by Gayla Twist
Death of the Vampire
Gayla Twist
Copyright © 2019 Gayla Twist
All rights reserved.
DEDICATION
As always, to my darling Q.
Prologue
No scream escaped my lips as the coffin lid slammed shut; I refused to give them that satisfaction. I hadn’t gone to my doom easily; I’d tried to fight them, and I was still willing to fight them. But with my hands bound and my eyes covered, I didn’t stand much of a chance. Even though I knew that there was no way I could escape, I thrust up against the lid, trying to burst from my tomb. It was no use; I could hear the lock to the coffin turning, sealing my fate.
I slumped down, desperately trying not to burst into tears, not wanting to give them the pleasure of hearing my terrified sobs. It was only then I realized that I was not alone. There was the feel of flesh and bone beneath me.
There was no time to shriek before a strong arm immediately encircled me and a hand clamped over my mouth. I went to bite down, but before I could, there was a faint whisper in my ear. “Be still. It’s me.”
I felt both joy and horror. It was Jessie. They had thrown me into a coffin with the love of my life.
Jessie quickly removed my blindfold. The casket was pitch black, but with my undead vision, I was still able to see. And there he was, my true love, pressed beneath me. I wanted to say his name. I wanted to embrace him and sob in his arms. But I could tell from the rigidity of his body and the way he had his head cocked to the side that he was listening, waiting to hear when our captors left the room.
But the guards weren’t so eager to be on their way. I guess they were hoping to overhear a tearful reunion and perhaps some cries of despair. We didn’t have to speak to let each other know that we wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
I couldn’t tell how much time was passing. An hour? A day? A lifetime? After what felt like an eternity a few of them left the room. They made a show of it, speaking to each other in overly loud voices, saying things like, “Well, I guess we’re done here. Better get going.” It all sounded like bad acting.
Neither one of us tried to speak. I desperately wanted to hear his voice telling me that everything was going to be alright, but that would have to wait. After what felt like several more hours, Jessie finally relaxed. “That was the last of them,” he said in a low voice, but not exactly a whisper.
“How can you tell?” I also kept my voice soft.
“I’ve learned the sounds of this vault,” he told me, meaning the room where our casket was being kept. “The hinges on the door don’t creak, but there are subtle changes in air pressure when people come in and go out. Plus, all humans have ticks. Little noises they make, even though they don’t know they’re making them. A knee that has a slight creak. Teeth that click together. That sort of thing. Mortal habits.”
“Oh, Jessie,” I said, doing my best not to sob. “I thought I would never see you again.”
“I prayed for our reunion,” he told me. “But if I had known it was going to be like this…” He struggled with the emotion of it.
“But I don’t understand,” I rubbed my forehead against his cheek. “Why would they lock us in here together? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“They did it to torture me,” he said. “In here by myself, I could think of you. I could be patient and wait for the day that you and my mother found a way to free me. But having you here with me… I guess this is their way of letting me know that…” His voice broke off in a jagged little gasp.
I stared at him for a moment, not fully comprehending his meaning. And then it dawned on me. “This is their way of telling you that there is no hope.”
Chapter 1
Alice and I barely had time to grab our things before we were forced out of Lord Vagnar’s faux-castle. No one came to our aid. None of Lord Vagnar’s guests even glanced in our direction as we were shown to the door. I wanted to shout at them. Had they been immortal for so long that they’d lost all sense of humanity? I wanted to scream in their faces and wake them from whatever undead ennui that possessed them. I wanted to slap the amused looks off their smug faces. The most compassion they showed us was restraint while we were being expelled. But I knew the bacchanal would resume after we were thrust out into the dwindling night. Our usefulness as entertainment had ended.
I felt the finality of the door slamming shut. We were friendless and in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know why, but I thought Lord Vagnar would at least see us to the door, in some misplaced notion of good manners. Or to make some infuriating remark. Probably both.
Only a few hours ago it had been my wedding night. I’d been dressed in the most beautiful gown I could imagine, and I was being led down the aisle to marry the man of my dreams; JessieVanderlind, my soulmate. Now, everything had shattered into a nightmare.
“Aurora, come along,” Alice snapped as she headed down the drive, hauling her bags. She glared at the paling sky. “It’ll be sunrise soon; there’s no time to dawdle. We might want to ditch our luggage and just fly for it. I’m not even sure where to find a safe house. If we’re lucky, we’ll find a cemetery. Otherwise, we might have to go to ground.”
I glanced down at my luggage. I had my Pools of Light pendant around my neck and my engagement ring on my finger. There was nothing else I couldn’t live without, so I chucked my bag to one side. “I’m ready.”
I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. Yvette stepped out of the shadows. “You’ll probably want to come with me,” she said.
“You?!” I practically shrieked. I wanted to punch her in the face. Alice gave me a hard look, so I restrained myself, but Vagnar’s little lackey had a lot of nerve. “Do you really think we’d trust you after what you did?”
Yvette shrugged her slim shoulders. “I don’t see why not. Lord Vagnar no longer offers you his protection, but he doesn’t exactly want you shriveling on the front lawn for all the neighbors to see. He asked me to make sure you had a safe place for the day.”
“I’d sooner spit in your face,” I snarled.
“Don’t be such a little idiot,” Alice hissed at me. “We can’t save Jessie if we’re ashes.” Then, turning to Yvette, she said, “Lord Vagnar’s generosity is greatly appreciated.”
Yvette gestured toward a smaller building that was set apart from the main structure. “Then follow me.”
My skin was already feeling unusually warm as the sun threatened to rise. Alice grabbed her bag. “Let’s go,"
The three of us walked swiftly toward what I thought might be a carriage house. I wondered how Alice would enjoy spending a day hiding from the sun above a bunch of horses. Instead, the building appeared to be a garage with dozens of cars under tarps crowding the first floor. I wondered how long it had been since anyone had driven half the vehicles. Vampires tended to make extravagant purchases and then simply forget about them.
“There’s a small apartment upstairs,” Yvette said, gesturing toward a staircase tucked in one corner of the room. “It’s light-proof, of course, and the refrigerator is fully stocked.”
“Thank you,” Alice said. “Please tell Lord Vagnar that we appreciate his kindness.”
Yvette turned to me. “I’m so glad we had a chance to get to know each other. I hope we meet again.” And then she gave me a hug.
I was flabbergasted. How could Yvette pretend to be my friend, then betray me, help imprison my fiancée, and still think that I didn’t despise her? I was too stunned to do anything but stand there, my arms hanging limply at my sides.
“I’d better get back to the castle,” Yvette said after noting the sky to the west was a bright orange. Light began flooding in through the fake carriage house windows. She drew the shade befor
e saying, “Have a good day.”
“Come on,” Alice said, hoisting her bag. “Let’s hope the upstairs has a phone.”
Yvette’s description of the apartment being small must have been by vampire standards. In truth, it probably had more square footage than the home I shared with my mother. I immediately wished I hadn’t thought of my mom. She still thought I was ill with mono and recovering at the Vanderlind Castle. I would probably never see her again.
And what would I do if Jessie was killed? I couldn’t go back to my mother, and my maker, Alice, obviously hated me. I had no real employable skills beyond minimum wage. Plus, to the outside world, I would always appear as a teenager.
But none of that would matter if my beautiful Jessie had to face the sun. I couldn’t imagine existing in the world without him. I would kill myself. I would throw myself on a wooden stake. My great Aunt Colette had been killed because she loved Jessie, and I had been born loving him. When Jessie’s brother, Daniel, was draining my blood, I’d remembered everything from my own life, but I’d also had the memories of Colette. And beyond all that, somewhere in the deepest corner of my soul, I felt that I’d known Jessie before Colette. Lifetime after lifetime, we’d always found each other. Our love transcended time.
If I killed myself, would Jessie be born again and spend his life searching for me? After Colette was killed, he’d suffered for seventy years before finding me again. What if I didn’t kill myself? Would Jessie eventually be reincarnated? Would I be able to survive for decades on the planet, never knowing if Jessie was coming back to me, or if I was doomed to be alone for eternity?
“Snap out of it,” Alice said. “We have to focus. I don’t need you getting all mopey. Check the kitchen for something to drink while I search for a phone. Why are you just standing there?”
My maker’s words stung. I hadn’t realized that I’d been just standing in the doorway to the apartment, staring at nothing. “Sorry…” I stammered, wishing desperately that I could please her. But then I felt a wave of anger and I shot her a hard look. “It’s been a busy week.”
Alice paused, giving me a double-take. Her lips parted, and I thought for a moment that she was going to apologize for being a complete hard-ass to me for every second since she’d turned me into a member of the undead. But she seemed to think better of it and instead gave me a curt nod before turning to search for a phone.
I headed to the kitchen where I found a refrigerator full of bottles, all brimming with fresh blood. Did Lord Vagnar plan out that Jessie’s mother and I would spend the night above his garage or did he always waste blood keeping every little corner of his estate stocked? I decided I didn’t care. Jerking the cap off a bottle, I chugged the contents like a high school boy chugging a can of cheap beer.
I found a serving tray in a cupboard and set three bottles from the fridge on it. Somehow just handing Alice Vanderlind a bottle of blood didn’t feel right. Another cupboard provided me with wine glasses.
Following the sound of Alice’s voice, I traced her to the master bedroom where she was seated on the bed, talking on the phone. “I don’t know where they’ve taken him,” she said. After a pause, she added, “She’s with me… Yes, I turned her. I had to. She’s part of Jessie, somehow, and I couldn’t have her dying all the time; it was tearing him apart.”
The person on the other end of the line spoke some more.
“He did what he did,” Alice said. I could tell she was doing her best to keep the frustration out of her voice. “But you still haven’t answered my question; will you help us?”
The answer must have been “no” because Alice frowned and shook her head, fighting off the rejection. “I understand,” she said in a half whisper.
I intentionally allowed the glasses on the tray to ring together so that my maker would look up. Alice ended the call abruptly, without even saying goodbye.
“You should eat something,” I said putting the tray down on a bedside table.
Alice snatched up a bottle, ripped off the cap and chugged its contents. It was the least lady-like thing I’d ever seen her do. “We’re on our own,” she said, once the bottle was mostly empty. “I don’t know if there’s a vampire in the world who hasn’t turned away from our family.”
I was opening my mouth to say something like, “I’m sure that isn’t true,” but I was interrupted by someone quietly knocking at the apartment’s balcony door. The light-proof shades were drawn, so we couldn’t see who was out there. But we were on the second floor, so whoever was knocking probably knew how to fly.
Alice slinked across the room on the paws of a cat and paused beside the door to listen. An instant later, she jerked open the door, a crack, and Karl Braxton slipped into the room. His skin was red and peeling and his white hair was smoking from where it had been scorched by the rising sun.
“Alice,” he said. “I’ve already put the wheels in motion to find out where they’ve taken Jessie.”
“Thank you, but you needn’t put yourself at risk,” she said, her voice sounding wobbly.
“Oh, my poor darling.” Karl went to embrace her, but my maker pulled away from him with an imperious glare. Any other man who had risked possible death to support an old flame would have probably been angry and stormed off. Not Karl; he grabbed Alice by the wrist and firmly pulled her to him, wrapping her in his arms. Alice resisted him for a moment and then crumpled against his shoulder, her beautiful face distorted with pain.
“First Daniel, now Jessie…” she sobbed. “I just can’t take the pain. If Jessie faces the sun, then I’ll burn with him, I swear it.”
I found my way to the bedroom door and slipped out as quickly as possible, giving them their privacy. At least Lord Braxton hadn’t abandoned the Vanderlind family. And I was sure there had to be other vampires out there who were still loyal, even if people like Lord Vagnar and his sycophants were not.
Sleeping was impossible, of course. I couldn’t find that meditative state that vampires try to achieve during the day. All I could do was lie in bed, thinking of my love. Where was Jessie? Was he in a prison cell with silver bars? Was he locked in a coffin? I couldn’t stand thinking about it, but I couldn’t think about anything else. It felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.
Just before sunset, the door to the bedroom I was using banged open and Alice stormed into my room. “How can you lie there, sleeping, when Jessie is probably being tortured at this very moment?” she demanded.
“I haven’t been sleeping,” I insisted. “I couldn’t even close my eyes. All I can do is think about him. You have to know that.”
Alice relented, slightly. “I suppose I do. If you remembered him between lifetimes then that… Oh, never mind. You need to get up,” she told me. “Karl’s got word that we are to be arrested as soon as the sun sets.”
“But why?” I asked, leaping to my feet. I had killed Jessie’s grandfather, so it didn’t surprise me that the Bishops wanted me arrested. But there was no reason for them to come after Alice. “Why you?”
“History.” Jessie’s mother released rueful laugh. When I gave her a confused look, she added, “Do you know why women are usually accused of practicing witchcraft?”
She’d lost me as to her point, but I’d been raised by my mother, so I knew a bit of history. “It’s usually to control women,” I said. “Suppress them. It used to be to keep them from being midwives, so they wouldn’t take jobs away from doctors, which were always men. Now, it’s usually just to grab their money and property.” I knew that globally, accusations of witchcraft were on the rise. Recent widows were usually the targets. It was just some excuse men used to kill women so that they could grab their land and whatever else they had of value.
“Exactly.” Alice nodded.
“So, you’re saying…?”
“The Vanderlinds are too wealthy. Much wealthier than you realize. With Father and Daniel dead, then they only have to get rid of Jessie and me for there to be a lot of money and property up for
grabs.”
“What?” I exclaimed.
Alice shrugged.
“But that’s not true,” I insisted. “What about Dorian?” I’d met Jessie’s cousin and I’d heard mention of at least one uncle.
“I’m sure my brother and his family would get a portion of our estate, but a large chunk would also be absorbed by estate taxes and attorneys’ fees. It’ll be a huge infusion of cash, straight into the Bishop’s coffers.”
I found it sad that even in the world of the undead, there was still government greed, lawyers, and taxes.
Lord Braxton burst into the room. “I’m sorry to interrupt, ladies, but we’ve got to move. Now!”
Chapter 2
The sun hadn’t fully set, so the only place we could run to was the garage. Concealing ourselves inside one of the covered cars was a little too obvious, but we didn’t have much choice.
“Get in the trunk,” Karl said, pulling the tarp up from the back of an old Bentley. “I’ll lead them upstairs and then you make a break for it.”
“Wait,” I said, dashing over to a peg board and snatching up one of the keys dangling off the numerous hooks. “Come on,” I said, grabbing Alice’s wrist.
“But…” she stammered, pointing toward the Bentley’s trunk.
“We’re not getting in there,” I insisted. I wasn’t going to be trapped in some trunk, at the mercy of whoever was on the outside. “Let’s get behind the wheel.” I shook the key at her.
“Good idea.” Karl went to straighten the tarp back over the Bentley.
“Leave it,” I insisted. “Don’t make it too neat.”
Karl stalled for a moment while he quickly thought it over. “Right,” he said, leaving the tarp askew, just enough to raise suspicion.
“Move it,” I said, half dragging Jessie’s mom to the car with the Porsche logo on the tarp. I gave her a little push toward the passenger’s side. “Get in.”