by S J Williams
“No discernible effect.” Lucien read out loud. “Still impossible to find control. Control?” He looked up at Effie. “Control to do what? What was Amedeo trying to transform?”
Effie shook her head, scowling down at the diary. “I don’t know and Amedeo’s not telling us.”
She turned the page and gasped when her fingers brushed against a large, russety brown stain.
“Ugh. What’s that?”
Lucien had frozen again, his eyes fixed on the stain.
“The answer to our questions.” He scratched at it with one fingernail and sniffed the reddish flecks that came away.
“Blood.” He murmured. “Centuries old blood.”
Effie gaped at him, then, slowly, her eyes lowered to the page.
“When you said the answer to our questions…” She began, hesitating to finish the horrible thought.
“In all the experiments,” Lucien said, turning back to the previous page, “he mentions a base.” He looked up at Effie. “What if that base was blood?”
Effie exhaled slowly.
“Do you think Amedeo was working with a vampire?”
Lucien nodded grimly. “It can’t be a coincidence that he produced a series of portraits that was all of immortals.”
“If we’re talking vampires, then all that about murderous rages makes a lot more sense.” Effie swallowed. “He was trying to cure a vampire of his bloodlust.”
“An admirable goal, I’m sure.” Lucien murmured thoughtfully. “It’s a pity he didn’t succeed.”
Effie nodded, then looked down at the medallion she still held in her hand.
“Is that what this is? The cure for bloodlust?”
“If it is, that would explain why Bartholomew is so keen to get hold of it.” Lucien mused.
Effie frowned. “Really? If you’d asked me yesterday, I never would have said Bartholomew minded drinking blood. Certainly not when he was sniffing my neck.” Just thinking about it made her shudder.
Lucien’s lips turned down. “And what this has got to do with exposing immortals, I do not know.”
Effie sighed.
“It seems that no matter what we find, we’re barely making a dent in this mystery. It just gets weirder.”
Lucien gave her a wry smile. “Welcome to the world of vampires, my dear.” He went back to Bartholomew’s book on herb lore, adding as he did. “Perhaps you should take a break? See what new ideas come to you with a change of air.”
Nodding tiredly, Effie leaned back in her chair and stretched out stiff muscles in her shoulders and neck. From outside, she could hear the thuds of fists on flesh as Sebastian, Catarina and Henry worked out their frustration by hammering at each other. Every now and then, there was a shout of victory, closely followed by a cry of defeat. Catarina, predictably, was especially vocal. Apparently, Sebastian liked to fight dirty.
“I think that might be a good idea.” Effie said as she got up and drifted to the open glass doors. Sweet smells from the garden filtered through into the house. She just stood there, eyes closed, and breathed, letting her tension unravel.
Henry whooped. She cracked open one eye. Catarina was sitting on the floor, Sebastian standing over her with a nasty grin on his face.
“That move should be illegal. You two are as bad as each other.” Catarina grumbled as she levered herself back onto her feet.
“What?” Sebastian asked slyly. “Have you never faced a telekinetic in a fight before?”
“You know I have because I’ve fought you before. I still say it’s illegal. What with you throwing me around and his doppelgänger, I feel like you’re ganging up on me.”
“Feeling a bit outclassed?” Henry teased. Catarina made a lunge for him. Rather than meet her assault, Henry took off, hooting, into the garden, Catarina hard on his heels.
Effie laughed quietly and stepped outside. Sebastian, who had noticed her as soon as she’d moved, stood waiting for her, a forgotten smile still on his lips.
“Do you really throw people around when you’re fighting?” She asked him.
He grinned, open and boyish. “When it helps me win. It’s not really throwing the opponent so much as tripping them up. I’ve learned that subtlety, not grand gestures, works better in a fight. That way, I can control the outcome.”
“Why not just throw someone into a wall? Couldn’t you avoid the fight that way.”
“True.” He nodded thoughtfully. “But I don’t always have the luxury of using my abilities where I can guarantee there will be no mortal witnesses. Obvious moves like ripping someone’s head off tend to attract the wrong sort of attention.”
Effie looked at him askance. “Have you ever ripped someone’s head off using telekinesis?”
Sebastian bowed his head modestly. “On occasion.” He smiled when she scowled at his vague answer. “But, as I said before, that’s not always possible. For all the other times, I keep up my more mundane fighting skills, throwing in a few tricks where I can.”
“That is not fair!” Catarina screamed from somewhere behind them. Effie jumped as three Henrys ran past and promptly split up, disappearing into the garden in different directions. Catarina stopped beside Effie and Sebastian and scowled at Henry’s retreating backs.
“Bloody illusionists.” She muttered.
“You need to work out how to use your gifts in a combative context.” Sebastian said.
“Oh yes, because psychometry is so useful in a fight.” She said sarcastically. Then, more seriously, she said, “Trust me, I’ve tried. It just doesn’t work. It’s like that part of my gift uses a different part of my brain, I need to be peaceful and centred when I use it, not in the middle of a fight.”
“Perhaps you need to adopt a different fighting style?” Sebastian suggested. “Something more based in an oriental art might provide a meditative element you could use to access your gift while fighting. You could learn how they fight from their memories and use that to second guess their attack.”
Catarina opened her mouth to argue, then stopped and gave him a thoughtful look.
Henry, just the one of him this time, trotted back to them. He stopped next to Catarina.
“What? You’re giving up?”
In a move that was too fast for Effie’s eyes to follow, Catarina’s arm lashed out and she punched Henry in the ear. He yelped and ducked as she continued to rain blows down on him.
“Not that you really need to use your gift when fighting.” Sebastian commented wryly as Effie laughed.
“I yield. I yield!” Henry shouted, arms covering his head. “You madwoman. I yield!”
Catarina finally stepped back. “Just so we’re clear who’s the better fighter.” She said with a satisfied sniff. She turned to Effie. “I gather that you’re here because you’ve either found something or, more likely, finally given up.”
“A bit of both.” Effie took a deep breath. “We think he was trying to cure a vampire.”
“What?” Henry half-laughed.
“That’s what I’ve gathered. This diary seems to be some sort of record for Amedeo’s experiments. He was trying to recreate a recipe for some kind of potion or miracle cure. Not very successfully. We get this long list of possible ingredients and failed tests.”
“Do you think he might have been close to succeeding?” Sebastian asked.
Effie shrugged. “Not that I’ve seen. Each experiment he’s reported seems to have ended in failure. There doesn’t seem to be much method in which herbs he chooses to put together, other than they are all herbs considered to have strong medical properties. He lists those in his plans for each experiment.”
“And where does the vampire come into this?” Henry asked, getting up and dusting off his jeans.
“He talks about these murderous rages and feeding frenzies.” Effie pulled a face. “Okay, so he doesn’t just come out and say it was a vampire, but he keeps on talking about mixing his potion with a base and we found this massive blood stain.”
“Like Bar
ty’s blood bags.” Henry’s eyes lit up as he caught on.
Effie’s mouth fell open. “Of course. Why didn’t I see that? You found those nasty mixes of blood in the safe. What if that was what Bartholomew was drinking when he took all those health shakes.”
“Ugh.” Catarina shuddered. “I can’t imagine drinking anything worse than a mixture of mouldy blood and plants.”
“Makes you wonder why he did it?” Sebastian mused.
Effie grimaced. “I know. Last time I checked, he loved drinking blood.”
They were silent for a moment.
“And you said you’ve given up?” Catarina asked finally.
“Hey.” Henry punched her arm, then ducked when she raised her fist again. “Don’t forget we all gave up hours ago.”
Effie smiled wryly at him. “I’ve had enough for now. Everything we find just seems to pose more questions. Lucien’s still at it, though. I don’t know where he gets his stamina from.”
“They say age does wonders to a man’s stamina.” Sebastian’s voice was deceptively bland.
Wrinkling her nose at him, Catarina snorted. “Keep your dirty old man comments to yourself.”
“I am going to be the mature one and not say what’s going through my head right now.” Henry grinned. Turning to Effie, he asked, “So, what are you going to do now, if you can’t stand more research?”
Effie sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know. My brain is mush so thinking up plans is a bit beyond me.”
Henry checked his watch. “There’s a good market that opens this afternoon. Fresh fruit and veg and the like. Not massively exciting but it’ll get you out and about.”
Effie smiled at him gratefully. “Right now, wandering around looking at fruit sounds amazing. And just about within what I can achieve.”
“Excellent. I’ll just go write a list…”
Catarina groaned. “We don’t need a shopping list to go buy fruit, Henry. Just go with what you see.”
“I’d rather not have to get through sacks and sacks of something because you couldn’t resist a bargain, thank you.”
They headed inside to the kitchen, bickering loudly. They lowered their voices to hisses when Lucien shouted at them, sounding like a pair of angry snakes.
“Are they always like this?” Effie asked.
Sebastian sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Honestly? I can’t remember. Maybe once they liked each other but that was a long time ago.” He smiled at her. “Personally, I think they just need to have it out between the sheets.”
She raised a sceptical eyebrow at him. “You think that would solve anything?”
He grimaced. “It would get rid of the sexual tension. They might stop circling each other after that.”
“Why don’t you go and suggest that to them. See what they think.” Effie said sweetly. He gave her an alarmed look.
“No thanks. I like my face the way it is.”
She snorted with laughter and walked back into the house.
“I better get some shoes on.” She peered down at her bare toes. When had she got so comfortable around the others in the past two days that she was happy to wander around barefoot? She hated shoes but felt too self conscious about not wearing any to take them off in public. At some point, living with Sebastian had become just like being at home.
Sebastian leaned over her shoulder, looking at her toes too. He was so close, she could feel his heat bathing her back. So close. All she had to do was lean back and she would be resting against him.
But, just as quickly, she dismissed the idea and walked forwards, intent on going up to her room in search of shoes. She might want to lean back in that instant, but she knew that, as soon as she did, she would tense up and it would get awkward. More than for herself, she didn’t want to put Sebastian through that.
Soon, she promised herself. Soon touching him and being touched by him would feel as natural as breathing. She just couldn’t see what she would have to do to get over her fear first.
Sebastian watched Effie go. There had been a moment where he’d thought Effie was going to… But perhaps he was imagining it. It was too easy to project his desires onto her mind, to see what he wanted rather than what was there.
And yet. The look she had given him yesterday. It had been knowing, that look. In her eyes, he had seen a recognition, a light that made her more like the old Effie than ever. Was it too much to dream that she was coming back? That her memories were coming back?
Catarina and Henry came clattering back from the kitchen, still arguing over the shopping list.
“Why do you need a reminder to buy tomatoes? We’re in Italy! You can’t move without stepping in tomatoes. You’re not going to forget them.”
“So I like to be organised? Why does that have to bother you so much? I have my list. You can go off and buy a pineapple or dragonfruit if that takes your fancy. I’ll buy what’s on my list and I’ll know we’ll get through it.”
“Organised? You’re a full on domestic goddess!”
“Will you two shut up? Some of us are trying to do something useful!” Lucien bellowed from the dining room.
“Come on.” Sebastian said. “Effie’s just gone to get her shoes. We’ll bring the motorbikes round to the front while we’re waiting.”
“No need.” Effie hurried down the stairs, feet fully clad. “I’m here.”
Sebastian nodded. Warmth bloomed in his heart to see her so free and happy in his home. Their home. The only reason he’d bought this house was to remind him of Effie. That she’d slipped into its walls like a hand into a well-worn glove was hardly a surprise and yet he kept expecting to wake up at any moment and find he’d been dreaming about a ghost.
She’s alive, he reminded himself. She was alive and he was going to keep it that way. He wouldn’t survive her death a second time.
The market thronged with people when they arrived. To Sebastian, it looked much like any market from any time in the past five hundred years. There might be more plastic in sight in this century but the people? The people chatting and bartering under cloth awnings had not changed.
Beside him, Effie took off her helmet and inhaled deeply. Smiling, she exhaled with a hum of contentment.
“Hmmm. I love that smell. Catarina was right. You can’t escape the tomatoes.”
Sebastian smiled back at her, chest swelling at the sight of her happiness.
Henry parked his bike next to them and strode into the crowd, a determined expression on his face. Catarina, for reasons best known to herself, followed him.
“Uh oh.” Effie said, watching them go. “That’s going to be explosive.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Just as well they can both speak Italian. They’ll fit right in.”
She snorted and shook her head. “Let’s go this way, shall we?” She pointed in a direction veering to the left of where Henry and Catarina had gone.
Sebastian agreed, happy to let her lead.
They drifted between stalls selling bright ripe fruit and piles of fresh nuts.
Effie paused in front of one. “Ooh. Smell these pears. I’ve never seen this variety before.”
“Abaté Fétèl.” The vendor told them, offering them a plate of cut slices. Effie selected one and bit into it, her eyes closing in pleasure.
Sebastian was transfixed by the sight of her little white teeth disappearing into the creamy flesh of the fruit. He would buy the whole stall just to see her do that again.
“Shall we get some?” She asked, turning to him.
“Yes.” He said, a little too quickly. “As many as you’d like.”
She beamed at him then turned back to the vendor. Sebastian was fishing in his back pocket for his wallet when the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Stiffening, he spread out his energy and scanned the surrounding area, looking for the source of his unease.
There was nothing or, rather, no one who struck him as suspicious. All the energy signatures he could detect were human. Effi
e made a move to pay the vendor, bringing his attention back to what she was doing. Moving a little quicker than was wise, he had the change passing from his hand to the vendor’s before Effie could fully pull her purse from her bag. She pursed her lips at him as she accepted the bag of fruit from the vendor.
“You know I was going to pay for that.”
“I do indeed,” he said, relieving her of her burden. She relinquished it after a moment’s hesitation.
“Well, if you’re determined to be a gentleman, I’ll just have to take advantage.” She said, with a cheeky grin, then headed back into the crowd.
Sebastian followed a little more slowly, looking around one last time for what had alerted his senses. He had long since learned not to ignore little warnings like that. He wouldn’t have lived so long if he hadn’t.
They met up with the others loaded with several more bags of food, including a large bag of walnuts, more than they could possibly hope to eat. Effie found she didn’t care. She liked walnuts and they were in Italy. Where better to buy and consume food in extravagant quantities?
“How are we going to carry this all back on the bikes?” She asked as Henry looked over her purchases with a critical eye.
“With difficulty.” He said shortly, making an appreciative sound as he poked into the bag of walnuts.
Effie gave Sebastian a knowing smile. Hah. She’d known it was a good idea to buy the walnuts.
But Sebastian wasn’t paying attention to Henry or her. His eyes were fixed on the seat of his motorbike. She followed his gaze.
A paper bag, looking suspiciously like one of her own, was resting there.
“What’s this?” She asked, walking forwards to pick it up. Sebastian’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.
“Please,” he said, his voice low and intimate in her ear. “Let me.”
She frowned at him but didn’t protest as he passed the rest of their bags to Henry and strode forward, approaching the mysterious bag like it was a dangerous enemy. He peeled back the paper then swore explosively in a language she didn’t recognise.
