by Emma Mills
Only witches and angels could use the aerial ley lines for travel and it irritated Eva no end.
‘Right, let’s go! Susannah has gone ahead with Caoimhe. She said we’d be safer heading for the forest surrounding Brooke’s house… just in case someone got there before us,’ Brittany said.
I nodded and concentrated on visualising the forest surrounding Brooke’s house. I had only visited it a couple of times, the last time being a couple of years earlier, when Leo had asked Brittany and me to try and talk some sense into her. It hadn’t ended well and we hadn’t been back. She had wanted to cut herself off from the entire supernatural community, so the only person she would see was Leo, the angel she saved from a life of misery and torture, and her boyfriend of almost eleven years.
Time flew as we soared above the freezing clouds in the streams of electric blue phosphorescence, occasionally changing ley lines as we made our way north. Half an hour into the journey, somewhere over Cumbria, Brittany skidded to a halt. I nearly flew past her and Saffy almost flew into the back of me as I too came to a sudden stop.
‘What’s up? Oh god! Brit, you’re blue!’ I said, as I floated over to her.
She stood, hovering above the clouds, the ley line shimmering under her feet, her body wracked with shivers.
‘St-st-stupid…I f-f-forgot the heat s-spell…’ she said, between shakes.
Saffy shook her head and laughed. Brittany scowled at her.
‘My f-f-fingers are too numb to do the s-spell.’
‘I’ll warm her up and you give her the insulation spell,’ I said, turning to Saffy.
I placed my hands over her black jacket, one on her chest bone and one between her shoulder blades. She felt vampire cold, and my hands actually felt warm in comparison. I urged the energy through my fingers into her skin and felt her warming up. After several seconds the shivers stopped and her cheeks went pink again.
‘Thanks, Jessie-Jess… Saff,’ she said, smiling at me and then turning to Saffy who had finished muttering a spell under her breath.
‘Come on, I reckon we’ve got about another hour of flying,’ she said, setting off at a racing pace.
Glasgow was easily identifiable, even from hundreds of feet up, by its sprawling city light pollution, but once we had passed its borders we were thrust into total darkness again. We slowed down and drifted lower, but even with my eyesight it was almost impossible to tell the difference between the dark forest and the inky ocean, which wound its way into inlets and crevices, as the Scottish shoreline broke up into a thousand craggy islets.
‘Do you have any idea where we are?’ Saffy shouted, as we slowed further and skimmed above some pine trees.
I nodded.
‘I think so. I’ve only been here in the daylight and even I can’t really see much down there, but I’m relying on my intuition. It feels right this way. See that line of darkness? I think that’s the edge of the Forest Park. If we go west a little more I remember crossing water to another sliver of land, and Bellanoch was just on the far edge before you hit more water.’
Fifteen minutes later we were hovering over a tiny hamlet on the edge of a dinky harbour.
‘I think this is it,’ I said, slowly descending. ‘I remember there being a jetty and boats.’
‘I thought she lived in the forest?’ Saffy queried.
‘She does, but we can walk from the village. It’s not far and we’ll be able to scout around easier.’
‘We can’t just go down in the middle of the village,’ Brittany said.
‘Brit, it’s two in the morning and we are literally in the middle of nowhere. There are about ten houses here and half of them are probably holiday lets. Look, there is just one light on in that house down there, but all the others are dark.’
‘Come on then,’ Saffy said. ‘Do you think we should wait for the others?’
I shook my head.
‘Let’s find Leo and Brooke first.’
The village was as dead as I had predicted and, avoiding the cottage with the bedroom light on, we walked quickly to the end of the street and cut through onto a forest path.
‘Lumeo,’ Saffy and Brittany quietly chanted, as we stepped into the total darkness of the forest.
Sparkling balls of light appeared in their hands, hovering slightly above their palms. I smiled and remembered all the times that we had lit the forest back in Malden, my cousins’ home. It had become something of a Christmas tradition, albeit an illegal one, seeing as we always included Susannah’s twin brother, much to my aunt’s disapproval.
I stepped slightly ahead of them, leading the way as I wove through the forest, not needing a light ball and instead seeing everything bathed in the muted infrared light that allowed vampires to see at night. It was great for close up, but didn’t work so well from the clouds.
Presently we reached a crossroads in the path, with a National Forest Park trail sign, two public footpath arrows, and the fourth reading Private Property.
‘This way,’ I whispered. ‘Better put out your lights.’
The light balls faded to nothing more than a muted glow and we followed the new path down to a small wooden gate.
‘Wow! I guess Leo got here fine, but why light the house up like a beacon?’ Brittany said, as we paused and stared at the cottage.
It was a small two bedroomed stone cottage, hundreds of years old, with a fairy-tale ramshackle chimney on top. It looked somewhat incongruous when every window was illuminated with electric light.
I shrugged and we opened the gate.
‘Does this seem weird to you?’ Saffy whispered.
‘Let’s go round the back then,’ I said.
We peered in the windows as we crept past, but there appeared to be no-one in any of the rooms.
When we reached the back door we were no better informed. All was silent. There was no sign of a single soul.
‘Where’s Leo?’ Brittany wondered.
I shrugged.
‘We’d better go in…’
We all paused as a rustling sound came from the trees just behind us.
‘Quick, in here,’ I urged, as I shot into the cover of trees which came right up to the back of the cottage.
‘Ow!’ Brittany yelped, as she stumbled into a bramble bush.
We leant back into the shadows when a man appeared, pushing his way through the shrubs towards the cottage, passing right in front of us.
‘Brooke?’ he called out.
‘Leo?’ I said, stepping out from our hiding place.
‘Oh, it’s you,’ he said, the hope in his eyes visibly fading.
‘Have you been inside yet?’ I asked, as Saffy and Brittany joined us.
He nodded.
‘I switched all the lights on. She’s not there.’
Chapter Eight
‘What do you mean, she’s not there? Has she left a note? Do you think she’s been taken?’ I asked.
‘Come inside,’ he beckoned, walking back to the door.
‘I have checked every single room,’ he said. ‘But no note, nothing!’
‘No sign of a struggle either,’ I said. ‘That’s good news.’
Leo shrugged unhappily.
‘I don’t get it.’ He slumped into a nearby chair. ‘Why didn’t she tell me?’
‘Maybe she was taken… maybe she was lured somewhere… or maybe she has just gone somewhere for New Year’s and not got back yet. I bet that’s it. She’s probably gone to Glasgow, with friends or something,’ I said, hoping but doubting the latter was true.
‘She wouldn’t have gone to Glasgow. I asked her to come to Eva’s party and she refused. She said she didn’t like parties, as they were too claustrophobic… I asked her to marry me, Jess. She refused that too.’
‘You two can’t get married!’ Saffy scoffed.
I scowled at her.
‘I don’t care about the angel code. I told her it didn’t matter. I’d leave the Guard if I had to. Hell, I’d even live here, but she said she wanted t
o think about it… and I should too. She said we could never have kids. She didn’t want to pass her genes on…’
‘Didn’t that bother you?’ I asked quietly.
He shrugged.
‘I love her.’
‘She’s crazy! She has this awesome world-changing power and yet she hides away up here, in the middle of nowhere, and doesn’t even want to spend New Year’s with you. She’s giving you an out and you should take it… Have a normal life!’ Saffy snapped.
‘Why are you always so rude?’ he said, his eyes glittering with either tears or anger… or both.
‘She has no filter, ignore her,’ I said.
‘But to be told you can’t ever have children... that is something huge. I know. I’ll never have children, I don’t have the option, but if I was human again and someone told me to choose between having children and Daniel, I’m not sure which I’d choose. You should think about it, Leo. Maybe her disappearing isn’t about tonight’s news at all; maybe she’s wanting to force you into thinking about your future.’
‘Um-m, Jess, good speech, but I think she has only just left… and left in a hurry,’ Brittany interrupted.
‘What? Why?’ I asked.
‘I’ve been having a root around in the kitchen. Come and look!’
We followed her through to the kitchen and stood squashed together in the tiny workspace.
‘Well, there’s a full load in the washing machine for a start, and if you were planning to leave for a week you wouldn’t leave a wash in or it would go all mouldy. Also the water in the kettle isn’t freezing. It was probably boiled a couple of hours ago.’
‘Oh, I didn’t think of things like that,’ Leo said. ‘What if she’s been taken after all, and I’m here moping about, thinking that she’s left me!’
‘I still don’t think she’s been taken, Leo. There’s no sign of any struggle,’ I said.
‘And I’m sure if she was under threat she’d stop being so stubborn and just teleport herself out of here,’ Saffy said.
‘Saff’s right, Leo, Brooke isn’t going to let herself get attacked by vampires just because she doesn’t want to phase anymore, and before she gave it up she was more powerful than her old tutor,’ I said. ‘Wherever she is, I bet she’s fine.’
‘I suppose,’ he said.
‘What with the warm kettle and the washing machine, my bet is that she watched the BBC at midnight and knew the Council would want her to turn back time and warn them. She knew we’d come for her and she did one!’ I said.
‘That is really bloody selfish. If I…’ Saffy began.
‘You don’t even know her!’ Leo said, his voice strained. ‘She went through hell her entire childhood and then she finds out that she has this incredible power and all the responsibility that goes with it. She’s the only one and she doesn’t want it.’
‘So? Jess is the only one, and she copes fine,’ Saffy argued.
‘I think there might be a couple more like me… Aunt Fran told me once…’ I said quietly.
‘Even so, at least Brooke is just a witch, even if she is a super-elemental-something-or-other. Jess has to cope with never fitting in,’ Saffy said, her voice rising.
‘Thanks for that, Saff,’ I said, shaking my head at Brittany who was biting her lip, looking thoroughly amused. ‘The point is she has gone and we haven’t a clue where. She could have phased to literally anywhere in the world. I suggest we drop it and get some sleep. When we’ve recharged our batteries we can fly back.’
‘Jess, shouldn’t Caoimhe and Susannah be here by now?’ Brittany asked, looking out of the window.
‘I messaged Caoimhe when I arrived, to say that Brooke wasn’t here, and there was no sign of a struggle, so they didn’t need to come. There’s no point in us all being here when there’s no one to protect,’ Leo said, looking gloomy.
‘Look, you go to bed and Brittany and I will do a last check of the house. We’ll hunt for clues you might have missed and turn the lights off as we go,’ I said, nudging Leo out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.
He nodded.
‘I’ll take Brooke’s room. There’s a guest room too,’ he said.
We turned the lights out and divvied out the beds. With Leo sleeping in Brooke’s room, Brittany and Saffy took the guest room. I stayed on the couch because we figured I didn’t need as much sleep, but with the room lights all out the total darkness of the Scottish night made my eyes droopy and I soon drifted off into a light doze.
In my dream I was running and something was chasing me. I didn’t know what it was; I just knew I had to keep going. There was a muffled explosion and I looked around, searching for the source, but everything was blurring past me as I ran and I couldn’t make anything out. Men’s voices carried in the wind, interrupting my hallucination and letting realisation drift down slowly upon me. I was running from the sun, which was coming up behind me, but there was no one else in my dream. The voices grew louder. I opened my eyes just as a huge, strong hand clapped over my mouth. It was big enough to cover the lower half of my face and his other hand roughly pushed me back and tried to pin me down.
Unfortunately for him he was expecting a witch, not a full set of fangs and a right hook that sent him flying across the room.
‘Leo! Brittany!’ I screamed, as three more smartly dressed vampires swarmed me.
‘I told you she wasn’t the one we wanted,’ one of the vampires said, as he leapt over his companion and came running at me.’
‘Yeah, well, we were told that she lived on her own. She’s not supposed to have any friends… apart from the boyfriend and he’s at that party in Manchester,’ the one whose head was half-embedded in the plasterwork grumbled.
‘Sorry to disappoint, but the boyfriend is not in Manchester!’ Leo shouted, racing into the room, the girls hot on his heels.
‘Sticky spell!’ Brittany yelled gleefully, thrusting her hands out. Nothing happened. She tried again. By this time Saffy too was in trouble, desperately chanting words as the vampire on the floor picked himself up and walked towards her.
‘Having trouble, witch?’ he chuckled.
Leo pulled out his lance with a flourish that made the approaching vampires pause momentarily.
‘Saffy, you and Brit need to get out of here, you’ve got no hope’, I urged. ‘I heard an explosion in my dream… they’ve set off a null bomb. You’ve got no magic… it’s how they planned on grabbing Brooke,’ I yelled between punches, whilst attacking two vampires.
Both girls paused, uncertain, and I could feel their anguish. They wanted to help, they hated being powerless, but without their magic they were basically nothing more than two slender, twenty-five year old human girls. Fighting vampires would be like a baby seal going up against a great white shark! They ran, leaping out of the way as one of my vampire attackers turned and lunged at Saffy.
With them gone Leo and I were outnumbered. One vamp distracted me, charging head on and, whilst I crouched ready for the attack, something hard struck my face. White hot pain shot through my jaw and sent me stumbling backwards. The second vampire had now reached me, picked me up by my top and thrown me across the room, which was actually a blessing, as it gave me time, before my elbow cracked against the stonework, to formulate some kind of a plan.
I pushed myself up and sprang into the air, soaring above my new attacker, my boot connecting hard with his head as he too flew at me. I heard the crack and the brief scream of pain as he fell to the floor twitching, his neck broken, but his blood still flowing through to the brain. I had precious seconds to finish the job, before he healed enough to move.
A foot drove into my side, forcing the air out of my lungs and making me cough. The other vampire grabbed my hair and pulled my head back, but I swivelled and kicked high, feeling my foot connecting with his ribs. He groaned and stumbled back, holding his side, and it gave me the second I need to leap back to vampire number one and rip through his neck. The vampire screamed as I pulled at his head, feeling th
e last tendons snap as it gave way. Bile rose in my throat and I thought, I’m going to throw up, but there wasn’t time. With an unholy roar of rage the second vampire leapt at me, fangs bared, murder in his eyes.
I dodged to the side and sprinted for the adjoining kitchen, but I barely had time to grab the carving knife from the block before he was on me, his teeth biting down hard into my shoulder.
I screamed, swivelled and thrust the knife out, hoping to dislodge the vampire from my back. It worked to an extent, but I couldn’t get enough angle to thrust the knife where I needed it to go. We battled on, his teeth ripping my shoulder open, my knife slicing into his skin, but never getting deep enough to cause serious damage. I glanced across at Leo as I heard him scream. One vampire had lost an arm to the angel blade and the other had several open wounds, but the undead can fight indefinitely and I could see Leo was beginning to tire.
I turned back to my attacker with renewed vigour and thrust him away, pain scorching my arm, blood trickling out of the gaping cavity in my shoulder. He fell back and I turned to face him, thrusting the knife out. It missed his neck but sliced straight through his chest bone. He snarled and ripped it out, flinging it away, out of my reach, then crouched ready to pounce again. I leapt over him and crashed into the wooden support beam, bringing it down right on top of the one-armed vampire. It crashed into his skull and momentarily pinned him to the ground. He thrashed about and I knew it wouldn’t hold him for long.
Leo was backed up against the wall, swinging his sword, as the remaining two vampires ran at him. I leap into their midst and swung my fists, allowing him time to raise his sword and swipe it down on the first vampire. Of course theoretically the only way to kill a vampire is by removing the head or burning with strong sunlight, but when one is sliced in half it pretty much works just as well, and the two halves of the vampire fell to the ground, twitching and unable to knit themselves back together.
But Leo was exhausted, his shoulders slumped, and I knew he had nothing left to fight the remaining two vampires. I jumped in front of him as they approached, grinning.
‘I think you’re buddy has run out of steam,’ one smirked, cracking his fingers.
