by Zandria West
Oh fuck. Giant snakes in dark tunnels, really not my thing. Also, dying. I’m not keen on that either.
For a moment the snake doesn’t move – its eyes are cold and blank, its face an expressionless mask of predatory intent. It watches me. I stand as still as I possibly can, which isn’t really all that still given how much I’m shaking. I’m pretty sure that’s the advice you get for normal snakes. I’m not sure if it applies for giant demonic snakes too. I begin to see a faint light; it’s almost like the snake’s skin is glowing until suddenly it blurs before my eyes. I press back against the wall and watch it, sure that any second now it’s going to explode into an attack and bite me or wrap me up and strangle me in its powerful coils.
The glow gets brighter, the shimmer stronger. Then, it shifts. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life. One second there’s a snake, the next, a woman stands facing me, staring at me with the most perplexed expression on her face. A second later I know why.
‘Tarly?’ I say slowly, still not sure if I can trust my senses.
‘What the hell? How in the name of all the Fates did you get down here?’
‘I… ah… was visiting a friend,’ I say, which is more or less true.
Tarly frowns and narrows her eyes at me. ‘A friend of the attractive male demon persuasion?’
I shrug. ‘Maybe?’
‘Girl you’re gonna lose your job if Madame finds out. She don’t approve of that kind of fraternising…’ she grins and I know for certain it really is her and I feel so utterly relieved that I literally almost pee my pants. Tarly is a regular at Hell on Earth. She’s one of the good ones – always up for a chat, friendly and polite, and tips us well. I’ve only ever seen her in this form – which is a little scaly and shimmery and fork-tongued, but definitely much less reptilian than the giant snake that hunted me through the tunnel.
‘Well, I guess I’m gonna have to find some other snack to keep me going,’ she says looking at me disbelievingly again and shaking her head. ‘You damn near got eaten girl, you need to be more careful.’
‘I… yeah, I probably do. It’s just, you know, I’m not really meant to be here,’ I give her a hapless grin and hope that it’s enough to confirm that I’m not snackable, and also convince her not to go straight to Madame on my presence here. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve already lost my job, but I don’t need rumours about my whereabouts spreading.
‘Well you’ve almost made it to the exit, girl,’ she says, grinning back at me. ‘And you shouldn’t meet any trouble between here and there. I keep these tunnels clean, if you take my meaning.’
‘That’s, er, good to know,’ I say. No giant demon rats to worry about then, I guess.
‘So, you gonna tell me who the lucky guy is? Anyone I know?’
I think of Gabriel and Alex, and the growing shape on my back that links me to Reuben and feel immediately flustered. I hate lying, I’m really no good at it, but I definitely don’t want to tell her the truth. ‘Probably not,’ I say. ‘I’ve only seen him at the bar once.’
‘He must have made quite an impression,’ she says, smiling, watching me closely.
‘I guess he did,’ I force a smile back, hoping that any second now we can wind the conversation up and I can be on my way.
‘Say, is that a new tattoo you have there?’ She moves closer and I, instinctively, step back, hitting the wall behind me.
My sleeves are pushed up because I’ve been touching the signs. Now Tarly’s looking at my forearms with a focus that is more snake-like than human and my relief suddenly shifts gears into dread.
‘Yeah, I just got them done recently. Pretty cool, huh?’ I say.
‘May I take a look… I have an interest in human body art…’
I bet you do, I think, but I just smile and extend my arms out towards her.
She looks at the crow first, peering carefully at it for a good few seconds. Then she looks at the snake and lets out a little hiss.
‘Um, sorry?’ I say.
‘This is not a tattoo,’ she says, looking up at me, and as she does her face begins to change. It’s the weirdest fucking thing, like the bones are rearranging themselves. As it happens, I feel the sign on my arm start to burn – it’s tingled and glowed and ached before, but it’s never felt like this. It’s like I’m hosting my very own bonfire. I raise my arm instinctively, and feel the strangest sensation. Tarly’s hiss turns to a high-pitched howl. I can hardly what I see happen next. The image of the snake on my arm rises from my skin and takes a swipe at her, vicious, fast and deadly.
‘What have you done?’ She stares at me wide-eyed, her face a mask of horror. Before she can say or do anything more, I turn and run.
22
ALEXANDER
I watch Reuben high-tail it through the forest, disappearing in a couple of heartbeats, and wait. I’ve found a hiding spot that I hope will work – it’s up a tree, high enough that my position is masked by a mass of foliage. I just have to get one clear shot with the rock I’m holding to break the car’s window, and the bloodblights should attack the deer and feast on it, not us. I weigh the rock in my hand. I have to get this right. For Lana. Just thinking of her causes a deep tremor in my core. Need. Desperate fucking need.
I have to get this right.
I take a breath and focus my attention on my target. The sun glints off the glass, creating a little burst of light that disorientates me for a moment. I swap the rock from one hand to the other then back again. I make sure I’m sitting steady on the branch – the last thing I’d want would be to smash the window and fall out of the fucking tree. That would be a short trip to the bottom of the food chain.
Finally, I’m ready. I line up the throw. Lift the rock, draw it back in a smooth, steady line like I’m notching an arrow, and then – release. The rock explodes from my hand like a bullet from a shotgun. I grab the branch to steady myself, hold my breath and watch as an instant later the glass of the car’s windshield explodes into a million tiny shards. I make myself still as stone – I slow my breathing and my heartbeat to almost nothing. Don’t blink, don’t move. Whatever you do, don’t fucking sneeze.
The bloodblights rise as a dark mist from the car, hovering above it a moment as though surprised to be freed and uncertain what to do next. I watch and wait. It only takes a couple of seconds before a few of them spot the deer as it shifts on the ground beside the car. It’s not struggling with the ferocity that it was earlier, thanks to my compulsion, but the small movements it makes are enough to draw their attention. A smattering of the creatures land on the deer, and I smell the tang of blood on the air before I see the stain of crimson on the animal’s flank. Another second, and the bulk of the cloud descends.
Wow. That is… quite something.
In less time than it would take me to recite my full name and date of birth, the deer is reduced to a quivering mass of raw flesh. They strip the skin from it first. Then they attack the softer, meatier areas – shoulder, rump, eyeballs, genitals. The deer cries out, a high-pitched scream that sounds almost human. They’re eating it alive. It might seem strange that I, a vampire, should be shocked to see this but I am. It is only the rarest vamp who’s a messy eater – most are satisfied by a few very discrete puncture marks and the minimum of visible blood. Blood you can see is blood you can’t taste, after all. The vampiric thrall means that in fact, most victims suffer very little; if they were asked at the moment of death, many would say being bitten is one of the most pleasurable experiences of their sadly too-short lives. It is a matter of pride for a vampire that their victim experience pleasure as they draw their final breaths.
That is clearly not the case for the bloodblights and the deer.
As much as anything, I’m amazed by how quickly they’re consuming it. As I watch I start to get an uneasy sensation. It seems too quick. Like maybe there are things I didn’t quite factor into my otherwise brilliant plan. Such as: how much they need to eat before they procreate and how many of the fuckers there actually are.
I watch as the deer is reduced to bones with a few stray chunks of fur scattered nearby. The cloud has thinned, certainly. Many of the bloodblights have dropped to the ground as Reuben predicted they would, bloated and heavy, and are crawling around in some kind of grotesque orgy.
But some haven’t.
This is officially Not A Good Thing.
There’s nothing left of the deer. I watch them rise and hover in the air. I can hear the low hum they make from here. They’re looking for their next food-source.
It takes every ounce of concentration I possess not to move as the cloud rises and starts to search. I’ve heard about this behaviour. It’s one of the things that makes bloodblights so feared. They hunt their prey with relentless, tireless precision. I manage to stay still but I feel a light sweat forming on my skin, brought on by the effort of not moving and my increasing stress levels. And it’s the strangest thing – I could swear I can tell the exact moment that they smell my sweat on the air. They adjust their path to start tracking me.
Fuck.
Do I stay still and hope for the best or do I run as fast as I fucking can?
I’m a pretty fast runner.
Before they get too close, I release the branch and drop from the tree in one easy move, then convert the momentum from the fall directly into speed. I cross the road in a blur and race down the mountainside, dodging and weaving in an attempt to draw them away from the car. I don’t want them to lose me but find Reuben. He’s counting on me to deal with this situation, and I will, I’m just… not sure how. I slow for a moment, and then hear the low hum they make as they fly. They’re still tracking me. I spot something at the bottom of the slope – a glint of light. Water.
I head for it and the bloodblights follow. I frantically think of what Reuben told me about them. Can they swim? Do they need air to breathe? Honestly, I’m fucked if I know, but right now the water seems like my only option. If I jump in, I’ll only be able to stay under for a few minutes. I mean, I can last a lot longer than a living human but still, from what I understand of the bloodblights, it won’t mean a jot to them. They’ll wait for me to come back out again. So that won’t work. And then, I get an idea. It’s a fucking terrible idea but the only one I have, so I think I’m going to have to go with it. What’s life without risk?
I sprint down to the edge of what I see is a sheltered lake. It looks like it formed in a crater: it’s perfectly round, hidden by the dense forest, and so deep and still I could imagine finding an entire drowned civilization below the surface. Hopefully, whatever I find won’t be as bad as what’s chasing me.
I make my way to the edge, turn to face my enemy and wait.
First, I hear a gentle hum. Then it gets louder. They’re fast and there are less of them than there were, but still enough to darken the air and give me the fucking heebie-jeebies. I really don’t want to do what I’m about to do but I just can’t think of anything else. If Gabriel was here, maybe he could help but he’s not, so…
The first one lands and begins to bite. I expect it to sting like a mosquito, but it doesn’t. It fucking tears at me like some feral animal shredding my skin. I curse under my breath as I feel the blood begin to flow and I wait. Another one lands, and another and another.
Come on, come on…
The pain grows exponentially. It takes every ounce of control I possess not to move. But if this is going to work, I have to do it right. I close my eyes as a few buzz around my face. I don’t look down. I don’t want to see the mess they’re making of me. I must look a fucking sight. Then, finally, the hum recedes. I can’t see any more of them in the air, the cloud has dispersed, or should I say, condensed into a crawling, tearing, feasting mass of fiends covering half of my body. They rip through my clothing like it’s nothing. They’re even more desperate to feed than a newly-turned vampire.
I moan from the pain, which is as much mental as physical – I hate the thought of letting them feast on me like this. I hold out for one more second, then I feel one of them starting on my groin. I turn and dive into the lake.
I dive down, down, as deep as I can. I’m going to have to hold my breath for as long as possible and hope against hope that this works. The lake is very deep and very dark and extremely fucking cold. I try not to think about what kind of creatures could be attracted by the scent of my blood, which I’m sure is spreading even to its utter depths.
I imagine myself heavy as stone and let myself sink.
The dark surrounds me. I feel the weight of the water, pressing in on me. I close my eyes and allow myself to drift. The cold is numbing, so the pain of my injuries is dissolving into a kind of low ache, that slowly slides towards a dimming unconsciousness. As I drift, I think of Lana. I feel for the bond, which is like a thread of fine, silvery light, a delicate ray connecting us. She is the light – the gentle hum of energy that I feel. Gabriel may have created the binding, but it is comprised of her. I let it fill me, strengthen me, heal me. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but as I do, I feel better. And I sense the bloodblights beginning to release their hold and drop off, vanishing into the depths.
Finally, I allow myself to rise, not too quickly, to the surface. As I breach and take a gasping breath, I look down. I expect to see a sight like something from a horror movie. I expect that it will take time and blood to heal and I’m just going to have to walk around half-skinned for a day or two. I gawp. There’s no sign of the damage they did to me. I mean, my favourite shirt is shredded, and the bloodstains on what’s left of my pants make me look like I’m dressing up for Halloween, but I’m intact. No gaping wounds. No bloody gouges. No raw flesh. And even more, I’m fucking glowing, a faint pale glow like I’m some weird fish that’s been pulled up from the depths and has never before seen sunlight. I haul myself out of the water, take a couple of steps and then collapse on the bank, look up at the sky and breathe.
Thank you I try to send through the bond. I don’t know if she’ll hear me. I don’t know if she even knows what she’s done, but I know.
Lana has saved me.
23
LANA
I scramble through the low tunnel exit and scrape my knees on the pavement as I land, like I’m back in first grade. It stings enough that I want to cry. I’m alone in my own world.
I don’t know what happened back there in the tunnel, but I feel like I’ve had a very near miss. The Bondmarks definitely meant something to Tarly. And I’m not sure what my snake did, but whatever it was, it gave me the chance to get away. I feel shaky and exhausted, and even though I’m back in the human world now, I don’t feel even slightly safe. I shouldn’t be here without Gabriel or Alex. I shouldn’t have left the safehouse.
I pull my phone out of my pocket and turn it on, my hand shaking. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see the bars that show I’ve got network coverage. I open my recent contacts list. My brother Jamie is at the top. I take a breath and press dial. I have no idea what I’m going to say to him.
My heart races as I listen to the ringtone. It’s the middle of the day, so he should be at work. He could be in a meeting, or with a client…
‘Pick up the bloody phone,’ I mutter. I’m starting to lose hope that I’m even going to be able to speak to him. And I desperately need to speak to him. What I have to say is not something to be communicated via text message. Finally, as I’m about to hang up, I hear the phone connect.
‘Lana?’
‘Hey,’ I say. ‘Where are you? We need to talk.’
I hear the sound of voices grow fainter and the click of a door closing. ‘What is it?’ he asks pointedly. He sounds terse, like I’m inconveniencing him.
‘Gee, I’m fine, thanks for asking,’ I say, feeling my temper rise. I’ve been out of touch, lost in Darktown for days, hunted by demons, my apartment has been ransacked and my cat has been killed. My tolerance for his attitude is low.
I try to rein myself in. I have to tell him things and I need him to listen. Getting angry is the best wa
y to ensure that doesn’t happen. I take a breath. ‘Sorry, it’s been a crazy few days. Listen, there’s something I need to talk to you about. It’s going to sound crazy and it’ll probably piss you off, but I need you to take it seriously. I think you’re in danger, Jamie.’
There’s a long silence.
‘I’m in danger. Ah, okay.’ His voice gives me nothing to go on except flat disbelief.
I can already feel myself crashing and burning but I keep talking regardless. ‘My apartment has been broken into. They trashed everything and killed Meow-Meow. They’re after me and if they can’t find me, there’s every chance they’ll go after you.’
‘And who are “they”?’ I can almost hear the air quotes.
‘Demons. Jamie, I know you’re not going to want to hear this, but Clarissa is working with them. You can’t trust her. Please promise me you’ll be careful with her. You can’t let her know I’ve been in contact with you. You need to go away for a while. A long way away, where nobody will find you.’
Jamie laughs. ‘I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous. You want me to drop everything and run away because you’re having another little freak out? And you think Clarissa is responsible for trashing your apartment? Are you sure it was even trashed and that it’s not just your usual standards of domestic hygiene catching up with you? Seriously Lana, you need to speak to someone about how you’re feeling. Ever since Dad died, you’re not thinking straight. First you start working at a demon bar and now this? I should have known it would get out of hand, she warned me it would…’
‘She?’ I feel a heavy mass of ice settle in my chest.
‘Clarissa,’ he says, with a sigh. ‘She’s been the only person I can talk to about you. About the way you are at the moment. At least she understands. I feel embarrassed to even tell the guys at work…’
He’s embarrassed of me? He thinks that I’m just imagining my house is trashed? I swallow, a red haze of fury descending.
‘You might think I’m a joke Jamie, but I’m not fucking joking. Go and check my place out. It’s been wrecked. My fucking cat is dead in the middle of the fucking floor. I didn’t even have a chance to bury him because I had to run…’