Thicker Than Blood

by Shalini Boland

  He narrowed his eyes. Madison was sitting on a bench removing her skates while a stranger spoke to her. A man. He felt a rush of anger and jealousy, but squashed it down immediately. He knew he had nothing to worry about. He and Madison were above such petty emotions. Their love was true and steadfast. Unbreakable.

  ‘Alex, come on, bro,’ Jacques said, grabbing his arm. ‘Have some fun.’

  ‘Better come on, Alexandre.’ He heard Leonora’s soft voice behind him. ‘I think the boys want to impress you with their tricks.’ She took his other arm.

  ‘Alright, alright, I get the message,’ he said, shaking himself out of his reverie. ‘I bet you can’t skate backwards without knocking anyone over.’ He moved away from them and glided backwards, pulling stupid faces as he went.

  Leonora rolled her eyes and followed him, graceful as ever. They skated across to the others who were jumping and twirling on the ice with ease.

  ‘That’s so not fair,’ Ben said. ‘You vamps get to do way more cool stuff than I can.’

  ‘Yes, but when you do it, it is much more impressive,’ said Isobel. ‘We can do these things in our sleep, but it takes proper skill for you to master them.’

  ‘I suppose.’

  Jacques and Freddie took Ben in between them, pulling him along while weaving expertly through the other skaters. Ben’s grin lit up the cloisters and Alexandre smiled. Ben was such a wonderful boy and so similar to Jacques it was like having a second brother; a third if he included Freddie.

  Freddie and Leonora were Madison and Ben’s ancestors. Like Alexandre and his siblings they had all been transformed into these immortal creatures over one hundred years ago during an archaeological expedition in Cappadocia, Turkey. Now they lived here, in England, in Marchwood House to be exact, with Madison and Ben. And life was good.

  Ben had welcomed them all into his life with eager acceptance, no drama or resentment at all – and that was something. Not many people would welcome five vampires into their life, into their home. And Madison … well … she was something else – brave, beautiful, kind, funny … and stubborn. He smiled and looked over at the bench. She’d disappeared to get the drinks. Maybe he should go after her and check she was alright. But then the others would moan at him.

  He skated around for ten long minutes and still Maddy hadn’t returned with the drinks. Alexandre knew he was being irrational, but he couldn’t relax. The ice rink was busy, town was bustling with late night shoppers and there was no reason to worry, but…

  ‘I’m going to find Maddy,’ he said to the others.

  ‘She’ll be back any minute,’ Leonora said.

  ‘I’ll help her with the drinks. She won’t be able to carry her skates and hot chocolate at the same time.’

  ‘Oh let him go,’ Isobel said. ‘He can’t be more than two feet away from her at any given time or he’ll turn into a pumpkin.’

  Alexandre ignored their good-natured jibes and skated over to the edge of the rink. He swiftly removed his boots, put on his shoes and headed down the alley which led to the café. A long queue coiled out of the door, but Maddy wasn’t part of it. Perhaps she had seen it and decided to go to a different café. He did a quick scan of the area, but she was nowhere. Alexandre’s senses were sharp - if she was in the area he would have found her straight away. Something was wrong. He cursed himself for not trusting his initial instincts to accompany her. Then he saw the man.

  ‘You,’ Alexandre said.

  The man was just about to climb into his car, a midnight blue Audi, when Alexandre stood in front of him, blocking his entry to the vehicle.

  ‘What the …’

  ‘Where is she?’ Alex said.

  ‘Who? What are you talking about? Who are you? You’re not getting my wallet and you’re certainly not getting my car.’

  The man was rubbing at a dirty mark on his coat sleeve. He was broad shouldered and tall. Now he squared up to Alexandre, not intimidated in the slightest.

  ‘I don’t want your money or your car,’ Alex replied. ‘The girl you were talking to at the ice rink – where is she?’

  ‘What girl?’

  ‘I saw you talking to her while she was unlacing her boots.’

  ‘Oh that girl.’ The man smiled.

  Alexandre grabbed the man’s coat collar.

  ‘Easy,’ the man said. ‘She’s your girl I take it.’

  ‘That’s none of your business. Where is she?’

  ‘How the hell should I know. We just spoke a couple of words and then she left. Let go of the coat.’

  Alexandre released him. ‘Did you see her again after she left?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Are you sure about that?’

  ‘Look, man, I don’t know what your problem is, but I don’t know that girl. I spoke two words to her and then she left. Maybe she doesn’t like possessive psycho boyfriends, and decided to take off.’

  The man was an arrogant idiot, but Madison wasn’t here. Alexandre left the man and decided to return to the ice rink. Maybe he had missed her somehow. He doubted it, but there was a slim chance. The car door slammed behind him and the Audi roared away down the street.

  Alexandre remembered his phone. How could he have been so stupid? He should have called her straightaway. But now as he held the phone to his ear, willing her to answer, it just went straight to voicemail.

  ‘Madison, where are you? Call me.’

  He pressed redial a few times, but it was the same message.

  Back at the rink, Alexandre scanned the crowd. Everyone was here except Maddy. It had been at least thirty minutes since she’d gone for the drinks. Something was definitely wrong. Leonora caught his eye and smiled. He beckoned her over.

  ‘She’s missing,’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Maddy. She’s nowhere to be found. Something’s happened. Get the others and tell them what’s happened. I’m going to search for her.’

  ‘Wait a minute … what do you mean?’

  But Alexandre didn’t hang around to reply. Something had happened to Maddy and he had to find her. All kinds of scenarios raced around his head. Had she been mugged? Raped? Was she ill? Had she collapsed? And then more sinister thoughts came to him. What if this was something to do with Blythe? The lawyer for those powerful vampires who wanted Alexandre and the others dead. He knew he should have made more of an effort to track that miserable solicitor down and kill him, but life had been so good recently, so peaceful, he hadn’t wanted to go looking for trouble. Well now it seemed trouble had come looking for him. Or perhaps he was getting ahead of himself. Maybe there was a perfectly logical explanation and Madison would appear any second to tease him about his over-active imagination. Please God let that be the case.

  Alexandre spent the next three hours scouring the whole of Gloucester and beyond. Isobel had taken Ben back home to Marchwood House in case she showed up there and Alexandre rang his sister every fifteen minutes to check if Maddy had arrived home yet. They had also called all the local hospitals and the others were out searching for her too, but nothing yielded any results. Maddy was gone.

  Chapter Three

  Cappadocia 571 AD

  *

  All Aelia heard was her heart booming in her chest and the ragged bleating of someone’s goat. Her mother had been pulled away and her father made a move towards her, but Praetor Garidas put his arm out to stop him.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘You know the law. She cannot go with you or speak to you. She will go with them.’ He pointed to two women dressed in black robes. ‘She will lodge with them until we have decided.’

  ‘But she has never spent a night away from us. She is only sixteen. Still a child …’

  ‘We will determine the truth of that tomorrow,’ Praetor Garidas replied.

  Aelia’s mind was a blur of thoughts. How could this be happening? The whole village outside her house, her father now shouting at Praetor Garidas and her mother in tears. How had they found out about what she had done? And
where was Lysus? He had said it would be alright, that they would marry. She looked around wildly. She had to find him. He would make it right. His father was the Praetor after all.

  Was it her imagination or could she hear whispers and hisses in the crowd? No, not imagined … ‘whore’, someone muttered. ‘Slut’. Tears pricked behind her eyes. The women in black now had hold of her arms and were trying to lead her away, but her legs didn’t want to work.

  Then, she spotted him standing on the step of her neighbours’ house. Lysus. His dark eyes bored into hers and she stared at him, a silent plea. She could feel the desperation in the twist of her mouth and the strength of her gaze. He shook his head and briefly put a finger to his lips. He mouthed the words don’t worry and then he stepped down and was gone, hidden by the crowd. Did that mean there was nothing to worry about, that he would sort it out and make things right?

  Aelia found a little strength to walk and so let herself be taken, unresisting; barely even registering her mother’s rising screams and her father’s useless pleading. The women gripped her arms too tightly and she stumbled along the path, trying to match their pace. She didn’t dare look up now, too ashamed and terrified to see the stares of disgust, pleasure and pity.

  Was it only a few minutes ago that she was happy? It didn’t feel like the same year, let alone the same day that she had dipped her toes in the stream and felt such joy. How could things have changed so quickly?

  ‘Where are we going?’ Aelia managed to choke out the words, but neither of the women replied and she didn’t have the courage to repeat herself.

  Fear had never been a part of Aelia’s life. Only love, happiness and a feeling that nothing bad could ever really happen. She was a good girl, never ungrateful or dissatisfied, never one to make trouble or mischief. As the eldest daughter, her sisters looked up to her – Aelia, the steady one. Maybe she had been saving it all up for now - for this one spectacular fall from grace.

  She realised they had stopped walking. Raising her eyes from the ground, they now rested on a faded wooden door. The women let go of her arms and she automatically reached up to massage the bruised spots. The door swung inwards and they prodded her inside a dark room which smelt damp and disused. One of the women walked past her, over to a table where she lit a stubby candle. It flickered to life and illuminated all but the shadowy corners. Next to a rickety table, sat two roughly carved chairs and there were three straw pallets on the floor against the far wall.

  ‘Go and get some rest,’ one of the women said, pointing to one of the pallets.

  ‘What’s going to happen?’ Aelia asked.

  ‘You’ll find out soon enough, foolish girl.’

  Aelia coloured. The words hurt her. Everybody seemed to know what she had done, but Lysus didn’t seem to be in trouble. She didn’t understand it. She walked across to the pallet and sat down. Her parents must be so disappointed in her. She hoped her sisters didn’t know what she had done. What would be the punishment for her sin? She had heard the rumours of punishments for past sins, but they couldn’t be true could they?

  She leant back against the wall and closed her eyes. Aelia didn’t even feel like herself anymore. There was a hollow feeling where her insides should be, but the hollowness felt heavy, which made no sense at all.

  The women ignored her. They barely spoke to each other and when they did it was in half-whispers and swallowed murmurs. They sat at the table like a couple of huge ravens, sharp-eyed and aloof. After a while, Aelia gave up trying to glean anything from them. She lay down on the prickly straw and turned to face the wall. The humiliation and shame was almost worse than any possible punishment. Lysus had said not to worry. His father was the Praetor. He would surely make it right for her. Aelia’s mind kept circling around the same things. Her poor parents; she had let them down. They would be devastated.

  She still wasn’t sure how she could have let it happen, how she could have given herself so easily to a boy. It had all been so fast that she hadn’t had time to think. The soft caress, the kiss … And how had everyone found out? That was what really puzzled her. She and Lysus had thought they were alone. Maybe someone had seem them go off together, but that was not enough for such an accusation. No doubt she would discover the answer tomorrow. She hoped she would have the courage to face whatever she needed to.

  Tiredness suddenly overwhelmed her. The blur of thoughts in her head grew more shapeless and worrying, becoming a solid mass, like an unwelcome creature she couldn’t shake loose. She realised she’d had no food since noon. The women had eaten something earlier, but had not offered to share any with her. In any case, she didn’t think she would be able to stomach food, even though her empty belly gurgled in disagreement.

  Despite exhaustion, sleep was slow to come to Aelia. Each time she thought oblivion was about to take her, she would be startled awake with the strangeness of everything. When sleep finally did arrive, she dreamt of birds in flight and of a sunset so beautiful it made her weep.

  Chapter Four

  Present Day

  *

  Mmmm, Maddy smiled to herself at the thought of hot chocolate. Her footsteps echoed along the narrow cobbled alleyway and her breaths came out in little frosty puffs. It was quiet down here, away from the laughter and music of the ice rink. These days she felt as though her life had really begun. It was like she’d been on hold, living a half-life, waiting for this life, waiting for Alexandre. They were so different from each other – he came from a loving family and a life of privilege and she’d been brought up in foster care with nothing to call her own. But they were connected to each other. Alex made the world make sense. He knew her and she knew him. She couldn’t explain it. They fitted together.

  Madison emerged from the alleyway, walked through the car park and followed the signpost to the shops. She saw the café she was looking for - a warm yellow glow in the dimly lit street. She opened the door and felt the heat of the place and the noisy chatter of happy people. The takeaway queue almost reached back to the door, so she scooched in and took her place behind a red-cheeked family who were loosening scarves and removing woolly hats.

  ‘It’s boiling in here,’ a little girl said to Maddy.

  ‘It is,’ she replied, smiling down at her serious face.

  ‘I can ice skate,’ the girl said. ‘Daddy said I was really good.’

  ‘I’m not very good at all,’ Maddy said. ‘I fell over.’

  ‘You have to practice if you want to get better.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll practice some more.’

  The girl’s mother smiled at Maddy. The door opened behind her, letting in a welcome blast of cold air.

  ‘Hello again.’

  Maddy turned to see the man from the ice rink standing behind her.

  ‘Looks like we had the same idea,’ he continued.

  She gave him a small smile and turned back around. He was probably harmless but she couldn’t help thinking he’d followed her in here. She should never have spoken to him back at the rink. She’s probably given him the wrong idea. He didn’t look like a nutter, but you could never tell.

  ‘They do great coffee in here,’ he said.

  Oh God, he was trying to strike up another conversation. Could she get away with ignoring him? Probably not.

  ‘Great,’ she said in her least-enthusiastic voice.

  ‘Are you a tea drinker or a coffee drinker?’ he asked. ‘I bet you like tea.’

  It grated on her nerves that he was right. Maddy gave him what she hoped was a discouraging smile.

  ‘Tea? Am I right?’

  The queue moved forward and she pretended she hadn’t heard him. He was quite good looking, broad shouldered and well dressed, but she wasn’t remotely interested in anyone other than Alex. Plus, there was something a little bit off about him.

  She felt a tap on her shoulder. Maddy flinched, wanting to turn around and push him away. Instead she looked at him with unconcealed annoyance, but her expression didn’t seem to faze h
im.

  ‘You’re a tea drinker, right?’ he repeated.

  ‘Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not really in the mood to chat.’ There, that should shut him up. The queue was moving pretty quickly, thank goodness, and the family in front of her was being served now. She would order the hot chocolates and get back to the ice rink before the man had a chance to catch her up. Once he saw her with Alex, he’d get the message.

  After a complicated order and lots of changing of minds from the children and frayed tempers from the parents, the family left with their drinks and snacks and it was Maddy’s turn to order.

  ‘Two hot chocolates to take away please. One with cream and marshmallows. Oh, and a chocolate flake.’

  She waited while the woman got her order,

  ‘They look great,’ the man said as the woman put the drinks on the glass counter.

  Maddy ignored him. She felt like a bit of a cow, but she really didn’t want to encourage him.

  ‘I’ll put them in a little tray for you, love,’ the woman behind the counter said.

  She paid and headed to the door, avoiding any eye contact. Someone thoughtfully opened the door for her and she began walking as fast as she could, back to the rink. It was a little awkward, as she had the skates in one hand and the tray in the other. The mittens were still in her pocket so her hands were freezing, and now her wrists were beginning to ache too.

  ‘Here, let me help.’

  Maddy gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes at the sound of the man’s voice.

  ‘I thought you were getting coffee,’ she said.

  ‘Their machine’s broken. Just my luck.’

  Maddy didn’t believe him.

  ‘Here, I’ll carry those for you.’ He took hold of the cardboard tray, but she didn’t let go.

  ‘I’m fine thanks.’

  ‘It’ll be much easier. We’re walking the same way. Come on, let me help.’

  ‘I said no thanks.’

  They had reached the car park now and a few people were milling around, but no one paid them any attention. The man kept step with her as she decided whether to make a run for it or not. There was something definitely creepy about him and he was starting to scare her with his persistence.