Oxford Blood

by Georgiana Derwent

  “What is the meaning of this young man?” asked Augustine. “This is our most sacred and crucial ceremony. It is bad enough that you didn’t attend on time, but to blatantly disrupt proceedings at the most delicate point is unthinkable.”

  Still holding onto the semi-conscious Ben, George turned to Augustine. “I’m sorry sir. We turned Archie the year before last and he has refused to cooperate ever since. I’ll have him removed for the moment and decide what to do with him later.”

  “You’re not going to be deciding anything,” said Archie, calmly and firmly.

  “Why not?” hissed George.

  Archie didn’t answer. Instead, moving slowly and purposefully, he unzipped the bag. “Stand up,” he commanded.

  Tom watched in horror as Harriet scrambled awkwardly out of the bag. She had the pallor of someone who’d lost a lot of blood and was cut and bruised as though she’d been in a struggle. Her dress was ripped and ragged. He wondered whether, despite the usual prohibition on murdering their own kind, it would be considered acceptable for him to kill Archie right there on the stage.

  Harriet’s expression was blank as Archie made her turn to face the members, all of whom were standing silently, watching in horrid fascination.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” George shouted.

  “Getting my revenge,” Archie replied calmly. He drew an obviously sharp dagger from his pocket and placed it in Harriet’s right hand. “Hold that to you neck,” he commanded. “But be careful. Don’t cut yourself – yet.”

  “Stop it,” Tom found himself yelling. “If you want to attack us then do it, but don’t take it out on Harriet. She hasn’t done anything wrong.”

  “Oh I know. It’s unfortunate. I hate to hurt her really. But I don’t see any other way,” Archie said.

  For the first time in decades, Tom felt cold. He looked to Rupert, to George, to all the senior members for reassurance, but they all appeared almost as lost as he felt.

  Archie walked away from Harriet, and began to pace the stage as he rattled off his demands. “I want taxis ordered and all the human guests sent home. There’s to be no more of this bloodshed. I suppose you realise now that it was me who’s been killing you all off, but it’s George I really want dead. Every day’s been a torture since you made me kill Steph.”

  “I can’t believe it. Is this really all about that silly vapid creature?” George asked with an exaggerated sigh.

  “George please don’t antagonise him,” Tom begged, walking over to his rival. “Can’t you see he’ll kill her?”

  “I could kill him so easily. I don’t care how many of us he’s drained and how much he’s worked on his powers. He’ll never take me. Wouldn’t you agree Tom? After all, you have firsthand experience of my prowess.”

  “If anyone tries to kill me before I’ve had what I want, I swear I’ll have Daddy’s Girl cut her own throat out,” Archie snarled. “Of course, there’s always a slim chance that one of you will kill me before I manage to get the words out, but maybe that’s worse. I won’t be alive to break the mind control, and she’ll be a walking zombie for the rest of her life.”

  Tom knew that what he was saying was true, but couldn’t resist trying. “Harriet, come here sweetheart,” he called. “Put the knife down.”

  She didn’t even look at him. Feeling utterly sick, he walked towards her.

  “Don’t come any closer Flyte,” Archie screamed.

  Terrified of escalating the situation, he froze. “George, you try. Please. I hate to say this, but you’re much better at this sort of thing than I am.”

  “It won’t work,” George said. He sounded almost sad. “Everyone knows that one vampire can’t reverse another’s mind control.” He turned to Archie. “Alright, we can do this your way. Let’s send the guests away and then we can fight one on one.”

  Archie smoothly agreed.

  “Augustine, would that be acceptable?” George asked, turning to their leader.

  Tom glanced across at Augustine, who had so far been entirely silent. Unlike the others, he looked utterly calm. He looked at George and gave a barely perceptible nod. Tom wondered whether or not he really cared about what was happening to his stepdaughter.

  Whilst George readied himself, Rupert took over proceedings. “Crispin, get the guests out of the way. Mark, take the stakes out of the losers and give them to the duellers. For God’s sake give George his first; we can’t trust Archie an inch.”

  “Don’t provoke me Rupes,” Archie said, pacing around the stage. “You don’t know what I might do.”

  Once Crispin had taken the guests into the woods, George and Archie climbed off the stage and stood facing each other in the clearing. For what felt like hours to Tom, they just stared at each other, and then suddenly they both moved at once. The onlookers were all utterly enthralled, lost in the energy and excitement of the battle, barely remembering what was at stake.

  “Look at him go,” Rupert whispered to him. “Can you believe he was only turned a year or two ago? I bet you wish you’d had the foresight to drain half the society before fighting George now, don’t you?”

  The fight seemed evenly matched, with no end in sight. Harriet was still rooted to the spot, knife held lightly to her throat. To judge by her pallor, Archie must have taken a lot of blood. It seemed to be only his mind control that kept her on her feet at all.

  “I think that’s quite enough,” said a husky female voice. Before anyone, least of all the two duellers, had worked out what was happening, Adelaide appeared in the centre of the clearing and put Archie in a headlock, with the business end of a stake pointed at his neck.

  “Let me go,” he screamed. “I’ll make your precious daughter kill herself.”

  “No,” Adelaide said firmly. “No you won’t. And you’re a fool if you think you’re leaving her like a zombie either.” With that, she made a small cut in his neck, so that the blood began to drip slowly out.

  Archie made sounds as though he was gasping for air. “Harriet, slit your throat!” he choked out.

  Tom screamed. He was surprised to see that Adelaide didn’t so much as blink. Hardly daring to look, he turned to face Harriet. To his amazement, her arms had dropped to her side. Gus was standing behind her, hands lightly touching her head.

  “Did you really think that you could drain a few sorry excuses for vampires and then manage to outsmart me?” he said, sounding almost emotionless. “I could have stopped this at any moment, killed you with a glance as you walked into the clearing, but a life of 2000 years tends to lack surprises. I wanted to see what you were going to do.”

  As Archie stared at him in dull surprise, his blood dripping down over Adelaide’s perfectly manicured hands, Gus looked down at Harriet.

  “Go to Tom,” he said reassuringly. Still clearly unaware of her surroundings, she did just that.

  Tom grabbed his girlfriend, took the dagger from her shaking hands and helped her to the ground. Close to, she looked even worse than he’d thought. She lay her head in his lap and passed out. Tom stroked her hair, wanting to give her more practical help, but not daring to move until all this was over.

  “You played your little game well,” Gus continued. “Playing on my emotions and using the fact that no vampire can break another’s spell. You just made one tiny mistake – assuming that I’m the same as all the other vampires. I’m more powerful than you can imagine. I can break your mind control as easily as you can break a human’s neck.

  “It’s not just that I have centuries on any of you – I was made by the first vampire, who was more demon than human. And in the end I killed and drained him, and all of the others he’d made.”

  Archie had been fading fast, but at this last comment, he managed to find his voice.

  “That’s not strictly true, is it?” he croaked. “I happen to know that...”

  Adelaide stabbed him again and his words turned into a scream.

  “The moment you started fighting she was in my p
ower,” Augustine continued, ignoring the interruption. “Now, I told my wife I’d never hypnotise Harriet, but I hope she’ll forgive me in this instance.”

  Adelaide smiled. “Anytime my darling, anytime. I never should have taken her necklace away.”

  Tom wondered whether that was the first time she had ever admitted that she was wrong.

  “So Archibald, I understand that you loved Stephanie and that as far as you’re concerned, all of this is in remembrance of her,” Adelaide said to him softly. “I was very sorry to hear of her death. She was my niece you realise. I loved her too, and I don’t say that about many members of my family.”

  “It was George who killed her,” Archie said faintly.

  Tom wondered how long Archie could stay conscious with his blood ebbing away. If the wounds had been made with anything but wood they’d have healed by now, but as it was they were still wide open.

  “Oh I know. I only discovered that tonight. If it makes you feel better, I’m so very upset about this that I have changed my mind about him being the right man for Harriet.”

  George looked horrified, but was sensible enough not to speak.

  “Of course, no vampire should ever kill another merely for killing a human,” Adelaide continued. “It’s just not the done thing. But unfortunately for you, I love my daughter more than life, so I intend to make an exception.” With that, she twisted his neck. The snap of it breaking echoed across the clearing.

  “That isn’t going to kill him,” George said sulkily, finding his voice at last. “He’ll be unconscious for a while but that’s it.”

  Adelaide didn’t answer him. Instead, Augustine spoke.

  “Tom, put Harriet down for the moment, and go to my wife. I agree with her that you’re not a powerful enough vampire for my stepdaughter, but I know she loves you. So instead of wringing my hands, I’m going to make you one.”

  Dazed by the rapid turn of events and still desperately worried about Harriet, Tom wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. Trying to stay calm, he jumped off the stage and walked to a satisfied Adelaide who was leaning over the bloodied and broken Archie.

  “Drink,” Gus said simply. “It may usually be frowned upon, but where someone tries to destroy our traditions and threatens our very existence, we can relax the rules a little.”

  The suggestion was so shocking that for a few seconds, Tom didn’t know what the older vampire meant. Then he realised, and kneeling lightly on the floor, he bent over Archie’s prone body, sunk his fangs into his neck and began to drink. The blood, rich with the power of all the vampires that Archie had consumed, was intoxicating and Tom drank and drank. He paused when he felt that Archie was almost dead, unsure whether that was what Augustine intended.

  Augustine nodded. “Drain the bastard,” he said, as calm as ever.

  Aware that everyone’s eyes were on him, some disgusted, some jealous, some simply fascinated, Tom bent his head again and did just that.

  ***

  Harriet opened her eyes and tried to work out where on earth she was. All she could see was trees. Her head ached and she felt horribly sick and dizzy. She attempted to get to her feet, but couldn’t make her limbs obey her.

  “Don’t try to move,” a voice said softly. To her amazement, she noticed her mother sat beside her on the wooden floor.

  “Mum, what are you doing here? What happened? I was at college, getting ready for the party. After that it’s all a blur.”

  “What’s already happened isn’t important,” Adelaide replied. “What is important is what happens now. You’ve lost a lot of blood and taken a heavy beating. We can try to get you to the hospital and have our people there try to heal you. Alternatively, you can drink more vampire blood, and maybe that’ll be enough. Or if that fails, we can try the third option.”

  “What’s the third option?” Harriet asked weakly, although she was uncomfortably sure that she already knew.

  Adelaide just smiled at her. “You don’t have to decide just this second. You’re in much better shape than I was when I had to be turned. I’m going to send Tom over now. He can give you enough blood to keep you sufficiently lucid to make a proper decision.”

  Harriet didn’t feel up to a complicated discussion, but couldn’t let that one slide. “I thought you hated Tom. Now you’re suddenly happy for him to give me his blood?”

  “I had nothing against Tom personally. I just couldn’t stand the idea of my beautiful, talented daughter being with someone weak. But as you’ll see, that’s no longer the case.”

  With that rather cryptic comment, Adelaide walked away. A moment later, Tom appeared from nowhere.

  “So you can do that whole vanishing and reappearing thing now,” Harriet said, puzzled. “What have I missed?”

  Tom was practically bouncing on the spot with energy and excitement. “It’s a long story,” he said, picking her up as though she were weightless. “Suffice to say I’m the equal of practically anyone now.”

  With that, he kissed her, and in one smooth movement, slashed at his neck and drew her head down to the wound. Harriet wanted to ask a million questions, but both her survival instinct and her urge to be close to Tom made her decide that her best bet was to drink first and talk later. Almost immediately, she began to feel stronger. Tom’s blood tasted different to George’s, lighter and fresher, but just as delicious. She clung to him, never wanting to let go, never wanting to stop drinking. Tom allowed her to take much more than the usual token amount, but eventually lifted her head up. He kissed her again, before carefully setting her down on the ground.

  Harriet felt much less disorientated and glancing around, realised that she was at the summer party. Then she remembered why she’d come. “Tom,” she screamed. “We have to stop it.”

  Tom just shook his head.

  For a moment, she didn’t realise what the problem was, until she saw Ben and all the others lying unconscious on the floor. Then she felt sick all over again.

  “Are you trying to tell me I slept through it?” she said in a horrified voice. “Have they already changed?”

  Before Tom could answer, George came over. “Well, it’s good to see you conscious again,” he said in a brittle voice. “According to your dear mother it’s game over for me and you. Now, for the record, I don’t give up that easily, but in the circumstances I suppose I’d better give you this back.”

  He took her hand and placed something into her palm. It was her necklace.

  “Have you had it all this time?” she asked, furious. “So all this gloriously honourable stuff about how you wouldn’t dream of mesmerising me was just a front? You nearly got me killed.”

  “Oh alright, so I could have told you. But first of all, I didn’t take it from you, your mother did. I was just taking care of it for her. Second, I never did mesmerise you, after that first time out on Steele Walk.” He smirked then. “So anything you felt was coming entirely from you. And don’t tell me you didn’t feel anything.”

  “Just go George,” Tom said commandingly. “Can’t you see she’s had enough of a nightmare for one day?”

  “Fine, I’ll leave you in peace for the moment. I need to check on the new recruits anyway. They seem to be stirring and Crispin has just brought the girls back from the woods. If I were you though, I’d get that magic necklace on as fast as you can.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Harriet snapped, but George had already disappeared.

  Desperate as she was to feel the familiar security of the pearls around her neck, Harriet decided to defy George by leaving it off for the moment.

  She saw that the inductees were indeed waking up. Ben was the first to get to his feet. Harriet stared at him. She’d expected to feel horror, but all she could think about was how he’d been transformed. Always handsome and well built, he looked like an avenging angel. Caroline is going to be so impressed, she thought for a happy moment, before the reality of what was going to happen next hit her. The inductees were manoeuvred into line,
each facing the girl they had chosen as a partner. The women were on their feet but their eyes were entirely blank.

  “Caroline, come here!” Harriet shouted, as the newly vampiric Ben reached out and put his hands on his girlfriend.

  Caroline didn’t respond. Harriet had expected this, and tried another tack.

  “Ben, don’t do it, for God’s sake, you love her. You know you don’t want to hurt her.”

  Ben turned his head a fraction. He looked utterly inhuman, his skins deathly pale and his eyes almost glowing. “I know I shouldn’t,” he said in a strangled tone, “But I’m not sure I can help myself Harriet.”

  Sensing a hint of doubt, Harriet walked over to her friend to remonstrate, but before she could reach him, Tom took hold of her. “Don’t get in the middle of this,” he said gently, whilst keeping a firm grip on her. “What’s going to happen was always going to happen. There was never anything you could do about it.”

  “You said you’d help me stop them,” she shouted, struggling futilely against Tom’s iron grip. “You can’t let them kill all these people. You can’t let Ben drain Caroline. I’ll lose them both.”

  Several of the older vampires had turned to look at them. The new recruits were too focused on their partners to pay any attention.

  “That’s enough Harriet,” Augustine said firmly. “The ceremony has taken place for centuries. You mean a lot to me, and everything to your mother, but I can’t let you ruin it. The killing is unfortunate, but we have no choice. If he doesn’t drain Caroline, Ben himself will die. What’s the difference?”

  “You can’t just kill people,” she shouted. Most of the crowd seemed shocked that she was willing to argue with the centuries old vampire, but there and then, as far as she was concerned he was just her mother’s new husband. “Aren’t there enough of you? And why do you need to keep society under vampire control anyway?”

  “If we didn’t have the control, whoever did would find out about us and kill us,” Augustine explained patiently. “Besides, between us, we have centuries of knowledge and experience of human nature. We have the power to get things done. With all of time at our disposal, we never seek short-term gains or glory. Everything is better with us at the helm. Why do you think that almost uniquely in Europe, Britain has never had a true revolution? How has it achieved so much?”