The Bottom Rung

by Sam Hall

  She indicated I take a seat by the fire crackling in the merry little fireplace. I took a gulp of juice and then settled into what looked like a hand-carved chair. “So,” she said, just as I took a big mouthful of sandwich. “Why’s an albino doing great magics in Meridian City?”

  Be careful with this one, Lyra said. Witches are tricky.

  "Umm... I just woke up this morning and..."

  “Found you now contained a massive ball of magical energy? Really? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. It was just a bit of a shock. I was expecting my garden to be wiped out by the impact of a very small meteor and instead, there was you. You want to keep eating," the witch said, magicking me up another sandwich. "What's inside you has massive potential, but it’s using you as a power source. It could kill you."

  What?! I'd gone through the whole Ladder Climb of Doom only to have another death sentence put on my head?

  "I climbed the Ladder and found this white chick with big fuck-off teeth and she melded with me and now I have the power to do what I want," I blurted out.

  We talked about this, Lyra said with a growl.

  The witch blinked at this, "You accepted god-like powers from a strange being on a ladder? Without question? Did you ask about any provisos or conditions of this gift of power?"

  "Um, no. It was either option A: die or option B: this. I chose B."

  She peered at me intently, her eyes closing down into slits," I haven't seen this in an age, but you're an avatar."

  "What's one of those when it’s at home?"

  "You're a human embodiment of a goddess."

  "So, I am Lyra?"

  You're not me, she replied inside my head.

  "No, not quite. It’s like you're her representative on the earth. You’ll have access to some of her powers, as long as you have the energy to fuel them."

  I considered this. The gods were supposed to have left the human realm hundreds of years ago. Once they’d lived among people, guiding and helping them. Well, mostly just the anomalous, though humans were inexplicably loyal to them. The early revolutionaries used to use Kai, Lyra’s brother/lover as a symbol to identify the underground, seeing his struggle for dominance against his vampire sister as similar to theirs.

  “How the hell is that possible? When was the last time there was an avatar?” I said.

  “Princess Sasha’s great grandmother was one apparently, though that’s always been under suspicion,” Kat said.

  “Sasha, she reckons she’s got new research that’ll make Reunion a success. Is she right?”

  “I doubt it. The age of the gods is over. If you’re hoping to meet other avatars, I wouldn’t hold your breath. I don't know how you were able to climb the Ladder. Usually, one touch is enough to render someone a mindless idiot.”

  That may still prove to be true, Lyra said.

  “The question is, what are you going to do with all that power?”

  I sat there for a second. My mind often raced a mile a minute, but the prospect of a future, of a life outside of the Quarter, had it slowing to a standstill. Silence grew between us, I felt the societal obligation to respond, but my brain could think of nothing. I had no mental model for the freedom I’d now been given. People who fantasised about the outside world didn't last long. Surviving required too much effort and the subsequent despair that came with thinking about life beyond often led to suicide. Lyra, Kat, they were inviting me to consider something that felt bloody dangerous. I listened to my heartbeat rattle in my ears as the minutes went by.

  I knew what I wanted, I’d always known, deep in my heart, because it’s what we all wanted. I opened my mouth and said, “I want to bring down the Wall.”

  Kat’s eyebrows shot up, then she nodded slowly as she mulled it over. “You do that, you’re positioning yourself as a political entity. Other political organisations in Meridian city will see you as a threat and treat you accordingly. The Wall, as much as I despise it, keeps us safe from the humans. If we were running around free, that would frighten them. They don’t want to go back to the pre-Revolutionary days, and they’d kill us wholesale to eradicate that fear.”

  “So, I should just turn my back, leave the Quarter?”

  “Not necessarily, but bringing it down? That's going to take a lot of work and cooperation. The blood of the oldest and most powerful Cremorni witches is bound into that wall. You’ll never be able to take it down with only Lyra’s power, let alone deal with the soldiers and weapons they use afterwards. You’ll need to get the support of the factions; you’ll need to stage an uprising.”

  You do realise you’ve confessed to treason to someone you don’t even know, Lyra said. What’s to stop her from reporting your plan? I looked up at Kat, who reclined in her chair.

  Can I coerce her to stay silent? I asked.

  Now you’re talking, Lyra said. Of course, I can silence one witchbreed bitch.

  “What’s to stop you from telling a passing soldier my plans?” I said.

  You’re not going to last long, trusting complete strangers like this, Lyra said with a hiss.

  Can’t you turn her into a pillar of ash if she crosses me? I said. Aren’t you confident in your own powers?

  Assuming power is enough to make you invincible is a more common downfall of the rich and famous than you obviously think, she snapped back.

  Kat smiled, her teeth bright against the deep bronze of her skin. “Because if I stay silent, I win either way. You free us or life goes on, I lose nothing.”

  I knew then what I had to do, and my revolutionary plans would need to go on the back burner. I couldn’t change the world right now but I could change things a little closer to home. You can change individuals then, I said to Lyra, without stripping me of too much energy?

  Yes, why, what did you have in mind? she said.

  “I’ve got to go,” I said to Kat. “Thanks for the food.”

  “OK, but before you go, I’ll say this. If I was going to bring down the Wall, I wouldn't start with the structure itself. I’d start by destabilising those agencies who were most likely to try to stop me. If they were off-balance or eliminated, it would make everything you want to achieve that much easier.”

  I nodded, storing that tidbit for later. Lyra, I said, I need to find the boys.

  Those delicious brothers? That sounds much more enticing. We’re going to do this a little less conspicuously. No need to alert Rohan to your presence.

  You know Rohan?

  I know everyone, now hold on.

  13

  Lethe

  Palace of the Vampires

  Vampire Sector

  The Quarter

  It appeared a less conspicuous way of travelling was basically teleporting from one spot and appearing in another. I looked around with a start. I’d gone from the evening gloom of Kat’s garden to a large room, the electric lights not doing much to illuminate it. Tiles covered every surface, depicting vampires and whites frolicking with gay abandon, and then just downright fucking.

  I slipped past the dimly lit depictions of writhing ecstasy and walked further in, following the sound of running water. I’m in the Palace, I thought, my heart sinking. This is either some sort of orgy fountain room or… I peeked my head around the corner and sighed. It was a locker room.

  Shower heads, a retroactive fitting in what was before a sauna or communal bath, dotted the walls. It was mostly empty but from my vantage point, I could see a few naked male bodies being soaped down, sometimes by their own hands, sometimes by white ‘helpers’. One was doing a very good job making sure the vamp's dick was really, really clean, with his mouth. Make me invisible, I said.

  Why? Lyra said with a purr. There’s no need to hide here. Look at that specimen. He’d split you open in the most delicious way.

  While draining me of the blood I need to live. Make me invisible.

  They can’t hurt you, not unless you want them to.

  I’m a white, they’re pretty convinced my place is on my k
nees.

  You’re not an albino anymore, you’re something else again, and you have no need to hide.

  Invisible, now, and help me find the guys.

  Her sigh came out as a long hiss in my ears.

  I didn’t feel any different but as I padded past the showering bodies, my footsteps left no marks, made no sound. I felt the tension that had been building in my shoulders drop away. The guy getting serviced by the white boy came suddenly, his abdominals clenching and flexing as the albino spluttered around his cock, the vamp pulling away and going back to washing without a look. They can’t make me do that, ever, I thought. They can’t make me do anything I don’t want to anymore.

  I’m the goddess of vampires and these are my people. As my avatar, they will fall at your feet. If you don’t like how they treat the white ones, make them change. You have nothing to fear and everything… Her voice trailed away as I stopped in front of another muscular guy who was scrubbing at his hair in a business-like manner. I watched the interplay of his muscles as his arms worked, the flex of his buttocks, the reveal of the lean expanse of his abs as he rinsed. Mmm, Lyra said as he tipped his head back, revealing his corded neck, marred only by one neat bite mark. I moved closer as if pulled on strings, smelling the fresh lime scent of his soap as I drew in, my eyes drawn down, down as he grabbed the bar and began to work it against his groin. Oh, that is lovely, Lyra said, watching his cock harden a little as he scrubbed. We could take that soap and run our fingers all over him. Your hands would slide over that slippery skin. My teeth started to ache as I watched, unable to look away. Just reach out, Lyra crooned, reach out and take what you want.

  I shook my head, stepping away. Back off, Lyra, I said. I need to find the boys.

  We’re going to work on this prudishness, she said with a growl. It’s entirely fear-based. You’re free of that kind of threat now. You’re the apex predator.

  Yeah, yeah, the boys, where?

  Down the end.

  I heard them talking as I approached. They had this area of the shower to themselves, Bennett was sitting against the wall, his eyes closed, water running over him. Gavin stood and half-heartedly scrubbed at his skin. “Do you think Marley got there in time?” Bennett said. “Made sure that it didn’t hurt her?”

  “I want to believe it. It’s all that’s keeping me together right now. That she’s free of all of this shit now. Rohan’s having us push the troops into Miriam’s turf tomorrow. Brothers, sisters, they’re gonna die and for what? For another piece of a ruin. At least she doesn’t have to deal with that,” Gavin said.

  “Or with Rohan wanting to take her. I was talking to Grey and apparently, the plan is if anything happened to us, he’s supposed to retrieve her within the hour, for his ‘viewing pleasure.’ Fucking arsehole.”

  “I wondered why we were getting the front-line jobs all of a sudden. He was going to jeopardise everything we’ve done for him…”

  “I kinda empathise with him. He’s no worse than us, always sniffing around her. It’s just…” Bennett’s eyes went wide and I could see the pain clearly there. “Every memory I have that’s worth a damn has her in it, y’know? When she took on the Riley’s because they pushed you off the swing.”

  “Fuck, I’d never seen a girl fight like that before, and she was such a skinny little thing. I thought we were all going to have to jump in, but she took out the three of them with a quick one-two to the nuts.”

  “What are we going to do without her,” Bennett said, his palms covering his face, then digging into his eye sockets.

  This was grotesque. I was attending my own wake, an invisible presence, vicariously watching them grieve. Make me visible, I said.

  You sure? she said. This little display is quite touching. They really do love you.

  Now.

  It took them a bit to realise, Gavin was standing facing the wall, letting the water run down his back. He reached for the shampoo and only saw me when I took it from his hand. His eyes went wide, searching my face for a sign that this wasn’t some kind of dream, capturing my hand when I reached up to try and wash his hair. “Lethe?” His hissed question was enough to alert his brother, Bennett’s head snapping up to take me in, he was on his feet in the next moment.

  “Fuck the gods,” Bennett said, hovering as if he didn’t dare come closer. “Is this…? Are you…?”

  “I didn’t die,” I said with a small smile. “I climbed the Ladder.”

  “Yes!!” I was swept up into Gavin’s arms, my clothes instantly flattened against my body by the water. He swung me around and then stopped, burying his head in my neck, Bennett at my back, a warm damp presence. “I can’t…” one of them gasped. “This can’t…”

  “It’s OK,” I said. “I’m sorry I left early. I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t stay.”

  “No, no, we were being selfish dicks,” Bennett said. “We wanted everything you had because… I’m so sorry.”

  “And we better get you the fuck out of here if we want to keep you alive. Any albino that comes down here is fair game,” Gavin said, his eyes flicking to the other side of the showers.

  “You don’t have to worry,” I said. Make my hair black and my eyes a deeper blue, I said to Lyra, and give me fangs.

  Nice choice, she said, the smile apparent in her tone. I didn’t notice the change to my hair and eyes but the looks on the boys’ faces made it clear that I’d changed. My gums ached, not in a painful way, it was like they were swelling and hardening, the feeling becoming a piercing intense pleasure/pain. I smelt the limey, smoky scent of the boys, my nostrils flaring and my mouth began to water. “Uh!” I gasped as something sharp ripped through my gums.

  “Gods, Lethe!” Bennett said, grabbing my chin and peering at my face.

  “Is it her?” Gavin said, eyes hardening. He crossed his arms, the muscles clearly delineated. I cocked my head, taking a step towards him, my jeans dragging heavily in the pools of water. I leaned over him, he refused to budge, and turned off the tap, then ran my tongue along his skin, capturing the trickle that ran down one bicep. “Is it you?” His voice dropped to a hoarse rasp, his eyes searched mine for answers, but that wasn’t what drew my attention. It was the jerking jump of the vein in his neck, tugging my awareness like a fish on a hook.

  I came closer, rested my mouth against his ear and said, “You were the first one inside me in the warehouse. Bennett stopped you and sucked on my clit, to make it good for me.”

  I was dimly aware of Lyra’s hum as I pushed him against the tiles, spreading his arms out, holding them down by his wrist. His body shifted against mine, twitching, twisting, trying to close the gap between us. I chuckled as I moved in closer, forcing his leg to be still with a knee. I brought my head down into the sweet-smelling mass of his wet hair, parting it like seaweed with my nose before thrusting my lips against that jumping vein. “You want to feed from him,” Bennett said, a sudden weight against my back, his mouth against my ear. “Lick the skin, it makes it that much more sensitive.”

  “I don’t have the symbiote,” I protested and for a moment fear broke through the drugging haze of hunger in my body.

  Of course you do, Lyra said. That’s what kept you alive on the Ladder. We are one now, you aren’t an albino, not prey anymore. I ran my tongue against his skin, to test her assertions.

  “Oh fuck!” Gavin groaned, his hips jerking towards me. I felt him, hard and thick. “Do it,” he said, “do it!”

  “He’ll come so hard when you take him in your mouth, feed from him,” Bennett said, “and then he’ll be ready again. Again and again and again.”

  “And you?”

  “You know me, tiger. I’ll always be there for you.” He shifted, grinding his cock into my butt. “Any way you want me.”

  “Please…” Gavin said.

  “OK,” I let go of his wrists and his arms came around me, pulling me against his body. I licked at the vein, feeling it flex under my tongue, suckling lightly, drawing the flesh into my mouth, fe
eling him writhe under me as my fangs scraped against his skin. His moans were incoherent as I grew bolder, gripping the skin between my teeth, his cock twitching against my thigh, then I struck.

  I’d tasted plenty of blood in my lifetime. Getting my teeth half knocked down my throat by other kids, getting smacked in the face while me and the boys were wrestling. I’d copped a few beat downs once I left the boys, trying to eke out a place in between the factions. Then it had tasted coppery and gross. Too much of it and I was throwing up from nausea.

  Now it was this thick, sweet thing that had me almost crawling over his body to get more of. I could dimly feel Bennett’s lips against my throat as my jaws worked, a sharp little nick before he pulled back, murmuring, “Don’t take too much. He won’t die or get hurt, but he won’t be able to perform for you.” I yanked myself away from Gavin, leaving him to fall back against the wall. When I turned around my face had to have been a mask of blood, I could feel it dripping from my chin. Bennett stepped back, shaking his head, “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  “On your knees,” I snarled. I wasn’t prey, no one fed from me. An entirely alien anger filled my head, willing me to obliterate one of the few people I loved in the world. It was somewhat appeased as he did as he was told with that familiar crooked smile.

  “Whatever you want,” he said, arms held out in surrender.

  What did I want? My head was a screaming mash-up of memories and sensation, lust and familiarity. I panted, my breath almost caressing my aching teeth. He shuffled towards me, eyes trained on my fangs, reaching up with slow hands so I could pull away at any point. I watched him with a hard eye, somewhat appeased by his more respectful manner. Emboldened he undid the stiff button on my sodden jeans, looking up at me as he pulled them down my legs. Gavin came up behind me, supporting my body as I was stripped bare, ripping my underwear off as Bennett drew closer. “Leg over his shoulder,” Gavin said as his brother dropped kisses along my hip bone. “Spread yourself wide for him.”