"Just vampires, of course. Are you daft? Why would a lycan care about the medallions?"
"It is a long story, but when the townspeople wanted to sacrifice her to the wolves, from what I could see, it was her medallion that stopped them."
Calmet turned and stared at Ethan for a moment. "What the hell is wrong with your village, boy?" he asked in disbelief. "They tried to sacrifice a vampire to a lycan? How is your village still standing? That has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard. How did that happen?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Ethan said. "You have made your point. They don't work on werewolves – I get it."
Calmet scoffed and shook his head. "Just worry about the vampires, all right?" Calmet said.
Ethan nodded and kept Gregory at a steady pace. Fog began to settle in around them and the gloom of winter crowded in. Finally, the massive castle loomed ahead and Calmet and Ethan stopped for a moment at the end of the drawbridge. They dismounted and walked across the bridge on foot.
"So, this is it," Calmet mumbled to himself, surveying the height of the castle wall.
"Yes, sir," Ethan confirmed. Calmet took a long piece of rope from the saddle of his horse and attached it to an iron grappling hook. "What are you doing?" he asked Calmet.
"We need to get over the wall somehow," Calmet said.
"Why don't we just use a key?" he asked.
"Oh, I am sorry, I thought you would enjoy a nice, strenuous climb to prepare you for the ensuing battle," Calmet said as Ethan reached in one of his saddlebags and pulled out a large skeleton key. "Where the hell did you get that?" Calmet asked in surprise.
"I found it in one of the saddlebags when she gave me her horse," Ethan explained, handing the key to Calmet.
"And you didn't think it would be worth mentioning?" Calmet said.
"You never asked if I knew a way in."
Calmet sighed and took the key from Ethan. "Never asked…" Calmet grumbled under his breath as he inserted the key and turned it.
The door unlocked and Calmet pushed it open. It made enough noise that their advantage of surprise was almost certainly gone. The two held their breath as they entered the courtyard. There were no animals, no signs of life at all. They tied the horses to a hitching post just inside the door.
"Don't tie it too tightly, just in case we need to make a quick get away," Calmet said in a whisper. They took two torches from one of the saddlebags and lit them. They took out their medallions and let them dangle on the outside of their clothes, then ascended the stairs to the castle and Calmet opened the door. They entered and, standing before them, as if expecting them, was the lady of the house – the vampire's daughter.
Part III
'Tis now the moment, still and dread,
When sorcerers use their Baleful power;
When graves give up their buried dead
To profit by the sanctioned hour…
Let not some horrid dreams affright
With strange fantastic forms mine eyes,
But rather bid some vision bright
Display the bliss of yonder skies.
Matthew Lewis
18
“Welcome," she calmly said.
Calmet and Ethan looked at her, unsure of how to reply. She was perfectly arranged in a fine, wine-red garment, standing with her hands folded in front of her. It was all so surreal, as if the hostess was greeting two long-expected guests. Her long hair framed her pale face and fell around her neck, chest, and shoulders.
Ethan could not take his eyes off her. Calmet, however, quickly surveyed the room. He suspected she was a decoy and they were going to be ambushed any second.
"You do not need to fear, gentle sirs," she said. "My lord, though surprised by your visit, was alerted to your presence by your lack of stealth. I bring you a message from my lord: 'leave this place at once and you shall be allowed to live another day'."
"Beautiful lady," Calmet said. "You may take your lord our reply: 'come out and see me, and I will serve you a quick death'."
She smiled and chuckled to herself. "Bold sir, you do not know whom you are speaking about. Accept his offer – live to fight another day."
"But I live to fight him. Why delay my gratification?" Calmet asked with a smile.
His torch moved as he spoke and she was surprised to see an amulet very similar to the one she gave Ethan glimmering in the firelight. She looked at Ethan to see if he was wearing his amulet. She was relieved to see that he was.
"What of you, Ethan? Will you not accept my lord's generous offer?"
"I think it is you who should be asking for mercy from us," Ethan said to her.
"So, you have come to kill me?" she asked. "Even though you know that I am trying to free my family in my own way? Even though this man has filled your head with foolish Church propaganda? Even though this is not my choice, but my burden?"
"I will do whatever is necessary to ensure the end of your kind," he declared.
Though her heart felt pained at his words, she tried not to wince. She had to remain strong. "Ethan, do not do this," she gently pleaded. "If not for me, then for yourself. You can still go back. We need not be enemies."
"I am afraid it is too late for that," he said, holding up the key to the front gate.
Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared as she took a few deep breaths. Calmet could see her rising anger and feared that if she decided to attack, others, lurking in the shadows that he perhaps could not see, might follow suit.
"Lady," he said, drawing her attention. "It is not I who has deceived Ethan." She looked at him. "Either you lie to him or you yourself have been deceived. Your father and your people, they are not who they claim to be…"
"Silence," she calmly said. "You will not speak in such a way in my father's house." She turned back to Ethan. "You knew this man's intent, to end my life, and yet you not only led him to my very gate, but you used my own key to open the door to my destruction." Ethan did not reply, but stared at her with affirmation of her accusation. "Very well," she said. "The lines are drawn. Goodbye. I do not expect you to last the night."
With that, a gust of wind blew through the hall and the torches blew out.
"Get back!" Calmet yelled as he shoved Ethan behind him and in front of the door until he could get his torch ignited again. Calmet lit the flame. The girl was gone.
Victoria hurried up the stairs in the pitch-blackness. She met her father in his study to report on their visitors. On one wall, the long room was lined with shelves of books. The opposite wall had ceiling to floor windows draped with heavy burgundy curtains that had not been opened in years. Vincent looked unconcerned, as if his visitors were but a distant thought, and was standing by a shelf looking at a book. Jessenda was also present, sitting in a tall, wingback chair, sipping from a wine glass.
"Father," Victoria said, "Calmet and Ethan have refused to leave."
A smile crossed Vincent's face as he turned to look at his daughter. Her face was flushed from her flight up the stairs.
"'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood'," he said softly.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said as he returned the book to its rightful place on the shelf.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Yes, Calmet has refused to leave. Excellent."
"Excellent?" she repeated, aghast. "They are here to kill us."
"Foolish girl," Jessenda said rising, walking over to Vincent. "What have we to fear? We outnumber them and are far more powerful."
"They certainly seemed to have the upper hand against the six of you. How powerful can you be?" Victoria asked.
Jessenda growled and narrowed her eyes. "Would you like to see just how powerful I can be?" she asked.
"Enough," Vincent calmly said. "Jessenda, find the other girls and go greet our guests."
Jessenda smiled with glee in her eyes and walked toward the door, rudely brushing past Victoria.
"Jessenda," Victoria
said. Jessenda turned with a sigh and acknowledged her mistress. "They both have medallions, watch out for them."
"Thank you, Miss," Jessenda said as she left.
Victoria rolled her eyes and approached her father. "How can you be so calm?" she asked him. "I know you are powerful, but if you underestimate them, it may cost us our lives."
"Darling, I have been fighting slayers since long before you were born," he said, patting her on the cheek.
"Why do they attack us?" she asked. "We are trying to break the curse. They are religious people; don't they want us to be saved? They should be working with us, not our enemies."
Vincent looked at his daughter and pulled her to his chest to comfort her. "We are too different, my girl," he said. "They will always hate us."
"You are, or were, so lucky, Father," she said. "How did you ever find a person willing to see past the prejudices of the world to see you and love you for who you truly are?"
Victoria didn't often ask about her mother; she believed it caused him pain. But for Vincent, it was more a fear that if she knew the truth, it would drive her away from him.
"She was truly unique," he said. "I am sorry it is Ethan who is seeking to kill us. I know it must be hard for you."
"Yes," she said. "He used my horse to get here, and he used my gate key to gain entrance. He still wears the medallion I gave him. I feel so stupid. I simply handed over all the tools he needed to fight us. "
"He used your own gate key?" he asked, looking at her.
"Yes, it was in my saddlebag. I had completely forgotten about it."
"You are also the one who gave him the medallion."
She blushed at the accusatory way her father spoke about the necklace. "Yes, I did. I thought it was for the best at the time."
Vincent sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Is there anything else he knows about the castle?" he asked. "Something you may have told him that you thought was unimportant at the time that he could now use against us?"
"I don't know," she said. "I don't think so."
"Let us hope not," he said, making his way to the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To find Sebastian. We need to work together."
"What should I do?"
"Try to stay out of the way. You are not as strong as the rest of us, and you and Sebastian are the future."
"Yes, sir. I will try."
Vincent nodded at her and opened the door. He stopped and turned back to her. "You still pray, don't you, Victoria?" he asked.
"Occasionally," she said. "Why?"
"I predict it is going to be a long night. I suggest you pray for a late sunrise; we may need all the darkness we can get." He left the room and shut the door.
Victoria sat in a green, wing-backed chair and took a deep, calming breath. She closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, this would just be another nightmare. The silence that surrounded her was unnerving. She could feel death looming around her, as if it were watching her.
She opened her eyes and looked around in the dark. She walked to one of the windows and pulled back a curtain to look out. The moon was high and bright, bathing the courtyard in the blue glow. She saw Gregory tied up by the entry gate and gasped. He looked just as she remembered him. He raised his head. She laughed and instinctively raised a hand to wave at him, but he must have only been stretching because he shook out his mane and then lowered his head back down.
Victoria sighed with disappointment and placed a hand higher up on the curtain. She barely put any weight on it, but it was so old and unused that the slight tug was enough to rip the curtain from its first rung. She looked up at the dust swirling in the moonlight above the fragile material. She gently tried to pull the curtain closed again. It was dangerous to leave any window dressing even partly open. Convinced the window was adequately covered, she cautiously opened the door to the study.
She could hear a screech of one of the nosferatu. She knew the humans were under attack. She slipped out into the hallway and headed for her room. She could easily get there unnoticed. She heard another screech and froze. She had no intention of stopping the attack; she knew that either humans or nosferatu would live that night, not both. Although the sight of a feeding made her ill, she had the urge to see what was happening. She did not want to go to her room and simply wait for either Calmet to try to kill her or her father to tell her it was safe to come out.
She turned around, paused for a moment to reconsider what she was doing, then ran down the hall toward the horrid sounds. Her hair and cape fluttered with her gliding movements. She stopped halfway down the hall, just before an opened door, and hid herself in the darkness before the gruesome scene.
19
While Calmet was lighting the torch, Ethan had pulled out a stake and held it in a striking position. When they could see again, both were shocked to realize they were completely alone. They breathed sighs of relief and cautiously walked toward the grand staircase.
"Why is it so quiet?" Ethan asked. "Where are they?"
"Why must you question everything?" Calmet replied. "You should learn to take what gifts you are given, no matter how small."
"I suppose," Ethan mumbled. "So what now?"
"Now, it is a tricky game of cat and mouse," Calmet said.
"Are we the cat or the mouse?" Ethan asked.
"Well, it tends to go back and forth. I like to think we are the cat, but more than likely, we are the mouse. But sometimes the mouse can outsmart the cat. You don't have to have the claws to be victorious, only the wit."
They cautiously ascended the stairs.
"Back when I first moved into the monastery," Ethan said, "there were many nights I couldn't sleep because I could hear mice scrambling around my room. At first, they only contributed to my inability to sleep, but after a while, I learned to live with it. After a few months, spring rolled around and a cat showed up with a litter of kittens. Father Andrew let me keep one. He slept in a little basket in my room. When he got big enough, he started killing the mice. After a few weeks, the scrambling and squeaking and scratching completely stopped, but my insomnia returned. It was so quiet except for the cat purring, I couldn't figure out why I couldn't sleep. After a few days, I realized that I had gotten so used to the sounds of the mice that I couldn't sleep without them. I gave the cat to my friend Jacob and eventually the mice returned and I was able to sleep again."
"And now?" Calmet asked. "Do you still need mice to sleep?"
"I don't know what I need," Ethan said. "Sleep has not been much of a priority on this trip."
The two reached the top of the stairs and started down the hallway. A seemingly endless tunnel lined with doors stood before them. The two walked down the hall. Calmet passed the first door, then the second one. Ethan trailed right behind him.
"Where are you going?" Ethan whispered.
"Trust me," Calmet whispered back.
As they neared the third door, Calmet slowed down and took lighter steps. Ethan squeezed the stake in his hands. He felt sweat bead up on his forehead.
Calmet turned to him and placed a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. Ethan nodded in understanding. Calmet reached over and gently pushed Ethan against the wall right next to the door. Calmet turned back and took a couple of silent steps to the other side.
Ethan's heart was racing, but Calmet looked completely calm. For a moment, Calmet closed his eyes. It was as though he blinked his eyes for a second longer than normal, but Ethan thought that he saw Calmet's lips move, as if he uttered something. Calmet pulled out a silver stake and opened the door wide. He held out the torch ahead of him and entered the room. Ethan walked in behind him.
The room was dark, illuminated only by the light of the flame, and was very cold. It was so quiet that even Ethan and Calmet's low breaths could be clearly heard. Ethan sensed something move to his right. He turned and saw something move in the shadows. He threw his stake toward it. The thing was too quick and easily slipped out of
its path. Calmet turned and clearly illuminated the creature by the light of the torch. Her blue skin took an almost human shade in the golden firelight. Her eyes narrowed on Calmet as she slinked around the edge of the room. A smile crossed her lips and her white fangs appeared.
"Get behind me, Ethan," Calmet said.
Ethan stood behind Calmet as the creature approached them. Ethan did not want to take his eyes off her, but he heard a door open behind him. He saw another woman enter the room.
"Calmet!" Ethan said, louder than he intended.
Calmet glanced back and saw the other female quickly transform. He turned back to the first one. "It's all right, Ethan," Calmet said calmly. "Just don't turn your back on her."
Ethan breathed out in a sort of half gasp, half chuckle. Not turn his back on her? He couldn't take his eyes off her. Ethan reached around his waist and pulled out another stake.
"Foolish boy," Helena growled as she crept toward him.
Ethan took a deep breath and braced himself for her attack. She screeched as she lunged toward him and he held out his stake in defense. She knocked the stake out of his hand and grabbed him by his hair. She jerked him away from Calmet, attempting to knock him off balance. She pulled his head back and leaned in for an easy kill, her sharp claws at his head, her eyes blazing with anger, her fangs exposed for biting. Ethan managed to reach up and grab her by the throat, holding her back. She grabbed his wrist with her other hand and tried to pull it off her neck. She roared in his face, attempting to intimidate him.
"Hold her off, Ethan!" Calmet yelled as the other female kept circling him, keeping his attention. He couldn't turn his back on her to help Ethan; the moment he did, he would be dead.
"We can play all night, Calmet," she said. "How long do you think your little friend will last?" She laughed.
Ethan knew Calmet could not help him, that he was locked in place with his own adversary. If he tried to move, she might gain the advantage. Ethan still had one free hand, but he could not reach any of his weapons. He reached around his own neck and pulled on the chain of the medallion, pulling it out.
The Vampire's Daughter Page 18
