by Lisa Randall
“Helen, what’s wrong?” Rai asked. I shook my head. Ever since being turned into a vampire, I had never gotten sick, not even once.
“I just got the worst headache I ever felt, and I don’t know why. I assume we are in the human city?” I asked, eyes closed tight from the pain.
“Yes.” Selena said from the table. “Are you well?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. The coolness of the rock is helping a little, so it should be gone soon.” I said.
I could feel Rai trying to search for the reason for my headache, at last he said “Maybe it was from what you did earlier. With the sun, remember, Helen?” I shook my head. I didn’t remember anything after that powerful feeling had taken over me yet again. Shocked, I sat upright and asked “I didn’t hurt anyone did I? Please tell me I didn’t.” Rai put his hand on my shoulder to calm me, saying “You didn’t hurt anyone, Helen. I felt that power building as before, and I looked to you, and you were directing it to the sky. It cleared the clouds and revealed the sun, nothing more.” He said.
I searched my memory for any of this, but came up empty. I looked to Rai and asked him May I see? And he nodded. I searched his mind for what happened and saw as he described. I watched in his memory as the witch woman with the humans came and told the others to get back and to let us through. I saw her talking with Selena and Rai about our purpose here, as well as where she had gone to. Thank you, Helen. I had not seen the sun in many years, other than in your memories. To see it myself was truly amazing. You are incredible. I blushed internally at his words, and I swore I felt my heart skip a beat.
Rai leaned closer, and we were close enough to kiss, if only one of us would move. I was still stunned at this strange new world, and how at home I felt with Rai. He smiled, hearing my thoughts. That was also something new to get used to. I was about to go in for the kiss, when a strange woman came in, interrupting us. I wanted to curse her horrible timing, but said nothing as she approached me.
“Hello. My name is Alice. I have already met your companions.” She said, matter-of-factly. She stared at me, making me feel slightly uncomfortable. I wondered what she was looking at when she finally said “Your eyes. They are strange. What are you and where did you come from?”
“Whoa there, one question at a time.” I said, looking to Rai for help. This strange person came out of nowhere and just started asking me all kinds of questions. Personal questions. It was a little unnerving. Rai just nodded, saying Just answer her questions, it will go faster and help to gain her trust of us. I nodded, and turned to the woman called Alice, who was still staring at me like some animal in a zoo.
“I was turned by a crazy vampire, as was Rai, many years ago. When I was turned I got the silver in my eyes. I do not know why.” I answered. She stared at me, seeming to try and figure out if I was lying or not. I didn’t really understand her suspicion of us, until I remembered people in this time believe vampires to be some sort of animalistic monster after their blood. “Rai and I both do not require blood to survive. We can live off of the energy from other creatures, but now we can live off of the energy in the air. I swear to you, the only time I ever had blood was just a while ago, when I woke up from a deep sleep. Rai got me some rabbits, and I was so far gone I required their blood in order to be restored.” I explained. I still feel guilty about those rabbits, too. I told myself. Rai heard me, and put his hand on my shoulder in support. He had fed from a deer not too long before we met, so he knew what I was going through.
My answer seemed to please Alice, and she backed away, if only slightly. She turned to Selena and asked bluntly “Have they ever fed from a living thing to your knowledge?” Selena just shook her head. Of course she wouldn’t have said otherwise, but I was wondering why Alice seemed so interested in this. She turned back to me and explained “A long time ago, a man came to us with a few others. He was like you two, the eyes and the lack of desire for blood. So we figured he was harmless. That is until he got into the city, and during the night, he and his friends managed to kill over half of the humans here. We barely managed to escape his bloodlust and killed his friends before he ran away. This was over two hundred years ago. Since then, we do not tend to trust others easily, as you can understand.” she said. We all nodded. We could imagine the destruction and pain our maker was capable of.
“Which way did he go?” Rai asked. “We are hunting him. To put a stop to him once and for all. Both of us have been searching for him since we were turned. To get our revenge for all he has done.” Alice seemed pleased with this idea of revenge, and sat down at the large stone table in the middle of the room. I got up and went to the table as well, sitting next to Rai, who sat next to Selena. Alice was in front of us, directly across from us.
Alice put her hands on the table, fingers clasped. She looked at each of us for about a minute and then spoke “I am willing to teach the three of you about magic, as you all seem to be quite lacking in experience. But, there is a price.” She paused, waiting for us to interrupt. When none of us did, she continued “The price is that you must take me with you on your quest of revenge. I can help you more if I go with you, and I must see what kinds of vampire witches you two are for myself.” This seemed too good to be true.
“What’s the catch?” Rai asked.
“The catch is, that if I find you two to be like your maker, I will do anything and everything in my power to put a stop to you, no matter how long it takes.” We didn’t need to think long on this, I knew. I looked to Rai, placing my hand in his. He looked to me and nodded. We both knew that if either of us began to act like that horrible man, we wouldn’t want to become like him.
We both turned to Alice and agreed. She seemed pleased at this, and said “I will need time to find and train a replacement for my absence before we leave. This will not take long.”
“How long?” Selena said.
“It should take about one week to accomplish. In the mean time, you three may work on your magic, as long as it doesn’t cause harm to anyone.” We all agreed, and Alice got up to leave.
“Wait.” Rai said “where are we to stay during this time?”
Alice thought for a moment and said “You two will sleep outside, where we found you. Selena, you may stay in one of the empty caves.”
“Outside? Why must we sleep outside?” I asked.
“There are many here, who after I tell that there are two vampires hanging around, would not pause to try and kill you in order to protect themselves. If you stay outside, no one will bother you. Mostly everyone is too scared to go outside, except for the guards. They will watch over you from a distance, and keep any prying eyes away from you.” She gave me a look that said I should have expected this, and turned to leave. “The guards will show you to your room, Selena. As for you two, you will be led outside, but do not wander off too far that we cannot keep an eye on you.” Alice said, before leaving.
After a moment, we said our goodbyes to Selena, promising to meet up with her soon, as a guard came in to lead her to her room. As soon as they left, another pair of guards came in and led us outside. They kept glancing at us as if we were about to attack them, and if it wasn’t for Rai telling me constantly not to worry about them, I would have said something to them to try and calm them down. But honestly, who could blame them? The only vampires they have known were horrible creatures wanting to kill them and their loved ones. If I were in their shoes, I would have felt the same way.
*****
After we were led outside, I gave a small sigh of relief. I didn’t like being in those caves. It was too close and narrow, making me feel claustrophobic. Helen didn’t seem to notice or to mind about my discomfort, her mind on other things. It seemed her headache hadn’t really gone away, just lessened. When we were far enough from the guards not to be overheard, I asked her if she was okay. She didn’t say anything, just nodded. I could tell it was still painful to her, so I changed the topic.
“Not exactly what you were expecting?” I asked.
“The humans.” I said. “They certainly have changed, haven’t they?” she nodded, looking disappointed. “Maybe they will come to like us, eventually.” I said, trying to cheer her up.
“They have no reason to trust us, yet Alice seems to. I was wondering why she even offered to train us and come with us after all they have been through.” She said.
“Maybe she sees something that neither of us can.” I offered. “It would be nice to know a little more magic, too.” Helen nodded and sat down, holding her hand out to me to join her. I took her hand and sat next to her, putting my other arm around her. I didn’t mind that we had been told to wait outside, since it meant we got to spend some time alone. It seemed we hadn’t really had that long to get to know each other, and I wanted to spend this time doing just that.
I turned to ask Helen a question about her human life, when I noticed she had fallen asleep. I rubbed her back, wondering if she was going to be okay. The air around us seemed to shimmer as the sky grew darker, and I wondered if it was just a figment of my imagination, but it looked like a barrier was all around us, blocking out most of the wind and cold.
I figured I would think on it later, maybe ask Alice if she had done that for us. But for now, I was also feeling sleepy as the sun set. I lay Helen down gently, using my arm as a pillow, and lay down next to her, quickly falling to sleep.
Chapter 12
As the sun rose, I could sense its warmth, even if I couldn’t see it. I sat up and saw that Rai was sleeping next to me, one arm which had been under my head, the other around my waist. I smiled down at him, wondering when his presence had become a necessity to me. I thought back to when our souls met, and was still in awe that I had found my soul mate. I had never really believed in such things, least of all magic. But here we were, in a land ravaged by the wars of the past, where magic was very real, and where I had my soul mate. I decided that not being alone in this strange world wasn’t such a bad thing, especially if it was with Rai.
He seemed to notice I had moved, and opened his eyes. Rai looked up at me and I was taken aback by his beautiful eyes. They were so beautiful I could stare at them for hours. Rai smiled at this, and sat up. “I could too” he said, grabbing my hand. I smiled and leaned in close before he could react, giving him a quick kiss on the lips before standing up to stretch. I looked down at him and he seemed to be in shock. Then he smiled and stood, joining me in stretching.
I noticed the air around us was shimmering somewhat, and I looked to Rai for an explanation. “It looks like a barrier, but I didn’t put it up.” He said, looking around. “Me neither. At least, I don’t think I did.” I say. I hear footsteps shuffling in the dirt, and someone cleared their throat to get our attention. Looking around, I see not too far away, Alice and Selena, being escorted by the guards we met yesterday. They were looking at us in awe, except for Alice, who had a small smile on her face.
“What?” I asked. Alice and Selena come closer to us, Alice speaking first “I have never seen a novice produce a barrier in their sleep before.” She said, looking to both of us. “Which one of you did it?” Selena asked. We both shrug. Alice and Selena are standing just outside of the barrier. Alice puts her hand on it and is surprised when it shocks her. She looks at her hand and says “What was that?! It shocked me! And look! My hand is burned too!” she says, holding out her hand. Neither of us knew what was going on, and we were also shocked at what happened.
“I didn’t know a barrier could do that.” Selena says. “Give me your hand, I will heal it for you.” She says to Alice. Alice holds out her hand for Selena, who heals it in minutes. “Wow.” Alice says. “I have never seen someone heal that fast and so well, too. It was painless.” She says, looking at Selena in awe. “Thank you.” Selena says, nodding slightly. “Does healing usually hurt or something? How long does it take you?” she asks.
“Usually, when someone is healed, they feel a tingling sensation, and it takes about an hour to heal even the smallest of injuries.” Alice explains, looking at her now flawless hand. “Also, there is usually a scar. There is none on my hand.” She looked up and down her arms, and began to feel at her sides as if something was wrong. “I think you have also healed any other scars I had. What are you?” she asked in awe, turning to Selena.
“I am a witch, like you. But I am also a were-fox.” Selena said. Alice nodded, as if that explained everything.
“What does being a fox shifter have anything to do with how well she heals?” I asked, Rai nodding as he wanted the answer as well.
“As a fox, her healing abilities are far better than any other type of witch.” Alice said.
“I also have to heal more than humans, since weres get hurt a lot from fighting or from the radiation or rain.” Selena said.
I had almost forgotten about the acid rain. I wondered if I would get to witness this strange phenomenon any time soon, and then wondered why I would want to. I looked to Rai, and he just shook his head at me, saying You don’t want to see it. It hurts and is hard to avoid, and they may not let us inside for shelter if it comes while we are here. I nodded in agreement. The humans probably wouldn’t help us, considering their track record with vampires.
“Oh.” It was all I could say.
“What are we doing today?” Rai asked, changing the topic.
“I am going to find my replacement, and you two will train some more with Selena. I want you three to practice your magic while I am gone. I will come to check up on you at sunset, and then you can come back inside, Selena.” Alice said.
We all agreed and Alice went back into the caves, leaving us to figure out where to start first.
“First thing, you guys need to take down that barrier.” Selena said.
“We don’t know who put it up.” I said.
“Well, why don’t you both try at the same time then? Just think, no more barrier, and it should dissipate.” She said.
I closed my eyes and thought about it, and it didn’t seem like anything happened. Then Rai said “It worked.” I opened my eyes to see for myself, and the wind came rushing at us, as if something had been holding it back this entire time, and the shimmer in the air was gone.
“Now what?” I asked. I was as new to magic as Rai was, and neither of us knew where to start.
“Now we will work on your stamina, Helen. Yesterday, when you parted the sky, you passed out. This usually means that you are new to magic, and are not used to the strain it has on the body. If we can build your stamina for using magic, it will come in handy if you have to fight.” She said.
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“You, Helen, will try to bring forth that magic again. And if you can, try to hang on to it without using it for as long as you can.” Selena explained.
“What do I do if I have to get rid of it like yesterday? I can’t exactly clear the sky every time, it will give away the location of the humans.” I said.
Selena nodded, and began thinking. “What if you try to direct it into the ground? Or into one of the boulders lying around here?” she asked.
I looked around and saw there were a few large boulders lying around. I had ignored them before, but now I thought about it, they could be useful. “Okay, I will try.” I said.
“What about me?” Rai asked.
“You will try to focus on me to read my thoughts. If I sense you, I will kick you out with my magic. It shouldn’t hurt, but I will just slightly push on your mind to let you know I have sensed you and you will try again. This is an exercise for the both of us. I will think of something and you will try to find it in my mind.” She said.
“What is the point of that, exactly?” I asked. Was she afraid of her mind being read without her permission by Rai?
“It will help me to develop this skill if anyone attacks us with this skill, and Rai can practice on someone that doesn’t want to let him into their mind. This will help if we have to depend on his skill for whatever reason in the f
uture.” Selena said. I nodded, it sounded like a good idea to practice these skills we have, even if we never have to use them. I secretly hoped we never had to, but I doubted that was the case.
*****
We spent a few weeks training, practicing our various skills, and it seemed that Alice was a little jumpy lately. I noticed it was getting closer to the full moon, and I was wondering if she was afraid that Selena would turn and hurt someone. I didn’t really want to ask Alice, in case I was right. I didn’t have the words to tell her it would be okay, because I didn’t know if it would be.
Helen was getting stronger every day. After she learned how to better control the white fire, she practiced directing the energy surge that had happened the first day we arrived here, in case it ever occurred again for whatever reason. The first few times she pushed the energy into the ground, nothing happened. The ground seems to shake slightly, but that was it. On the second day she tried this, she put more energy into it, and something incredible happened. Out of the ground, all around her was grass. I hadn’t seen the grass (green for that matter) in so long. I had only seen it through Helen’s memories. We all stood there, mesmerized at the sight of something green in this barren wasteland. I knew the humans must have their own source of food, but we had yet to see it, not being allowed inside, and Selena was given her food in her room, so she never told us what she ate or where it came from.
As soon as it had appeared, it withered and died. As soon as the energy stopped going into the ground, the radiation in the air killed it off in a matter of seconds. We had Selena tell Alice about this, and she watched Helen do it again the next day. She seemed surprised, but didn’t say anything. She seemed to be thinking for a long time, and walked back inside. I didn’t have to read her mind to know that the wheels were turning at high speed at what she had seen. Alice never really guided us in learning our powers, but she did help Selena when necessary. All she wanted to know, every day when she came to get Selena, was if we made any progress.