Thicker Than Blood

by Shalini Boland

  ‘I just wanted to end my existence. To stop the sadness and mounting pain that swam in my blood and battered my skull at every waking moment. I had been told daylight was fatal to demons. Now that I was one of them I knew I had no choice.

  ‘But I didn’t die. Something happened to me when the sun’s rays hit. I passed out and when I came to, I felt different. More myself again. More human. The dry air made me thirsty. But strangely, I was thirsty for clear cool water, not for blood. And I felt hungry for food. For normal, human food. I thought I might be dead and that this was the afterlife. Or that perhaps I had lost my mind.

  ‘I returned here, to the Widow Maleina’s cave. I decided to walk here, like a mortal. I wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on my face, the desert dust on my skin and the breeze through my hair. I wasn’t worried about meeting anybody on the journey. For everybody was trapped beneath my feet, living in terror. Not for long though. The plague soon did its job and worked its way through the demons rendering them all unconscious. And once that happened, the humans who survived were able to escape.’

  ‘I cannot believe you did all that,’ Mislav said. He looked at Aelia, partly in admiration and partly in anger. ‘You ruined everything. You destroyed our whole civilisation.’

  ‘There was nothing civilised about you, Mislav. You were all despicable.’

  ‘You never took the time to see how wonderful our life was. You and I could have had everything.’

  ‘I never wanted everything,’ Aelia replied.

  She turned to look at the others, all stunned by her story. She caught Alexandre’s eye.

  ‘What happened next?’ he asked.

  ‘Next? Well, when the demons finally slept their long sleep and the humans had emerged into the sunshine, I plucked up the courage to return to Selmea. Twenty thousand men, women and children had descended into the earth, but only six hundred and twenty eight came out. It had been a massacre. I felt partly guilty as many had died, not by the demons’ hands, but from the plague I unleashed.’

  ‘But that wasn’t your fault,’ Madison said. ‘There was nothing else you could’ve done.’

  ‘So I keep trying to convince myself,’ Aelia said. ‘Anyway, I had a theory of which I couldn’t be certain, but I didn’t want to take any chances. You see, when I emerged from the city, I think the sun did something to my body. I felt it shock my system and I didn’t want to risk the same thing happening to the demons. So I told the survivors that under no circumstances were they to bring the creatures outside into daylight. The villagers argued and said it was the only way to truly kill them. But I believed the plague had altered them somehow and that exposing them to the sun would regenerate them.’

  ‘You were right,’ Alexandre said.

  ‘Yes, but it was different with me than with you. You are still affected by the sun. I am not. You still need blood to survive. I do not.’

  ‘So you’ve been alive all those years?’ Madison said. ‘That’s insane. Weren’t you lonely?’

  ‘Yes. In the early years this cave became like a prison, but I was too scared to leave. I had no family or friends. No society to become a part of. Eventually I had to force myself to step out into the world and make a new life.

  ‘After a few years, I met a man and we fell in love. We had children. We had to keep moving so people wouldn’t grow suspicious. You see, I didn’t age in the normal way. My husband did. And of course eventually he died. My children died. My grandchildren died.’

  ‘You put yourself through all that pain,’ Mislav sneered. ‘For what?’

  ‘For love, Mislav. Something you never really understood.’

  ‘There’s nothing to understand.’

  Aelia shook her head sadly. She continued:

  ‘After a while, people still talked of the demons, but there was no longer anyone else left alive who had personally experienced the horror of it. Centuries passed and I changed my name several times. I lived in many different villages. But I always returned here to the widow’s cave for long periods to contemplate my existence and decide where to go and what to do next. I had also begun to age. Not at the normal human rate, but very slowly and imperceptibly. I calculated that maybe twenty five or thirty human years are roughly equal to one of my years.

  ‘In the thirteen hundreds - or was it later? I can’t remember, but no matter - the locals diverted the course of a river to bring it closer to their crops. The new course ran through the very same valley as the cave entrance to the underground city. I breathed easier after that. The demons were still deep underground and now the entrance was covered by a deep river. Memories of the demons passed out of history. Buried under the weight of time. They had become legend or perhaps a scary bedtime story. But there were still those who believed. Although no one ever knew the full story. Except I.

  ‘At the end of the eighteenth century, I returned to the village of Selmea. By then, I looked much as I do now. I had an enormous family and managed to stay with them by leaving and then returning several years later as an aunt, or later as a long lost great grandmother. I always brought wealth with me and this usually eased their acceptance.’ She laughed. ‘… that, and the striking family resemblance which had filtered down to my descendants.

  ‘But then, in 1881 something happened that I never thought would come to pass. You know this part, Alexandre.’

  She stared at him and he felt shame.

  ‘I was living peacefully with my wonderful ancestors, the Sahin family. I was now known as Havva Sahin, and my ‘great grandson’ was the village elder of Selmea, then, and until this day, known as Zelmat. Alexandre, you and your family came and ruined everything. I warned you not to meddle, but it seems I underestimated your persistence. I never dreamed you would find the cave entrance beneath the river. But you certainly paid the price for that, didn’t you?’

  Alexandre gave a single nod and bowed his head. Madison squeezed his hand. When he looked up again, he saw that Aelia looked tired. Reliving history had taken it out of her, but she hadn’t quite finished the story.

  ‘Harold Swinton wrote to me, you know.’

  ‘He was my father,’ Freddie said. ‘I’m Frederick Swinton.’

  ‘Yes. Well while you were sleeping, he asked me if I knew how to revive you. I lied to him. I told him to keep you locked up in the dark. I didn’t know then that you were capable of being human, of having compassion. I’m sorry for that.’

  ‘You did what you thought was right,’ said Alexandre. ‘I probably would’ve done the same.’

  ‘Looking at you, I see that maybe vampires aren’t all evil. Perhaps some of you can live with some kind of love in your hearts. But you are still young. Time may still warp and twist your soul into something terrible. It’s the blood, you see. It changes you.’

  ‘And so what now?’ Mislav said to her, rising to his feet. ‘You say you carry the sickness in you. As far as I am aware, all I need to do is destroy you without spilling your blood. Then you can do no further damage.’

  ‘You do not need to threaten me. I will do you no harm, Mislav. You are not the powerful civilisation you once were. Today’s society will not tolerate your ungodly ways.’

  ‘Today’s society is worse than ever,’ he replied. ‘Have you not seen what is happening in this modern world? We were angels compared to some of today’s regimes.’

  ‘Not by any stretch of the imagination could you be called an angel, Mislav.’

  ‘I have heard enough,’ he said. ‘You cannot be allowed to survive, Aelia. You pose too much of a threat. Once his Imperial Highness hears of your existence, he will have you killed.’

  ‘He will not succeed. You cannot destroy me with sunlight, nor chain me with silver.’

  ‘We’ll see about that, old woman.’ Mislav glared at her, threw a look of contempt at the rest of them and disappeared so quickly, that none saw him leave.

  Alexandre did not want to let him go. That demon was too dangerous to be roaming free. There were four of them here
, plus Zoe and Aelia. They could destroy him. If they went after him now…

  He felt Madison’s restraining hand on his shoulder. She knew what was in his mind.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘Not now.’

  ‘Now may be the only time we have.’

  ‘No. Please. Enough.’

  Alexandre sighed, but stayed where he was. He knew he would regret his decision.

  Chapter Forty Five

  Present Day

  *

  Now Mislav had left the cave, the tension lifted, lightening the atmosphere a little. But Alexandre remained wary. Aelia was hundreds of years old, incredibly powerful and she carried the sleeping sickness in her body. No matter how nice the woman seemed, she was still potentially dangerous and the sooner they left this place the better. In fact, the sooner they left the country, the safer it would be for all of them.

  But the Cappadocians were out there roaming free, an unknown quantity. What did they want? Would they come after them again? Would they target Madison once more to get to him and the others? Yes, probably.

  Definitely.

  He could not allow that to happen again. From now on, they would have to be on their guard at all times. But how could they live like that? Looking over their shoulders every minute of every day.

  He would question Morris first – haul him out of the van and see what the man had to say for himself. Perhaps he knew what the Cappadocians wanted … If Morris was a traitor, he must have information on them.

  ‘Are you okay, Alex?’ Madison touched his arm.

  ‘Yes. Sorry, I’m just trying to sort things out in my mind, but everything’s a mess in there.’

  ‘I know. It’s all been crazy. I can’t believe what’s happened over the last few days. And I can’t believe that Zoe’s here. I’m so glad she decided to leave the city.’

  ‘She saved us both.’

  Alexandre and Madison looked over to where Zoe sat talking quietly to Jacques and Isobel. Freddie’s voice rose above their hushed murmurs:

  ‘We need to find my sister,’ he announced. ‘I’m worried about her.’

  ‘No need, little brother.’

  ‘Leonora!’ Freddie cried as she walked into the cave. ‘Where have you been?’

  ‘You missed all the fun,’ Jacques said.

  Isobel gave Jacques a look and walked over to her friend.

  ‘Leonora, are you alright?’ she said. ‘We were worried about you.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Look … don’t be angry …’ She flicked her eyes across them all but would not make proper eye contact.

  ‘What is it, Leonora?’ Alexandre asked.

  ‘I’ve got something to tell you, but it sounds worse than it is,’ she said.

  Alexandre had never seen her so flustered before. He couldn’t guess at what was making her act so nervous and ill at ease.

  ‘I’ll just go ahead and say it.’

  By now, the cave was silent, everyone’s gaze fixed on Leonora.

  ‘I’ve been to see the Cappadocians.’ She put her chin in the air and finally looked Alexandre in the eye.

  ‘You’ve been where?’ he said. Why would she put herself in so much danger? Had she been trying to rescue Maddy on her own? But that wouldn’t make any sense. Maddy had already escaped…

  ‘I wanted to try and make a truce with them.’

  ‘A truce!’ Maddy said. ‘Let me guess what they said … Was it ‘no’ by any chance?’

  ‘Leonora! You could’ve been killed,’ Freddie said.

  ‘You cannot make deals with them,’ Aelia said. ‘They do what they want. They do not care about anyone else.’

  ‘I’m sorry, who are you?’ Leonora said.

  Aelia merely smiled.

  ‘That’s Aelia,’ Alexandre said. ‘It’s a long story, but she saved Maddy. What did the Cappadocians say to your proposal?’

  ‘Their emperor arrived this evening. He is anxious to meet us. I said … I said we would go there tonight.’

  ‘You said what?’ Maddy almost laughed. ‘I hope you’re joking.’

  ‘It’s a chance for us to put all this behind us,’ Leonora said. ‘If we go home now, we’ll always be in danger.’

  Leonora’s words echoed exactly what Alexandre had been thinking. Going to the underground city was the last thing he wanted to do, but it could be a way to end things once and for all.

  ‘Do you really think we can trust them?’ Freddie asked his sister.

  ‘I don’t think we have much choice.’

  ‘Well I do not think we should go,’ Isobel said. ‘I really think it is the worst idea I have ever heard. We came to Turkey to rescue Madison. We have her back now, so we should just go home.’

  ‘Belle,’ Jacques said. ‘I know it sounds like a crazy thing to do, but …’

  ‘Crazy?’ Maddy chipped in. ‘It’s the most stupid idea I’ve ever heard. Those vamps were just on the verge of executing me. Alex, tell them what a terrible idea this is …’

  Alex was torn. His instincts were telling him to get the hell out of this country and never return, but he knew that somewhere down the line he would regret not taking this opportunity, risky though it was.

  ‘Alex,’ Maddy shook his arm lightly. ‘We’re not doing this … right? It’ll be a trap, you know that.’

  ‘Maddy …’

  ‘No! I can’t believe you’re actually contemplating going back there.’

  ‘Madison,’ Leonora said. ‘It’s the only sensible option. Alexandre understands that.’

  ‘Leonora, it’s the least sensible option,’ Maddy replied. ‘It’s stupid and it’s dangerous. You weren’t here earlier. You didn’t see them fighting. And that Mislav guy is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.’

  ‘I’m not going back there,’ Zoe said.

  ‘This is Zoe,’ Freddie said to his sister. ‘Zoe, as you may have gathered, this is my sister, Leonora.’

  Zoe nodded at her. Leonora glanced at Zoe and frowned, but did not respond.

  ‘Maddy, I’m sorry,’ said Alexandre. ‘I really think we have to go there. We should at least try and make a truce.’

  ‘Good.’ Leonora smiled. But suddenly her smile vanished to be replaced with a frown and then a snarl. She flew past Alexandre and out of the cave.

  ‘Wait here,’ Alexandre said to Maddy, before following Leonora outside.

  Of course Madison ignored him and ran to catch up to where they had all now gathered in front of the cave.

  Alexandre saw Leonora grab someone in a headlock, about to break their neck. It was Morris. The caretaker was helpless to defend himself and now he was becoming red in the face, unable to breathe. Where had he come from? How had he found them?

  ‘What are you doing?’ Maddy screamed.

  ‘You can’t kill him, Leonora,’ Isobel said.

  ‘Why not? He betrayed us. Ben found the evidence.’

  ‘No!’ Maddy yelled. ‘Let him go, Leonora! It’s Morris! What are you doing to him? It’s Morris.’

  His mouth opened and closed ineffectually. It looked like he was about to suffocate.

  ‘Maddy. The man is a traitor,’ said Jacques. ‘He betrayed us to the Cappadocians.’

  ‘What!’ Maddy said. ‘Don’t be stupid. He would never …’

  ‘How did he get out of the van?’ Freddie said.

  ‘Let him go, Leonora!’ Maddy pleaded. ‘He’ll die if you don’t loosen your grip.’

  ‘He deserves to die. I’ll break his neck. He won’t feel a thing.’

  ‘No! Don’t you dare!’ Maddy stepped in front of Leonora and glared at her. Leonora shot back a look of venom.

  ‘Alex,’ Maddy said. ‘Make her let him go. Please.’

  ‘Alexandre,’ Leonora said. ‘Tell Madison it is for the best if I do this.’

  ‘No, Leonora,’ Alexandre replied. ‘Release your hold on him. Let’s bring him inside and hear what he has to say.’

  ‘We’d better hear him out, Nora,’ Freddie said. ‘He came
here of his own free will. Maybe he knows something important. And if he’s a traitor, we need information from him first.’

  ‘Leonora, let him go,’ Alexandre repeated. ‘Or I will be forced to step in and help the man. Much as he may deserve a snapped neck, Freddie is right; we need to find out what he knows.’

  Reluctantly, Leonora released Morris. He collapsed into the snow, struggling for breath. Maddy crouched down and took his hand.

  ‘Help me get him inside,’ she snapped. ‘He’s freezing.’

  Alexandre helped Maddy lift him to his feet and they all hobbled back into the cave. As they made their way inside, Alexandre quickly told Maddy about Ben’s discovery of the notepaper and how he suspected Morris of having dealings with the Cappadocians.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ said Maddy. ‘I can see why Ben would be worried, but I think he’s wrong. Morris and Esther are our friends. They’re not traitors.’

  ‘Leonora’s the traitor, not me,’ Morris gasped, still struggling for breath.

  ‘What did you say?’ Maddy said. They were now inside the cave and everyone was staring at Morris with suspicion.

  ‘I said …’ Morris cleared his throat. ‘I said, Leonora’s the traitor, not me.’

  At his words, Leonora flew at him again, dragging him out from between Alexandre and Maddy and flinging him onto the rock floor. Leonora now crouched over his body, her fangs poised above his neck. Alexandre knew she wouldn’t listen to reason this time and he grabbed and pulled her away from the caretaker. Fresh fragrant blood oozed from a gash in Morris’ head and Alex had to swallow down a sudden urge to fall on the man and drink from him.

  ‘Let go of my, sister!’ Freddie yelled, coming towards Alex.

  ‘Enough!’ Aelia said. ‘She hadn’t shouted, but her voice cut through their snarls and yells like a blade. ‘Children,’ she said, once quiet had descended. ‘Let this man speak.’ She and Madison helped Morris sit up, his hand pressed to the wound on the back of his head.

  ‘Are you alright?’ Madison asked him.

  ‘I don’t know. I feel a bit odd if the truth be known.’

  ‘I’ll get something to dress your wound,’ Aelia said. ‘The rest of you, sit down or leave my home.’