Black Hellebore Page 16

  “Drink!” she hears someone saying from what seems like miles away. Drink? Why drink? She would much rather be kissing Orlando. But he has disappeared and left her alone in the darkness again. Something wet presses against her wounded lips and the pain brings her back to reality. Red curls tickle her scratched face. Just as she wants to scream, the first drop touches her tongue. It is sweet like honey, and warmth starts spreading through her body, streaming through her like a hot wave, touching every inch of her body and stopping all of her pain. It seems to heal everything that was broken and makes her whole again; more complete than ever before. Fear and loneliness are a thing of the past, and now all she feels is warmth and joy. When she tears open her eyes, she is staring into a pair of blood red eyes, and then she is engulfed in a bright light.

  - 19. Lindsay Sullivan -

  ‘Come on Lia, pick up already!’ Lindsay hangs up the phone in frustration as she has heard nothing but Lia’s voicemail since 2 am. Her battery has probably died, or someone has turned off her phone. She would be lying if she said she had only started getting worried now. She has been worried ever since she returned to the alley and found Bradley’s friends lying unconscious on the floor, but neither Bradley nor Lia were anywhere to be seen. Lia would never have willingly gone with Bradley, not even she could sink that low, especially after what had happened.

  The police are looking for Lia and have informed her father of the situation, but everyone knows what that means. The whole thing will be over before they even find anybody. Lindsay could never forgive herself if something happens to Lia while she just sits around trusting the police to figure it out. No, she has to do something herself, and that right now.

  She quickly changes from her light blue bunny pyjamas into a pair of trousers, a top, a cardigan and boots; all black of course. The only pop of colour comes from her pink silk scarf, which matches her pink hair streak.

  She storms down the stairs loudly and heads towards the front door. Her mother joyfully saunters out of the kitchen.

  “We wish you a merry Christmas” she quickly stops.

  “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

  After Lindsay was brought home by the police last night, her mother was naturally out of her mind with worry. She always liked Lia and therefore shared Lindsay’s concern, but she would still never tolerate any of her family members leaving the house without having had breakfast.

  “I have to go look for Lia.” Lindsay pleads, knowing that it will fall on deaf ears with her mother. Just as she expects, her mother raises her eyebrows and looks disapprovingly at her daughter. As opposed to Lindsay, she trusts the police fully and completely.

  “I don’t want you to put yourself in any danger. The police are doing everything they can.”

  Lindsay rolls her eyes in a huff and purses her lips, causing pain to shoot up her nose. It is broken, which is why she has to walk around wearing a mask, like the one Hannibal Lector had to wear in his maximum security prison. She cursed the doctor who did it to her. The state in which her usually vain daughter is willing to leave the house convinces her mother, who sighs in defeat.

  “Fine, you can go out for a few hours in a while, but first you will eat breakfast and only if you promise me that you won’t go looking by yourself.”

  Valerie Sullivan gently, yet decisively puts her arm around he daughter’s shoulder and leads her “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” into the dining room, where her father and thirteen year-old sister are already waiting. Their Christmas stockings are hanging over the fireplace and the decorated Christmas tree stands proudly in front of the window, shining brightly with plenty of winking fairy lights. The smell of Christmas pudding and egg nog hangs in the air.

  Ariana starts on Lindsay. “You look like crap!”

  “Ariana!” her mother snaps immediately back at her, as she sits down across the table from her husband.

  “What? It’s true! I don’t even know why everyone is so worried about this weird Lia girl anyway. Everyone in school says she is a slut, she probably just went home with the guy.”

  “You’d better shut your mouth, you have no idea what really happened!” Lindsay rages at her annoying sister.

  “Now now girls, watch your tone. I just want my peace and quiet, at least over Christmas”, their father lectures them. Ariana shrugs her shoulders and starts twisting her blonde hair around one of her fingers while Lindsay scornfully stares at her.

  Their mother sighs and puts a bread roll on Lindsay’s plate.

  “Here, at least have one, and then you can go. Are you going to ask Mike if he will help you look for Lia?”

  “No”

  “Why not? He has always been such a kind and helpful young man. I like him.”

  “Mum, you like everyone.” Lindsay angrily replies, and spreads Nutella on her roll.

  “He is a loser”, Ariana pipes up, seemingly very well informed about everything.

  “Right, I’ve had enough”, her father scolds. “If you have nothing nice to say to each other then shut your mouths and let me read the paper. Maybe your friend went on holidays, since it is after all the Christmas holidays!”

  Brimming with irritation, he opens the paper wide and receives an accusing look from his wife. When he doesn’t react, she averts her gaze towards her daughters, giving them a chastising look. To brighten he mood, she starts humming the tune of “Jingle Bells”.

  This is what usually happens. Lindsay doesn’t understand why her mother always tries to keep up this fake idyllic family when nobody really cares. Lia on the other hand always found it great. She always said that it is better to argue than to not speak to each other at all.

  Lindsay is taking a sip of her coffee when she sees her father’s newspaper out of the corner of her eye. There is a picture on the front page of a blue sports car that has crashed head-on into a tree. In big letters it reads; “18 year old dies in car crash.” Wait a minute, she knows that car! She rips the newspaper from her father’s hand and quickly scans the article.

  “...beloved football star Bradley Smith was making his way home from a school party, driving while under the influence, which resulted in his death. Witnesses report that at around 4 am his car was run off the road by a red Audi R8 GT, making him lose control of his vehicle. He collided head-on with a tree. When the ambulance arrived, his injuries were too serious, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother’s comment this morning referred to the car having been a birthday present to him...”

  “Lindsay, this really is the last straw, what the hell are you thinking?” her father scolds her while his black mustache lightly sways up and down.

  “Mom, that’s Bradley, the boy who attacked me and Lia yesterday.” She says suddenly, without acknowledging her father.

  Valerie gawks at her with worry written on her face.

  “That’s terrible honey! Did they write anything about Lia?”

  “No, and nothing about any other girls either”, her father answers more calmly, but still a bit annoyed.

  “But that’s good then, at least we know she wasn’t with him when it happened. The police will probably find her very soon.”

  “Who knows what he did with her beforehand?!” Lindsay yells in frustration. Why don’t her parents want to understand her? They don’t know what happened, they weren’t there.

  “Are you starting with that crap again?!” Ariana snidely interrupts.

  “Then go and look for her. You won’t be giving us any peace until then anyway”, her father says in Lindsay’s direction. She doesn’t have to be told twice; she jumps up and leaves the house before her mother can say any different.

  Her stomach feels unsettled when she finally rings the doorbell. As she fidgets, she takes another drag from her cigarette and casually taps her foot. She only smokes in high-stress situations like this one. If his parent’s car had been standing in the driveway she probably wouldn’t have rang. Does she hear steps? She peeks through the frosty windows and sees that
someone is coming towards the door. She recognises him almost immediately by the way he walks; it’s Mike.

  When the door opens, his eyes widen and his gaze stays fixed on the mask over Lindsay’s face.

  “What happened to you?” He asks in confusion.

  That damn Bradley! One shouldn’t really speak ill of the dead, but he was just a jerk. Why did he have to break her nose as well?

  Lindsay looks at the floor embarrassed.

  “It doesn’t matter, that’s not why I’m here. It’s about Lia.”

  Mike’s face hardens momentarily; “I don’t want to know.” He says quickly and goes to shut the door.

  This comes as a shock to Lindsay. Usually you would just have to say the word ‘Lia’ to get his full, undivided attention.

  “Hey wait! You don’t even know what it’s about. I need your help!”

  Mike hesitantly looks at her through the crack in the door.

  “You need my help? With what?”

  “Lia has gone missing. We have to look for her!”

  “Tss...” Mike says dismissively. “She probably just went home with some jerk, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  The door closes and Mike slinks away. Lindsay can’t believe that Lia could suddenly mean nothing to him. After all, he is her best friend. She angrily rings the doorbell again. Mike stops in the hallway, but doesn’t come back making Lindsay even more angry.

  “Bradley is dead!” She shouts at the closed door. Mike still doesn’t move.

  “He is the one who broke my nose last night and he tried to rape Lia!”

  Let the whole neighbourhood know. It’s the truth, and Mike didn’t want it any other way. He quickly tears open the door and looks at her in a panic.

  “I...I didn’t know that.” He stutters, the old Mike suddenly returning. “Do you maybe want to come in?”

  The thought of going back into his room where it happened makes her uncomfortable. She would rather spend a week cleaning the streets than to spend even one minute with Mike on his tiny bed pretending like nothing had happened.

  “No, come with me. I’ll explain on the way.”

  “Where do you want to go?” he says, not moving an inch.

  “Do you want to help me or not?” Lindsay says in frustration. He stares at her for a moment and then slips on his parka without asking any other questions. He silently follows her down the road.

  Lindsay once again finds herself standing in front of a closed door, but this time she is not alone; Mike is with her. They search for a doorbell with no luck. It is exactly as Lia had described it; run-down and creepy. Still it takes less courage for her to knock on this door than it did to ring Mike’s doorbell. The door doesn’t open, and there is also no glass for them to peek through. The windows are all boarded up, blocking any view into the house.

  After having told the whole story to Mike, he is just as worried as Lindsay. Apparently he does still care about Lia. A pang of jealousy hits Lindsay again, but at the same time she is relieved. If Mike could so easily write off his friendship with Lia, then he is not the guy she thought he was. Not the guy she fell in love with.

  There is no sound coming from the house, so Lindsay tries knocking again, this time much harder, but nothing happens.

  “Maybe she’s not home...” Mike says as he shyly looks up and down the road. A few curious faces peer out from behind their curtains in the neighbouring houses to get a good look at the strangers.

  “Maybe she is just deaf or doesn’t want to open the door for us!” Lindsay says louder than necessary and bangs on the door.

  “I don’t know if this is a good idea at all after what Lia told you.” He says thoughtfully.

  “She is the right person to be looking for exactly because of what Lia told me. She is the only one who can help us.”

  “Are you sure that that is what Lia said? It sounds a bit crazy...vampires, I mean, I don’t know.”

  “Yeah but Lia wouldn’t make something like that up. Why should she?”

  “Maybe she misunderstood something. I am not trying to say that she was lying, I mean she probably believed it herself, but...”

  “Mike, no one is forcing you to be here!” Lindsay interrupts him.

  Mike swallows hard. “Alright fine, but what can we do if she doesn’t open the door? We can’t really force her to.”

  Lindsay looks at the house in outrage, then takes a step back and shouts; “I will stay here all night if I have to!”

  Tru suddenly opens the door and looks at them bitterly.

  “What do you want?” She hisses at them in an unfriendly manner.

  “I told you she was here!” Lindsay says in triumph and then turns to Tru. “Can we come in?”

  - 20. Vivienne Tussaud -

  As Chasity writhes in pain on her bed, Claudia worriedly paces the room. Both of them make Vivienne nervous. Everything is out of control, and chaos has ensued. Orlando is sitting furiously in the cell he was put in after barely setting foot in Moundrell Manor. Victor is getting the others worked up against Chasity and Claudia is too desperately worried about her to do anything about it. Mary has also disappeared, which nobody besides Vivienne has noticed yet.

  Chasity is spasming in pain, and with every cry, Claudia winces, sharing her agony. It is the first time in the millennia-old history of vampires that a human’s blood has had this kind of effect on a vampire. Vivienne has been roaming the Earth long enough to be able to make such a claim; too long in her own opinion. Day in, day out they hide away underground or behind closed curtains. At night they hunt or throw parties, and the guests never change for hundreds of years. She has no goals to strive for; she can’t get a job or start a family. Her life is dreary and hopeless. There was a time when Vivienne would have given everything to watch a sunrise. It would be the last thing she would ever see, but it would be worth it.

  She misses the warmth of the sun and the sound of children’s laughter on warm summer days.

  She misses lying on the green grass and inventing stories about the shapes of the clouds.

  She misses rainbows.

  She misses life.

  But then Mary came along. She was destroyed on the inside as well as the outside. A soul that had been broken into a thousand pieces and so Vivienne made it her mission to put the pieces back together like a puzzle. Suddenly her life had meaning again. She finally had a purpose, and every time she could make Mary smile, even to this day, it was all worthwhile again.

  Victor suddenly and unexpectedly bursts into the room. He is pulling a struggling Mary after him. She tries to fight him, but her eyes are fixed on the floor in fear.

  “Look what I found. While we were out enforcing vampire law, this little monster saw it fit to go out on a little stroll. My men caught her trying to sneak back in through a window in the cellar.”

  He looks at Mary in outrage. “Do you think we are that stupid?” he shouts at her, and Mary shrinks, making herself even smaller than she already is.

  Claudia just looks at Mary, disinterested and disgusted.

  “It would probably be best to throw her into the cell with Orlando.”

  “No!” Vivienne immediately interjects. The others stare at her. “Just look at her, do any of you see any blood? I don’t!”

  She stands protectively next to Mary, who rests her head hopefully at her side. There is not a drop of blood to be seen on her mouth either, and her eyes still glow a hungry red.

  “If she wasn’t hunting, then where was she?” Claudia asks, not out of interest, but rather out of duty.

  “I just went for a walk!” Mary says defiantly, and Vivienne immediately senses that she is lying. She can’t explain where she got this gift or why she of all people possesses it, but it gives her the power to sometimes change things for the better. She nods quickly and raises her head to make eye contact with Claudia. There is doubt written all over her face, so Claudia pauses for a moment to think of something to say, but then just waves her hand dismissively towar
ds them.

  “Alright fine then just bring her to your room with you, as long as she doesn’t cause any more trouble. We have bigger things to worry about right now.”

  While Vivienne nods in satisfaction, Victor starts up in outrage.

  “You have got to be kidding! She is lying! There is no way in hell that the little rat was just out for a walk.”

  “Vivienne has the gift of detecting lies. She has given Chasity the truth for hundreds of years and so there is no reason to doubt her judgement.” Claudia says authoritatively.

  “That is exactly the problem. She told Chasity what the truth was. But Chasity is as good as dead. We need a new queen or maybe even a king...”

  “Oh, and who should that be? You maybe? Don’t make me laugh. There are enough vampires here that are much older than you, and much more fit to inherit the throne!”

  “But nobody is more suited than I. You women are all so weak. You don’t have the strength that is needed to rule. Did you really think you were an exception? I had never planned to make you queen, you were just a means to an end, but you were even too useless for that. You are so naive and blindly loyal to your queen that you will stand by and watch the vampires perish instead of doing something about it. I don’t need you! It would be best if you just climb into bed with your queen, and then you will have what you always wanted. And when she turns to ash, at least she won’t be there to push you around anymore. You disgust me!”

  Victor’s words spill from his mouth like bile, his hatred and resentment hanging in the air. Claudia is momentarily lost for words, but then her fist lands on Victor’s face with an iron force. Blood sprays out of his nose, and his eyes narrow into slits.