Black Hellebore Read online

  “Shouldn’t someone wake him up?” he whispers in concern, but right at that moment, Nanuk calms down and starts to beat the drum again. His strikes seem harder and much darker. His shadow, cast from the light of the fire, seems to have gotten much bigger. When he opens his eyes again, they are back to their normal colour, but the normally friendly Nanuk seems changed somehow. Mary can read a sort of sorrow in his expression, and Cain raises his hand to indicate that the display is now over.

  “Speak, Nanuk, Dolgan shaman, what did you see on your journey into the realm of the dead?”

  Nanuk’s voice is hoarse when he answers.

  “I saw the light, my father.”

  When it comes to vampires, light is rarely a good sign, and this seems to displease Cain. “Is that it?” he asks irately.

  “No my father. I saw death. Ash filled the air and heartbeats filled the world as the sun arose on a new day.”

  Beating hearts have just as little to do with vampires as the light. Cain balls his hands in to fists in rage and jumps up from his seat.

  Nemesis tries to reason with him. “Forgive him, he knows no better. Nanuk is a loyal son; he would never lie to you.”

  Nanuk bows down before him.

  “I am only a servant to the spirits. I have no control over what they choose to show me.”

  Nemesis nods quickly. “Maybe it is a warning. They want us to proceed with caution.”

  Cain’s tensed muscles relax slightly. His fist loosens and he gently strokes the brown skin of her beautiful face and then turns to face the other vampires, who turn their gaze from Nanuk to Cain in shock.

  “Neither ghosts, demons nor any humans can stop us. Our destiny is in our own hands. We shall grab at it with our swords in hand. Trust in me, your father and your god!”

  As always, when Cain raises his deep tenor-like voice, he captivates the crowd. They believe in him without any hesitation. They would believe him if he told them they were standing in the Sahara desert instead of the cold Arctic. They raise their hands and cry out in celebration of their god and father. Mary can see in Orlando’s expression that Nanuk’s words have affected him a lot more than Cain’s have. The fear of the upcoming slaughter is constantly plaguing him, but now Nanuk’s words have reinforced that fear. Mary reaches her dainty hand out to his and their fingers intertwine.

  “Don’t be worried. We will be there for each other and fight any battle and survive together.” She whispers encouragingly, but he just shakes his head.

  “I do not fear death. I am more afraid of who will be standing against us.”

  “Whoever it is, we will defeat them.”

  “That is exactly what I am afraid of. The longer we stay here, the more I realise who it is you have awoken with your blood.”

  Mary’s forehead wrinkles in confusion.

  “Lia...”

  “...is bound to Lilith. Cain is fighting against Lilith, and so also against Liandra. I couldn’t bear to watch her die.”

  Mary recognises the truth in his words.

  “She is very strong, nothing will happen to her.”

  “It would be just as hard for me to watch you die. You are my only family.”

  Mary smiles gratefully at him, touched by his words. As much as Orlando loves his Liandra, Mary also knows that Orlando’s world doesn’t just revolve around the love of his life. She too has a place in his heart.

  Cain waves Victor over, who comes and must bow before him so that everyone can grab a glass of blood. Orlando is the last one in line to take a glass, and so Victor drops the tray, and the glass topples over, spilling blood over Orlando’s chest. His white shirt stains red while Victor looks on with hatred in his eyes. His glance is a naked threat.

  “You worthless good-for-nothing...” Cain immediately snaps at him, but Orlando just waves it off.

  “It’s not a problem. We have enough to go around!”

  His words calm their father and he sends Victor away without punishment.

  “Bring my son another drink! And make it quick!”

  Her turns back towards the woman at his side.

  “And Nemesis, my goddess, how do you like your new life as a vampire?”

  He is resting his fingers on her chest, twirling her long black hair between them.

  “It is uplifting. I couldn’t imagine anything better.” Nemesis answers him loyally, and a satisfied smile crosses his lips. Cain now turns to his right.

  “And now tell me little Mary, would you want to trade your life? A boring, human life in exchange for your reign as a vampire?”

  Mary thinks of Vivienne. She never wanted anything more than that. ‘Human life should not last for centuries. The longer we live, the less human we become.’

  “In a heartbeat!” she answers him honestly, knowing that it would probably anger him.

  His eyes narrow into slits.

  “I don’t understand that. What has happened to you that was so bad that it made you think this way?”

  But instead of letting Mary answer, Orlando interjects.

  “Our life is too long, and it loses its appeal. We can’t keep hold of the things that make life worth living.”

  “What things do you speak of? What could there be that a vampire cannot obtain? The world lies at our feet.”

  “And love comes and goes as it pleases. Love doesn’t discriminate.”

  Cain breaks out in roaring laughter, but Mary is proud of her big brother. She shares his opinion, just as Vivienne once did too. She would hardly recognise him, but she would like this new Orlando.

  “Love is a nothing but a myth! I love every woman, especially when I am in bed with her ...”

  “...and yet there is the one that you simply can’t forget, no matter how long you might live.” Orlando interrupts, and though his words are carefully chosen, this is unheard of. His assumption is spot on as well, which makes his interjection so much worse. Cain rises angrily. He is a god and won’t stand for anyone interrupting him while he speaks. He will defend his authority.

  A startled scream travels through the crowd. The celebrating vampires quickly part and Nanuk is making his way through the cleared path. He is on fire. His entire body is engulfed by the flames, and yet his steps are not rushed. He spreads his arms like a fallen angel, and his last words echo through the night;

  “Welcome death! He will not spare any of you, nor will he spare me. I would rather die free than be slaughtered on a battlefield.”

  His pained cry rings in everyone’s ears as he turns to ash, which then blows up towards the sky. Fear and tears fill the darkness. No more care-free laughter and celebration. There is nothing left to praise; death awaits them all. Nanuk chose his fate for himself, rather than putting it in Cain’s hands. Mary can’t hold back her tears any longer. The panic that she had been so bravely keeping under control now bubbles to the surface. She doesn’t want the life of a vampire, but she also doesn’t want to die. She could never kill herself the way Nanuk had. Orlando presses her into himself and closes her eyes to shield her from the burning remains of the shaman.

  “I will protect you. I will never let anything bad happen to you.” He whispers calmly into her ear.

  Cain steps down into the centre, and crushes Nanuks’s embering ashes into black dust.

  “My son has given us a sign. The time for our departure has come. Rise my children, and follow me into a glorious future.”

  He raises his hands towards the heavens like Nanuk had done before him, but there are no cries of celebration this time. He turns and walks away from the bonfire. Nemesis is the first to follow him, and everyone else follows behind her, including Mary and Orlando. They are on their way to offer themselves up like lambs to the slaughter, as they loyally follow Cain to his cave. The cave’s opening looks like the mouth of a beast, the only thing missing are the sharp teeth. Cain stops inside to give his children some final words of wisdom before commencing their journey.

  “This cave leads to a tunnel. The tunnel w
ill guide us to where it all began, and so we shall seal our fate. Table Mountain will be our battlefield. Even the rising sun cannot stop us.”

  The vampires start mumbling, embarking on the seemingly endless trail through the dark tunnel ahead. Whoever wasn’t scared before certainly is now.

  “For the doubters among you: only death awaits; just as Nanuk chose his fate.” Cain threatens them and then starts making his way into the black abyss. Mary thinks of Nanuk’s wise words that evil likes to hide in the dark. Orlando tightly grabs Mary’s hand and they follow the father into the eternal darkness, a place without any light or shade.

  - 38. Tru Wilson -

  “This is the last place we saw her!” Lindsay insists, sadly standing by the deserted fire pit on the beach. Lia is nowhere to be seen. All traces of the powerful rain shower have disappeared , making it seem like neither it or Lia had ever been here. Tru looks up and down the beach indecisively. There are no other people in sight. Ruins rise from the rocks and crows circle in the morning sky above the deserted buildings.

  “Maybe she finally found what she was looking for.” Chasity absent-mindedly suggests.

  “She wouldn’t have just left without telling us!” Tru says with certainty. But Mike and Lindsay both guiltily bow their heads at the same time.

  “Maybe she would...”

  Mike tells the others about what happened between him and Lia, purposefully leaving out the part about Lindsay’s involvement. When he tells them about the kiss, his cheeks turn red, so he lowers his head and looks at his shoes. It’s only when Lindsay squeezes his hand in encouragement does he dare to raise his head again.

  There is rage boiling in Tru’s eyes.

  “Great friends you are... how could you leave her alone in that state?!” She understands their reaction in theory, but she can feel a cold pang of jealousy in her chest. Would Lia have kissed her, had she accompanied her instead of Mike? She knows that it wouldn’t have been an honest kiss, but then at least she would know for sure how she really feels about Lia.

  “She was close to Lilith in that state, and then she was left alone. Maybe those were the necessary circumstances for her to find her mother.” Chasity Suggests, but Tru doesn’t want to see what’s right in front of her and she stubbornly shakes her head.

  “We are vampires and humans. We are probably not the kind of company Lilith would be happy for her daughter to keep. She has been trying to get her away from us from the moment she started trying to make contact with Lia. Last night she finally managed to do just that.” Claudia adds with conviction.

  But Tru remains unmoved.

  “Maybe, but as long as I am not certain that Lia is okay, I will not stop looking for her!”

  With that, the conversation is brought to an end and Tru storms quickly down the beach. She doesn’t care if the others follow her, because the only thing that matters to her now is Lia.

  The water dripping from the roof of the cave is making an unusually loud sound. It drips down with a loud plop onto the stones below. The sound of the ocean can be heard in the background. Waves crash against the rocks outside, and every wave carries some water into the cave. It smells of salt and rotten fish. With an unsettled feeling in her stomach, Lindsay rubs her arms which are covered in goose bumps. The only light inside the cave is shining in from small holes in the walls. The vampires are comfortable in these conditions since it is now daytime, but Lindsay shudders.

  “Is it not dangerous to just go wandering through some random cave? What if it collapses, or floods?” her voice bounces off the damp walls and echoes dully back at them.

  “Nobody is forcing you to be here!” Tru replies irritably. Lindsay’s constant complaining is really starting to get on her nerves, plus it is her fault that Lia is missing in the first place.

  “Lia is my best friend!” Lindsay replies resentfully. ‘Best friend’ can be heard echoing loudly through the cave.

  “Have you ever thought that there could maybe be more of Lia’s kind that might not take so kindly to us? All of your shouting will probably make our presence known to them!” Claudia hisses in frustration. These playschool antics are so typical of humans.

  Chasity on the other hand seems more understanding.

  “We don’t know how far or deep this cave goes or what is waiting for us at the end, so maybe it would be better if you just waited here. Lia would probably not be too happy if something happened to her human friends.” She turns sympathetically towards Mike and Lindsay, but this just makes Lindsay more adamant.

  “If anyone is going to be able to help Lia, it will be her friends, and I mean her real friends!” she says scrappily, then grabs Mike’s hand and pulls him further into the cave past the vampires.

  Tru presses her lips firmly together to stop herself from saying more. Yeah right, real friends...real friends don’t leave each other stranded alone on a beach. But what does she know about friendship, when she doesn’t even know what love it. Human emotions are just as inexplicable to her as they are strange.

  They stomp loudly through the cave like stampeding elephants. They have now gone further into the cave than daylight can reach. Not even the sea water has access to this part of the cave. The humans would be blind without Mike’s flashlight.

  They still haven’t found any sign of Lia and there are no signs of life at all in the cave. No leftover food and no trace of any old camp fires. At first they had been walking slightly downhill, but now the cave is veering steeply up ...

  “I mean come on, this cave seems to never end. Are we ever going to find our way out?” she hears Lindsay whispering to Mike. Apparently she no longer wants to voice her complaints out loud, but she should know that vampire’s ears are much more sensitive than those of humans - whispering makes no difference.

  “Vampires will probably be able to sense the light” Mike tries to calm her, but his girlfriend just won’t let it be.

  “Why? They like it much better in the dark anyway. That wouldn’t be any kind of life for me!”

  “We didn’t choose this life!” Chasity replies hurt by her words.

  Lindsay looks at her in shock. She really thought that the vampires couldn’t hear her. Tru can understand less and less of what Lia sees in this bitchy girl. She is naive, selfish and shallow.

  A fluttering sound rustles in the darkness.

  “What was that?” Lindsay asks immediately with fear in her voice as she clings to Mike’s arm. He seems to be overcome by fear too as he shines his torch around the walls of the cave.

  “Maybe a bat...?”

  The scratching sound of claws climbing over rocks comes from right behind Tru, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention. She turns around quickly, but there is nothing to be seen.

  Claudia Sticks her nose in the air and sniffs.

  “It smells strange. I can’t put my finger on the scent.”

  Tru also starts to smell the odour in the air. It is the smell of death, dried blood and something else she can’t indentify, but isn’t new to Tru. She knows this smell. This is exactly how Lia smelled when she found her a few weeks ago, naked and confused in the forest. Chasity’s shrill and pained scream interrupts her thoughts. Mike shines his flashlight towards the sound, but all they see is something big and black running away. The light blinds the vampires too much to see anything. Claudia immediately starts making a fuss of her friend. There are long scratch marks on her back that look like they were made by claws. The wounds are already starting to heal, but the blood seems to have attracted more creatures, as a rustling and hissing starts up all around them. They move closer together, standing with their backs to each other to foil the next attack. This time Mike’s arm is struck. He wheezes in pain and drops his torch, which hits the ground and rolls away – allowing the five of them a quick glimpse of four pairs of feet in the flickering light. The skin looks human, but instead of toes there are long, sharp claws on its feet. Unlike Chasity, Mike’s skin can’t instantly heal, and dark b
lood spills from the gash down his arm. His face grows pale. The smell of his blood hangs in the air, accompanied by the scent of old books, wood and the smell of a soft apricot blossom. Human scents are much stronger and more intense than those of vampires. They blur the senses and make it hard to keep in control. As a dhampire, Tru is not as deeply affected by it as Claudia and Chasity are. Chasity in particular, who keeps her distance from humans at the best of times, is having particular trouble keeping herself under control. She longingly runs her tongue over her red lips and sharp fangs. To add to it all, she has just been injured, and even though it isn’t serious, drinking some blood would definitely make her stronger. While Claudia takes care of Chasity, Tru positions herself protectively between them and Mike and Lindsay, just in case. The flashlight is now so far away that Tru’s eyes are slowly adjusting to the darkness. There are eyes flickering in the most unusual colours. Hundreds of pairs of eyes. The creatures’ faces have human features, but they are distorted into grimaces. Sharp teeth reflect what little light there is in the darkness. Their bodies look human too, but they are all either naked or barely clothed unlike normal humans. There are black wings coming out of their backs which are almost as big as their bodies. Tru’s heart beats faster. They would have no chance against so many of these things. A sound makes her look up, where she sees more of these creatures hanging from the ceiling like bats. Their blue, grey, brown and green eyes are all set on them. The humans now also recognise the fear in the vampire’s faces. Their eyesight is mercifully not good enough to see these creatures for themselves.

  “What’s wrong?” Lindsay screeches in a panicked voice and with that gives the signal for the third attack. Five of the creatures pounce on Chasity and Claudia. The vampires seem to be better prey for them. Tru quickly rushes to their aid. She had not thought about bringing her crossbow, and so the only thing she can use to fight against these creatures is a dagger. Claudia and Chasity on the other hand pull out long swords from their robes as if by magic, ready for battle. Black blood sprays over their faces as Claudia beheads one of the creatures. This makes the enemies angrier and the dead ones are replaced by three more flying in. Lindsay’s terrified screams bounce off the walls causing an echo that sounds like an elegy to their approaching death. Tru’s dagger cuts through the tender flesh of a steely grey beast, as she is suddenly blinded by a green light. She would recognise this specific green anywhere. It is emerald green. Huge black wings spread out fully, separating the five of them from the creatures. A loud hissing noise comes from behind the black winged wall.