by T. H. Hunter
“I won’t, sir.”
“Excellent, now let’s see,” he said. ”Vox!”
His assistant, who had been lost in thought, turned around sharply.
“Doctor?” he said, his voice as blank as his expression.
“Look up Flynn for me, will you?”
Mr. Vox took out a piece of paper and scanned it.
“Last injection on Tuesday, small phial should be in order,” Mr. Vox said. He had an American accent from the South, though I couldn’t pinpoint it exactly.
Doctor Wiley pushed the larger bottles aside and handed me a small phial.
“Not to worry, Flynn, not to worry. You’ve had rather a large dosis, your body needs to adapt. But we’ll bring you up to normal soon enough.”
They both looked at me, waiting. I uncorked the phial. There was still something that held me back.
“Flynn, are you alright?” Doctor Wiley said in a concerned tone.
“Oh yes, sorry,” I murmured. I slowly put the phial to my lips and emptied it in one swig.
The potent effect of the Elixir immediately permeated my body. I felt stronger, even more confident, as if a great thirst had been quenched.
There were only two people after me, presumably also new arrivals. Doctor Wiley, however, had no trouble at all in charming them at once, especially after they had sipped the Elixir. Doctor Wiley then addressed us once more.
“Now that you’re all fed, let’s see who’ll drink first tomorrow, eh? Mr. Vox will lead on from here. Happy training, everyone.”
He indicated to Mr. Vox and, waving in operatic fashion, walked back up the hill towards the village, puffing and wheezing along the way.
Mr. Vox, in contrast to Doctor Wiley, spoke only when necessary and in carefully measured tones.
“As there are some recent arrivals present, I will reiterate purpose and aim of your training,” he said, with as blank an expression as ever. “You – the Uninitiated – will train every day, all day. Your objective is to pass the Trial, which will take place in exactly one week from now.”
***
Training involved a lot of physical activity, jumping, sprinting, climbing, throwing. At first, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Perhaps they were trying to bring people up to speed physically. Yet as soon as the sun set and the mountains around us were bathed in orange and red, something changed. I don’t know whether it was the fading light that played tricks on my eyes or whether I was just imagining things, but people were jumping higher and running faster. When I saw the burly man with the beard leap at least 7 feet from a standing position, I turned around to Lynn, who was recuperating from one of her sprints.
“How did he do that?” I asked.
“Who?”
“Jayden,” I said, indicating him from afar.
“Oh, he’s always ahead of everyone else,” she said, grinning. “Cute, isn’t he?”
“But how does he do it?”
“He’s been training really hard. It takes years to become a fully-trained vampire. Fitness is top priority at the beginning. Then we get into the more juicy stuff at the castle.”
“Like what?” I asked, curious to know more.
“Oh, all sorts of cool stuff. Swordfighting is a big thing. And I mean really big. Everyone’s into it. That’s our sports here, I guess. There’s a tournament every year, too. There’s also stealth training, which is everyone’s second-favourite class. You know, learning to evade detection, turn invisible, that sort of thing.”
“Turn invisible?”
“Yeah,” Lynn said, her enthusiasm infectious. “That’s what everybody wants to do. It’s really hard. Apparently, most senior students can’t even do it. But there are also a lot of boring subjects, like Vampiric Ethics and Law. I’m not too keen on the whole medicine branch, either, though it’s very important.”
“So, most teachers are doctors, then?” I asked
“Yeah,” Lynn said. “It was really vital during the war with so many wounded, of course. But they still do a lot of important research, and they keep improving on the Elixir. They also do loads of other stuff, like developing poisons and antidotes, but the Elixir really is the main thing. Wiley and Vox are both alchemists. There’s an entire team helping them work on the formula. Yurasov used to be head of Alchemy before he switched to teaching History, though, after becoming Second Warden. He’s also in charge of the library. Wiley took over as head of Alchemy shortly after that.”
“So what’s the Second Warden?” I asked.
“It’s like being Vice-President. Our First Warden is called Stephanopoulos. We’ll probably see him at the initiation ceremony. They run the college but they also have seats at the Vampiric Council – that’s basically the vampire government. Though it’s mostly controlled by the great noble families. They advise King Rurik on all matters and act as judges.”
“I guess democracy’s overrated,” I said sarcastically.
“Ha, well, there’s been a lot of trouble lately because of that. I think it was probably quite useful during the war, but a lot of people are unhappy about the system. They want reform. Many have joined the Outlaws. They live outside of Vampire jurisdiction, in the mountains in Northern Greece.”
I was just about to open my mouth when Mr. Vox appeared out of nowhere, though I think it was more his unobtrusive behaviour rather than a matter of him actually turning invisible.
“No talking. Continue with your training,” he said.
***
Training went on well past midnight, and by the time it ended, we were all exhausted, cold and hungry. Mr. Vox, who had been watching and correcting us with the eye of a hawk, once more announced Jayden as the winner of that day’s training. Jayden looked very pleased with himself, flashing a surreptitious grin at Lynn beneath his carefully trimmed beard. Lynn, in response, flushed.
After Mr. Vox had announced the training’s conclusion, we moved over to the large fireplace, where one of the Uninitiated had started a blazing fire. Soon enough, we were all eating chicken, potatoes and marshmallows – in no particular order. We talked a lot about training methods. Everyone had their own theory on how to best tease out our Vampiric abilities.
“So what’s your theory, Beccs?” Lynn asked me.
“Well, I don’t know, but I won’t be turning invisible anytime soon, that’s for sure. Or running up walls like Doctor Yurasov.” I said.
“What do you mean?” asked Lynn.
I told them the whole story of how I had found myself in the hospital bed, the talk with Doctor Yurasov and the astonishing demonstration of his skill.
“You’ve actually met Yurasov?” asked a haughty-looking blonde girl who had been listening in to our conversation from the far end of our table.
“Yeah.”
“They really must be worried about the Slayers if they got him involved,” said Jayden. “I mean, they weren’t this active in years.”
“Exactly,” the blonde girl said in a superior tone, her eyes flashing towards Jayden, who was sitting next to her. “The Scarlet Curse is nothing but trouble for us vampires.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?” I said, my blood beginning to boil.
“You know nothing about our world. You’re not a proper vampire.”
“You say that again,” I said in a dangerously quiet voice, standing up.
Perhaps she was right, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t going to take a slur from anyone.
There was a general ruckus around the table as people hastily stepped in to prevent a confrontation. The blonde girl looked surprised but satisfied at the same time. From that moment onward, I knew we’d be enemies.
***
Back at the hut, an hour later, I was still seething from the encounter.
“She’s nasty,” Lynn said.
“So who is she anyway?” I asked.
“Her name’s Vanessa Demaine,” Anastasia said. “She’s been here several weeks already. Causing trouble ever since.”
&nbs
p; “How come?” I asked.
“She thinks she’s better than everyone else. She’s from one of the oldest noble families in Europe, French originally, though they’ve fallen slightly from favour lately. Someone told me that she’s even related to the Royal Family, though I don’t know whether that’s true. There’ve been a lot of rumour flying around since the King got ill.”
“How come? Can vampires get ill?” I asked.
“Yeah, but it’s quite rare. We age, too, only way slower. I think that’s why a lot of humans think we’re immortal. Anyway, King Rurik is pretty sick. People haven’t seen him for ages, at least that’s what I heard. Apparently they haven’t found out what it is yet, either, which is quite strange considering every doctor in Cranvin Castle is working on the cure. The Queen has taken his place in the Vampiric Council in the meantime.”
“So the King will die?”
“I don’t know. Nobody knows, I guess. And I’ve been pretty cut off from any news since coming here. They don’t tell the Uninitiated very much. Nothing really. All my brothers came here, though. They really loved it. Except for the Trial, that is.”
“Well, that’s encouraging,” I said drily. “Any pointers on what it might be?”
Lynn shook her head.
“They wouldn’t tell me. I must have asked them a million times, believe me. It’s a secret everyone’s really fierce about guarding. All they said was that the character testing part is really important. And that the vampires want loyalty above all else.”
***
The upcoming Trial dominated the rest of the week. Nobody seemed to know or even had any inkling of what the Trial might entail. The general consensus was that training as hard as possible couldn’t hurt. I felt much stronger and fitter now, and my leg had healed completely, much faster than usual. But apart from that, I hadn’t noticed any other difference. I wouldn’t be jumping ten feet high anytime soon, that much was clear.
The days raced by with alarming speed, leaving most people in a state of near panic, including Lynn and myself. Even Jayden, who had been selected as first without fail for the remainder of the week, looked tired and pale, with bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep. For most other people, though, wishful thinking was all that remained. The Trial seemed an insurmountable hurdle.
7
On the day of the Trial, Doctor Wiley met us at the clearing before breakfast. I hadn’t seen him since his operatic entrance a week earlier, as Mr. Vox had taken care of handing out the Elixir to us in the meantime. For the occasion, Doctor Wiley had slipped into an extravagant, black ceremonial robe with gold trimmings. Mr. Vox, however, wore his usual white coat.
“This is it,” Doctor Wiley said. “The Trial, everyone. You’ve been training hard, and I wish nothing but the best of luck to each and every one of you. You’ll receive your Elixir for one last time from Mr. Vox now.”
He gestured toward the chest and Mr. Vox.
“I will hopefully see you all at the initiation ceremony tonight,” Doctor Wiley said. “Good luck!”
After receiving our phials, we followed Mr. Vox up the hill to the village. Lynn and I walked side by side, for once at odds with our effortless conversations of the previous days. Many of the villagers were standing outside, curious to see this year’s group of Uninitiated. I was so nervous that I hadn’t been able to eat anything at all at breakfast, though the Elixir had provided strength. The long procession toward Cranvin Castle only increased the tension within me, though it certainly felt better to move than staying put somewhere and waiting.
“Are you nervous?” Lynn asked me at last.
“Yeah,” I said, with a lump in my throat. “You?”
“M-hmm,” she said. “And I think I’m first. My last name’s Adams, you see.”
Her voice was shaky.
“You’ll be fine, Lynn.”
We moved along in silence for a little while longer.
“Halt,” came Mr. Vox’s voice from the front.
Moving up the hill towards the castle, we had left the village behind us, and we were now passing the hospital where I had first arrived. Mr. Vox, list in hand, ordered us to form a line, and started reading out our names in alphabetical order. Lynn was indeed the first to be called up.
“You’ll be fine, Lynn,” I said again. “Fingers crossed.”
“Thanks, Beccs.”
More determined, Lynn moved towards the front of the line. Mr. Vox kept calling up students until it was my turn.
“Flynn, Rebecca, and Frick, Steve.”
In contrast to his usual tan, Steve’s face was as white as his robes now. We exchanged a brief glance, nodded encouragingly to one another, and then got in line.
After everyone’s name had been called, we moved forward again. The road ahead was a steep climb, becoming narrower and narrower, until only a small cart might have been able to pass along it. At either side, a deep chasm gaped up at me. I forced myself to look up again. I had always disliked heights but it had got worse in recent years.
Blocking what must have been the castle’s gates ahead from view was a high yellow tent that spanned the width of the road, with only a small entrance at its centre. We entered, with Mr. Vox leading the way in. The tent was much longer than I had expected, and the Uninitiated formed a makeshift queue inside.
“You will wait here until you are called,” Mr. Vox said, though the tent was so packed with people I couldn’t see him at the front.
“Any information passed on to the Uninitiated will lead to immediate disqualification,” he warned.
The waiting period was almost unendurable. The tent was hot and smelt of fear and plastic. Some people were talking, trying to ease their nerves, but most just stared ahead or at the tent’s ceiling. After a few minutes, Lynn was called as the first of the Uninitiated, and total silence fell immediately. There was a brief shuffling of feet at the head of the queue. I held my breath, trying to glean any information about the Trial from sound alone.
I listened hard, but it was very difficult to make out anything specific. There was clanking of metal. I also thought I heard the flapping of wings, or had that just been the wind?
Minutes passed, nothing seemed to be happening. Lynn was out there, and it was impossible to help her or even know what was going on. Suddenly, out of nowhere, we heard the most blood-curdling cry, which died away just as fast. After a few seconds, the same strange metallic cranking sound followed. Nobody spoke, and then the entire tent buzzed with nervous conversation and anxious questions.
“Remain where you are,” Mr. Vox’s voice boomed throughout the tent. “Bentham, Harry.”
Had something serious happened to Lynn? The way she had screamed seemed to confirm my worst fears. From what Doctor Yurasov had told me, it appeared that the vampires needed new recruits badly. Surely, then, they wouldn’t let anyone get seriously hurt during the Trial.
Or would they? A small voice at the back of mind brought up all those uncomfortable little details about Vampiric life from the past week. Also, a war with the Slayers was looming. Who was to say that the Trial would be safe from any risk? Secrecy was the vampires’ ultimate concern. Whatever the surveillance power of the gargoyles, it would certainly not be in the vampires’ interest to have a bunch of disgruntled people who had failed the Trial hanging around in the village, trying to escape every other day, or reveal their secrets.
The line gradually moved forward, though I still couldn’t see Mr. Vox. The Trial seemed to take very long for some, and almost no time for others. Shrieks and cries continued to pierce the air at regular intervals. Steve, standing beside me, seemed in a state of concentration – or perhaps it was silent shock – for he was staring ahead, unblinking and unresponsive.
I tried to focus my mind. Whatever would happen, there was no other way now but to get through this alive. Escape would be impossible. Today of all days, I was sure, the gargoyles would be particularly vigilant.
There was only one girl ahead of Steve and me now. We could
feel a breeze of fresh air from where we were standing. The exit lay to our right, though the overlapping walls of the tent prevented us from seeing anything outside. Mr. Vox, guarding the exit and looking as detached as ever, perused his list.
“Flynn, Rebecca,” he said, his voice as devoid of emotion as ever.
Steve turned to me.
“Good luck, Beccs,” he said, with a slightly croaky voice.
“Thanks, Steve,” I said. “You, too.”
I moved forward to where Mr. Vox was standing. Our eyes met briefly. His expression remained perfectly impassive.
I turned the corner and stepped out into the open. The sight that greeted me sent shockwaves of fear through my body.
The castle’s main gate and walls loomed over me, with hundreds of gargoyles perched atop the battlements, like a menacing parody of spectators to a football game. The battlements were adorned with various banners of black and red, with an assortment of symbols and emblems. Above, I could make out several human figures, perhaps all in all twenty, dressed in black. They were standing perfectly still, like judges about to pronounce a sentence.
In front of me, the narrow path snaked its way ahead, culminating in a small wooden bridge, leading to a stone platform. On its far side, the castle’s drawbridge was lowered onto it. The path, apparently, was open.
Carefully, I stepped forward. Of course, it couldn’t be a matter of simply walking into the castle. That would be too easy. They would try to prevent me from crossing somehow. I walked casually toward the first bridge, keeping my eyes locked on the gargoyles above. My previous encounter with them had taught me how fast they were. I was ready to start sprinting at the smallest sign.
Sphinx-like, they remained where they were, though their dark eyes were following my every move. About half-way across the wooden bridge, the familiar yet mysterious clanking sound began anew. They were slowly but steadily drawing up the drawbridge.
There was only one thing to do, and I reacted without hesitation. I broke into a sprint, forcing my legs to go as fast as I could. I was gaining speed.