by Amy Cross
With that, I turned to walk away.
“Her name is Chloe,” she said suddenly, “and she swears she knows you.”
I stopped again and turned to her.
“I don't understand it,” she continued, “but I saw the look in her eyes when she was telling me, and I believed her. She's not a witch, and she's definitely not crazy.” She sighed. “So the truth is, I understand why you have to go to her, and I'm not going to dry to dissuade you. But I won't lie to Hugo, either. When he finds out that you've left, I will tell him that you've gone to Chateau Malafort to find Chloe Carter. And next time you want to know something, Matthias, you can just ask me instead of trying to sneak into my head.”
“I...”
I hesitated for a moment.
“You knew?” I asked finally.
“You're not quite as subtle as you think,” she said firmly. “I knew that if I pushed back, you might get a little more forceful, and I didn't want that.”
“I would never -”
“I don't trust you, Matthias,” she added, interrupting me. “Now, if you're serious about going to Chateau Malafort, you should leave now. I imagine you'll have two, maybe three hours before Hugo realizes that you're gone, and then he'll come after you. Just be prepared and try, for once, to do the right thing.”
“I don't need you to tell me that,” I sneered, before turning and walking away.
Judith was lucky that day. If she'd been anyone other than my brother's lover, I'd have torn her apart for such insolence.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chloe
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, as I was forced to walk naked along a gloomy corridor. “What is this place?”
The guard said something in German behind me, but I didn't understand. He'd entered the room a few minutes earlier and untied me, while another guard kept watch with a gun. Now I was being taken somewhere, and I was starting to accept that this really wasn't a dream after all.
I was terrified.
Suddenly the guard put a hand on my shoulder, and I stopped walking.
He stepped past me and opened a door, and then he gestured for me to go through. I hesitated, but then he pushed me hard in the small of my back, forcing me into a small room where a man in a white coat waited next to a chair.
“You must be Chloe,” the man said with a smile. “Welcome, my name is Doctor Loman and I've been asked to check on you and make sure that you're fit and healthy. Please, won't you take a seat?”
“I'm fine,” I stammered, shivering in the cold air. “I don't need a check-up.”
“You don't have a choice,” he replied. “If you resist, the men behind you will force you into the chair. You'll end up in there anyway, so why not do it the easy way?” He paused, leering at me as I tried to cover myself. “Or do you like bruises?” he purred. “Do you enjoy them?”
I turned and saw that there were now three guards standing behind me. I briefly considered trying to run, but I knew that I had no chance of escaping so, reluctantly, I shuffled toward the chair.
“Sit,” Doctor Loman said. “Please.”
I did as I was told, and then – as I looked over my shoulder, I suddenly felt a metal cuff clamp down over my left wrist.
“What the -”
I turned to see that I'd been restrained, but then a second later another cuff was put in place, this time on my right wrist.
“What are you doing?” I shouted.
“Gentlemen, you can leave now,” Doctor Loman said, and the guards walked away. The last of them shut the door.
“What kind of check-up is this?” I asked.
“Oh, it's not a check-up at all,” Doctor Loman replied as he slapped a metal bar across my feet, forcing my legs down. “That was a lie, to make you sit down without too much trouble. The truth is that you've been sent to me so that I can extract some information. Colonel Zieghoff has a fearsome reputation, but the he rarely likes to get his hands too dirty. Fortunately, he knows he can trust me to get the job done.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, struggling against the restraints but finding that they were too firm. “You said this was a check-up!”
“And I already admitted that was a lie.” He took a set of pliers from a nearby bench and examined it for a moment, before turning to me. “I do so hate it when people struggle,” he continued. “I didn't really want to be here today, but unfortunately I speak far better English than any of my colleagues, so I couldn't really refuse Colonel Zieghoff's request. I always get a terrible headache whenever I have to speak English. You could, of course, make this easy on yourself by giving up your information at the start. Is there any chance that you're going to be sensible?”
“What are you going to do to me?”
“Since you asked... First, I'll remove the nails from your fingers and toes. Then I might try taking out a few teeth, and if that doesn't work then I suppose I'll have to try a few other things. You'd be surprised how much pain and mutilation the human body can take, while still leaving the victim able to talk. Of course, the odds of survival are lowered dramatically, but there's not much one can do about that, is there?”
He stepped closer, still holding the pliars.
“It's entirely your choice,” he continued. “Are you going to cooperate now, or later?”
“You're not going to torture me,” I replied through gritted teeth. “You can't.”
“Of course I can,” he said, before taking hold of my left hand and reaching down with the pliars. “What are you speaking such nonsense? Now -”
“Wait!” I gasped.
“You're going to talk?”
I stared at him for a moment, before turning to look at the door.
“Help!” I screamed at the top of my voice, even as I heard Doctor Loman starting to laugh. “Somebody help me!”
“Who do you think might be out there?” he asked. “Seriously, what do you think this is going to achieve? You're only going to end up giving the both of us a headache. And I have one already, so it will be even worse for me. Please, have a little pity.”
“Help me!” I screamed, pulling desperately against the restraints. “Somebody! Anybody!”
“You're going to give up your secrets today,” Doctor Loman said, as I felt the pliers pinch the nail on my left thumb. “You're going to give up the secrets of the future. That's some very valuable knowledge, and we'd like you to pass it on. It's really up to you how much pain you endure before we get to that point.”
I screamed again, as I felt the pliers pulling against my thumbnail and starting to lift it from the bed.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Matthias
By the time I arrived at the gate of Chateau Malafort, night had drawn in and I was feeling tired. In my prime, of course, such a journey would be no trouble at all, but in my beleaguered condition I was prone to fits of weakness. I'd even dozed slightly in the car, and I'd been a little shocked when I'd been woken by the driver. Now Chateau Malford stood ahead, beyond the moat that ran around its circumference, and I felt a shudder as I thought of all the evil that was known to have occurred in that wretched place.
“Do you want me to wait for you?” the driver asked.
“No,” I replied as I stepped out of the car. “Go back to Paris.”
I had already paid the man, so – as I walked toward the gate – I heard him reversing and starting to drive away. The night air was cold and the grass crunched beneath my feet as I approached the booth where a guard sat silently, and I was already trying to work out exactly how I might gain access to the chateau if my primary plan failed. Still, there would be time for that later.
“I'm here to see Colonel Klaus Zieghoff,” I told the guard. “I have reason to believe that he's here, and I am certain that he will receive me.”
“It's late,” the guard replied curtly. “Colonel Zieghoff gave orders that nobody is to enter the chateau tonight.”
“Tell him that Matthias Bane is here.”
“Colonel Zieghoff gave orders that -”
“Tell him,” I said firmly, “and I guarantee that he will order you to open this gate. On the contrary, if I have to force my way through, he will be most unhappy with you. I will kill you, of course, to ease your suffering, but he will still curse your name.”
The guard stared blankly at me for a moment, before taking the telephone from its cradle and starting to dial.
As he asked for permission to open the gate, I looked toward the chateau and saw that lights were burning in several of the windows. The whole place was so remote, I felt as if I was a million miles from Paris, when in reality it had taken only a couple of hours to reach Chateau Malford. I listened out for any hint that the strange woman might be nearby, but in truth my senses were still a little dimmed by my injuries, and I knew that she had to be somewhere close. I still have no idea who Chloe Carter was, but I felt certain that I was about to unlock the mystery.
A moment later, I heard the booth's door opening.
“Colonel Zieghoff will see you,” the guard said as he began to swing the gate open. He seemed a little annoyed. Humiliated, perhaps. “He said to tell you that he'll be waiting in the dining room.”
“Excellent news,” I replied with a smile. “And you get to live, which is a bonus. For you, at least.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chloe
The hot metal pressed against my arm and I screamed, pulling hard on the restraints.
“How about now?” a voice whispered in my ear. “Do you have anything to tell me?”
“Go to -”
Before I could finish, I felt the clamp tightening on my skin. Doctor Loman pressed an ice cube against the surface, and then he tightened the clamp again until I felt my body must be about to burst open.
“And how about now?” he sneered, his hot breath hitting my ear as the clamp squeezed tighter still. “Tell. Me. Everything.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Matthias
“Monsieur Bane,” Zieghoff said as I stopped in the doorway, “what a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting visitors this evening.”
A fire was roaring in the nearby hearth, and I looked around for a moment at the opulently decorated room. Zieghoff was evidently a man of questionable taste, and it was clear that he'd simply looted several nearby houses and stolen the gaudiest items for himself. Some of the items were fine, but they were all shoved together with an astonishing lack of artfulness.
“I trust that you're feeling better?” Zieghoff continued.
“Much,” I replied, stepping into the room and immediately noticing its warmth. “Thank you for your concern.”
“You and your brother remain my most welcome guests in Paris,” he said, his voice trembling slightly with fear. Zieghoff had always struggled to hide a sense of awe when he was in company with vampires. “It is truly an honor to host you. I hope you will continue to enjoy my hospitality for as long as you wish to be in the city.”
“You brought a woman here,” I said, stopping next to the table and staring at the wretched oaf. “Her name is Chloe Carter, I believe, and she is English. I wish to speak with her.”
“That's out of the question.”
“It's really not. It's going to happen.”
“Ms. Carter is being processed as we speak,” he replied. “It might be possible for you to visit her at a later date, but right now she is far too valuable. I don't have time to fill you in on the whole story, but suffice it to say that I believe she can be very useful to our war effort. Why, even now I have a man working with her, encouraging her to do what's in her own best interest.”
“And what might that be?”
“Talking to us, of course. Telling us what she knows.”
“She knows me, apparently.”
“She seems to know a lot of things,” he replied. “Some of them, I think, might be slightly exaggerated. She has already made several highly unlikely claims about the future, but I intend to get the truth out of her before the night is over. She's trying to resist, but she really doesn't stand a chance. I can see the weakness and fear in her eyes.”
“Take me to her.”
“No.”
“Now.”
“Sit down and eat with me,” he continued with a smile. He was being far more resilient than I had expected. “You're really obsessing over this woman for no reason.”
Hearing footsteps nearby, I turned just in time to see a waiter entering with a plate.
“Set a place for Monsieur Bane at the table,” Zieghoff told the man, who set the plate in front of him, “and bring some better wine up from the cellar. Something to really impress.”
“I'm not eating,” I said firmly.
I heard more footsteps, and I turned just in time to see three guards entering the room.
“You're always free to leave,” Zieghoff said. “The fact of the matter is that I won't allow anyone or anything to interrupt what's happening here tonight. The interrogation of the woman is of vital importance and even you, Monsieur Bane, are going to have to wait your turn. I'm sure the woman will give up her secrets quickly, in which case you can most likely talk to her tomorrow. Of course, there's a chance that she'll be less obedient, in which case I might have to prolong her suffering.”
“I demand to -”
“Who poisoned you?”
I paused, not wanting to even attempt to answer that question.
“A poison that leaves a vampire on the brink of death,” he continued, “must be a very potent poison indeed. Hard to aquire, difficult to administer. Yet from what I hear, you have still not identified the culprit.”
“I'm working on that,” I said darkly.
“You're several hundred years old. I imagine you've annoyed a lot of people in that time.”
“Most of them are dead now.”
“Evidently at least one isn't,” he pointed out. “At least one of them got close enough to slip some poison into your food. Or your drink, perhaps. Was it perhaps a poisoned chalice of wine?”
“That's something for me to deal with,” I told him. “For now, I -”
Suddenly, before I could finish, a scream rang out from somewhere beneath the building. I spun around, and the scream echoed for a few more seconds before falling away.
“Such unfortunate timing,” Zieghoff muttered. “Don't worry, you know what we humans are like. We make an awful song and dance about the smallest of things.”
“I'm going to her!” I snapped, as I began to storm out of the room.
The guards stood to block my way, but I easily pushed them aside and made my way into the corridor. My senses were burning as I tried to determine where I might find this Chloe girl, but in truth there seemed to be pain and misery rushing at me from all directions. Some was Chloe's, for sure, but there was also plenty left over from other people who had died at Chateau Malafort, and I took a moment to try focusing on exactly what I needed. Finally, as I pulled out the threads of Chloe's pain, I made my way along the corridor until I found a large metal door, and I realized that I had found the way down to the basement.
I tried to open the door, but it was locked, so I grabbed the edges and began to rip it away from the wall. Except that, this time, I was struck by a sudden pain in my chest, and after just a few seconds I dropped breathlessly to the floor.
“You're weak,” Zieghoff said, and I turned to see that he was watching me.
His guards were a little further back, and that simple fact sent a shiver up my spine. In an instant, I realized that this man – this pathetic, pointless little creature – was no longer scared of me. He understood that I was still injured, that I was pretending to be stronger than I felt, and now I'd delivered more proof of that fact by failing to rip the door away from its hinges. Perhaps I had been wrong all along. Perhaps it had been my brother that he feared, and never me.
“This is a travesty of nature,” Zieghoff continued. “I've heard stories of vampires when they really go crazy. Th
e power is immense. You, however, are still recovering from the poisoning, and you're not as fit as you thought. Otherwise, you'd be able to pull that door away with ease.”
“I want to see her,” I snarled.
“You're in no position to make demands.”
“I will be,” I replied. “Soon enough.”
“I think I'll wait until then,” he said with a faint smile. “For now, you seem to have come an awfully long way, and you haven't really been able to do anything. Perhaps you'll reconsider my offer of food?”
Staring at him, I felt an uncontrollable urge to rip him apart. At the same time, in my wounded state I wasn't sure that I'd be successful, and I worried that his guards might be able to restrain me. Better, I told myself, to absorb all this anger and wait until I could strike. I'd been waiting so long to return to my peak form, and I was certain that I'd reach that point soon. I just had to be patient.
“No?” Zieghoff said, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Okay, well you just stay there on the ground, and come through if and when you're ready. In the meantime, I'll have a room made up for you. You are of course most welcome to stay as my guest.”
He was enjoying himself. Clenching my right fist, I vowed that soon he would beg me for mercy.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chloe
“France? What are you talking about? You can't move to France!”
“It's not forever,” I said with a sigh, bracing myself for Mum's histrionics. “I just need a break.”
“This is about that Jackson boy, isn't it?”
“It's about getting out of my comfort zone. It's about finding myself.” I bristled at the fact that I sounded like such a cliché, but at the same time I genuinely did want to try something new. “The problem with living in my comfort zone all the time is that it's too... comfortable.”
