sometimes they expressed regrets for an odd specific incident or sulked about not being able to go out in the sun, but all of the vampires she’d met seemed overwhelmingly positive about their changed state.
“If it means you don’t go around killing people and acting like a total bastard in the way some of them do then that’s obviously a good thing,” she said cautiously.
“Well I wouldn’t say I’ve ever acted like a total bastard. I’ve always thought of myself as a gentleman. Your cousin certainly agreed. I have been doing a lot of killing however.”
Harriet went cold. “What do you mean?” she asked weakly.
“You should have seen them all last year. They went to that party as humans and they woke up as monsters. When the older members had them bite their dates, they ripped their throats out without a moment’s hesitation.
“I tried to do the right thing. God, I tried so hard. Attempting to resist the blood when you first wake up, it’s like attempting to hold your breath until you pass out. Every synapse in your brain, every nerve in your body is trying to force you to do what you need to do to live. But I’ve always had a lot of willpower. I’d have held out and died or become some hideous half-dead creature that they’d have put out of its misery. Except, he held me down, and as soon as I had the first taste of her blood, I just couldn’t stop. It was as though I was in a dream, until she collapsed and it was suddenly all very real. She was lying there dead and it was all my fault.”
Harriet listened to his story in horror, sickened both by his pain and by the suffering that the girl must have gone through.
“I loved her you know, truly. I guess a lot of them would have said the same about their dates, but in the end, they were just food to them. Stephanie was different.”
“Stephanie.” Harriet could hardly get the words out through her horror. “It wasn’t an overdose was it? You killed my cousin.”
“In the technical sense, yes, and I promise you that it hurt me more than anyone else. Really though, it was George. He was the one who opened up her neck and who held me down until I physically couldn’t help but drink. Afterwards he laughed about what your mother would have made of it and whether she’d have cared.”
She couldn’t have known. Her mother had always had a soft spot for the pretty and talented Stephanie, often asking about her on her visits.
But George. The way he’s acted towards me, and all the time he must have been laughing inside knowing what he’d done. The car felt very hot suddenly and she could barely breathe.
“In the weeks afterwards, they tried to make me drink from other people. I wouldn’t have to kill them, they reassured me; I’d just have to take a few sips to keep my strength up. The thought sickened me. Every time I tried, I just saw Steph’s face. I grew weaker and weaker, and finally, they managed to force me again. Physically, I felt much better, but mentally I hated myself.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Harriet said, trying and failing to fight back her tears. “Every vampire has to drink blood. I’m sure you didn’t hurt them. You can’t hate yourself.”
“Oh, don’t worry; I got over the self-loathing fast. What’s the point in hating yourself when you can hate others and seek your revenge? Why kill myself when I could kill George?”
“He’s much stronger than you,” she said immediately, thinking about Tom and George’s duel. Tom at least had had eighty years to George’s centuries. She couldn’t imagine how easily he’d beat a two-year-old vampire.
“Or was. You see, I came up with a solution to both my problems. Drain a vampire and the blood is so potent that you can get away without drinking from a human for several weeks. More importantly, drain them and you get all of their power. I’m amazed more vampires don’t do it. It’s quite astonishing how firmly the old codes of honour hold.”
“So you killed them all? Charles and Crispin and Peter?”
“Absolutely. A few others as well outside of Oxford. I started with the weaker ones and as their blood made me stronger, began to work my way up. They were all so unsuspecting.”
“So do you think you’re strong enough to fight George now?” she asked.
“It’s hard to say. He has the blood of a strong maker on his side as well as the years. But now I’ve at least got a decent chance.”
I need to warn him, Harriet thought irrationally, and then remembered what George had done.
Archie looked at her firmly. “Give me your hands,” he said.
Once again, Harriet had that odd sensation of her mind and body fighting against each other. This time she was sure he was mesmerising her, using the power of all the drained vampires
. She tried to resist, but found her arms out in front of her. Archie moved alarmingly fast, grabbing her wrists, twisting them behind her back and tying them together. Next, he took some wire cutters from the dashboard.
“I suppose I’d better deal with your necklace. Infuriatingly, despite being born in the late twentieth century secular society my parents still decided to give me a religious upbringing. Crucifixes don’t have much effect on atheist vampires, but even though I now very much doubt there is a God, I still find that they burn.”
Carefully avoiding the cross itself, he leaned over and cut the chain so that it fell into her lap. Once again, Harriet wished she still had the Piso pendant. Presumably, it was protected against attacks.
“I thought you wanted to kill the vampires and save the humans,” Harriet shouted between sobs. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“It’s unfortunate, and for what it’s worth you have my sincerest apologies. It pains me in particular that it’s Stephanie’s cousin who will have to be the second human I kill, especially considering that you look so alike.”
“You’re going to kill me?”
“I’m afraid so. If I’m holding you hostage, I don’t believe Augustine will risk trying to stop me lest I kill you and break his beloved Adelaide’s heart. In addition, draining you should give me the last burst of strength I need. If I could have some of Augustine’s blood, I’d be almost guaranteed to beat George. Of course, he’s untouchable, but he gave his blood to your mother, and when she continued to feed you her milk after she was turned, you got a trace of her blood and thus his power.”
“You’re saying I have some vampire blood?”
“Absolutely. Why do you think you’re so resistant to mind control, even when you’re not wearing your lovely little necklace? Why do you think you can see vampire’s memories when you taste their blood? And you must have noticed that even if he lost, Tom put up a better fight against George once he’d drunk from you than could reasonably have been expected.”
Harriet wondered whether Archie knew that George had drunk from her too. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him.
“Well, I can only apologise again. I’m going to take most of your blood now but finish you where they can all see. Close your eyes.”
Dimly remembering what he’d said about her mother’s milk having given her the power to withstand the mind control, Harriet tried to resist, but Archie’s powers were too strong. Within moments, the world began to go dark. For a second she felt the chilling sensation of his inhuman teeth piercing her neck, and then, perhaps luckily, she passed out.
***
Caroline was having the most wonderful time. Born into privilege she was used to grand events. As a small child, she’d regularly been brought down to her parents’ drinks parties, and paraded in pretty little dresses for the admiration of all their friends. As a teenager, she’d worked the underage charity ball circuit with aplomb, and at Oxford, she’d had her fair share of interesting nights. Nonetheless, the scale and style of the Cavaliers party was like nothing she’d ever experienced.
All the guests were beautiful and perfectly dressed, although she had a cheerfully smug feeling that she was looking the best of any of them. The bright red dress she’d bought especially for the occasion dramatically showed off her hourglass figure, clinging tightly to the waist then billowing out below. She’d worn the red Jimmy Choos that her parents had given her for her birthday, and persuaded her mother to lend her some of her jewellery, most of which had originally belonged to her great-grandmother and which added a wonderfully vintage twist. She wore her long blond hair wavy and loose, and had kept her make-up fairly natural other than a smear of the most vivid red lipstick she could find.
Ben looked adorable in his pristine white tie, inherited from his grandfather. Like all the candidates, he seemed terrified, but she’d done her best to reassure him. She had no doubt the Cavaliers would pick him, and wanted the selections over so they could get on with being the party’s golden couple. The clearing was enchanting, lit with flares. The decorative scaffolding reminded her of Harriet’s warning and made her momentarily uneasy, but she shrugged the feeling off with yet another glass of champagne.
The complete absence of Harriet herself was slightly more concerning. Caroline was sure she’d seen her get into a taxi, and yet hours on, there was no sign of her. She attempted to text her, but to her irritation, there was no signal to be had anywhere in the woods.
Pushing her vague worries to the back of her mind, she grabbed the still apprehensive Ben and made him dance with her. Right on cue, the members appeared, looking utterly unruffled. Caroline wondered idly where they’d been hiding. All the new arrivals were quite clearly male. Harriet was definitely not with them. Trying her best to look nonchalant, she wandered over to Tom.
“Do you know where your girl is?” she asked.
Tom immediately looked alarmed. “Are you trying to tell me that Harriet isn’t here? Did she disappear at some point or never arrive?”
“As far as I know she never turned up,” Caroline answered, more worried now. “The odd thing was that a taxi came for her at the same time as one came for me. They must have got lost en route.”
George quickly came over. “Where are you hiding her?” he said angrily. “Augustine is going to hit the roof if his darling step-daughter isn’t here for the festivities. Plus the word is he’s bringing the lovely Adelaide along.”
“I haven’t seen her since last night,” Tom replied, glaring at his rival.
“If you’re lying I’ll stab you through the heart again,” George said. “Don’t think for one moment that you’ve actually managed to convince me you’ve decided to be a team player.”
“I swear I have no idea. I can’t get a feel for her mind either. How about you? I have to admit you’re the better telepath.”
George shook his head. “Nothing. If you honestly don’t know where she is, we ought to look for her, but we can’t risk delaying the ceremony.”
Tom nodded glumly. “We’ll just have to hope she gets here soon. I’ll rush back to college once this is over.”
Caroline looked at them both. “Guys, what’s going on? Telepaths? Stabbing people through the heart? Harriet’s family coming to the party?”
George and Tom looked at each other, nodded and both touched her head at the same time.
***
“I’ve got you some water. Drink it baby.”
Caroline opened her eyes to herself sat on the woodland floor. Ben had his arms around her and was holding a glass to her lips.
“Wow, someone overdid the champagne,” he said laughing. “Can you stand?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” she replied, jumping to her feet. “What happened? Was I totally passed out?”
“You were just lying on the grass for about ten minutes.” He gave her a kiss. “Well as long as you’re alright. You look absolutely wonderful by the way.”
Caroline, never able to resist a compliment, smiled. “You too sweetheart. Are you ready for the selections? They must be starting soon.”
“I guess so. If I’ve convinced someone as lovely as you that I’m worthwhile, the selection committee should be a breeze!”
At that moment, the flares turned themselves off, plunging the clearing into darkness. When they relit a moment later, the members were in a line on the stage. Caroline stared at George, stood commandingly at the front of the scaffold. To her mind, his arrogant mask appeared to have slipped slightly. She wondered if he too was worried about Harriet.
As George gave his speech, Caroline tried to focus on whether or not Ben would be selected and where on earth Harriet had got to, but somehow it was hard to think properly about anything at all. When an attractive middle-aged man appeared, she stared at him but didn’t wonder who he was. Even when Ben’s name was announced, she was barely able to register any surprise or excitement. Shortly afterwards, each of the selected candidates called a girl to them.
“Caroline W
oodhouse,” Ben said cheerfully.
She went to him on autopilot, scarcely aware of who he was.
“I did it! I can’t believe it,” Ben said to her quietly.
Caroline nodded placidly. As the last few candidates picked their partners out, Ben leaned across and kissed her. As he held her in his arms, she was suddenly startlingly aware of what was going on around her, seized with a combination of overwhelming love for Ben and chilling concern that something wasn’t quite right. Then he let go and all conscious awareness left her.
***
Stood at the back of the scaffold stage, Tom watched the proceedings impassively. George hadn’t trusted him with taking any active part, but had wanted him present and visible, presenting a unified front for Augustine. For the hundredth time that night, he wondered what had happened to Harriet. Was she still trying to stop the ceremony? He hoped not. For all the promises he’d given her, he’d known there was nothing they could really do against a highly organised group of immortal beings who had the police, the government and the university authorities under their control.
When the vampires leaned forward and bit the inductees, he was at least glad that Harriet wasn’t there to see it. The plan had been to keep her awake and have her watch, to really induct her into the ways of their world. Remembering her reaction to just hearing about what happened, he couldn’t imagine how traumatised she would have been.
As the vampires raised their heads and slashed open their wrists to feed the inductees, the flares once more flashed off. It didn’t make any practical difference, considering they could all see perfectly in the dark, but everyone was surprised. Only powerful vampires could light and extinguish flames with their mind, and all of the ones with enough strength were engaged in the transformation process.
As they flashed back on again, Archie walked slowly out of the woods. All eyes were on him as she headed towards the scaffold. When he reached it, he jumped neatly onto the platform, dropping the large sack he’d been carrying with a thump.
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