By Midnight

by Mia James

  Gabriel shook his head. ‘Just the opposite. Imagine you were a drug addict who ran a chemist’s. You wouldn’t spend your whole time off your head, would you? Having so much blood around makes it easier.’

  ‘But aren’t there other ways to get blood?’

  ‘Well, most vampires have feeders, people who let them drink a little of their blood every day.’

  ‘Don’t you?’

  ‘I have in the past,’ he said, and April found herself feeling ridiculously jealous.

  ‘So, what - you have access to the blood banks?’

  Gabriel nodded. ‘It’s not like I’m denying anyone - despite what the blood donor drives tell you, there’s always a huge surplus of type O.’

  ‘So because of your training you were able to stop my arm bleeding?’

  Gabriel nodded. April tried to remember it, but all she got was a jumble of images: the sensation of falling, gravestones and trees, Marcus’s face covered with blood. She turned to Gabriel.

  ‘Why did you do it, Gabriel? Why did you save me?’

  He brushed the hair away from her face. ‘Because I couldn’t let you go,’ he said softly.

  ‘But you’re going to have to now, aren’t you?’ she said, feeling tears sting her eyes. ‘Now we’ll be apart anyway.’ It was all so unfair: she had found her perfect man, done everything she could to push him away, and now, when he had finally told her he loved her, he had given his life for hers.

  ‘Hey, I’m not dead yet,’ he said and pulled her in for another kiss.

  ‘them…’

  At the sound of someone clearing their throat, April glanced away from Gabriel and found herself looking at Miss Holden.

  ‘Miss …’ she stammered, instinctively pulling away from Gabriel. ‘What are you doing here?’

  The teacher raised her eyebrows. ‘It’s visiting hours, April, the nurse told me where to find you.’ She held up the bag she was carrying. ‘I brought you some books I thought might help pass the time.’

  Homework? thought April bitterly. Haven’t I suffered enough?

  ‘Well, I think I’d better be going,’ said Gabriel, standing up.

  ‘Indeed,’ said Miss Holden. He nodded to the teacher, but then turned back to April. Slowly, deliberately, he planted his lips on hers, taking his time with the kiss.

  Wow! was all her brain could come up with, hoping he might do it again, but instead he just turned and walked back to the hospital.

  ‘Well.’ Miss Holden cleared her throat uncomfortably. ‘Are you allowed to drink tea? Because I could certainly do with a cup.’

  In the ground-floor café, the teacher brought April a cup of warm soup and they settled down at an out-of-the-way table.

  ‘Do I really have to do homework?’ asked April, blowing on her soup.

  ‘It is Ravenwood, April,’ said Miss Holden. ‘You can’t get behind. Anyway, I thought you’d want something to keep your mind off things, since you’ve had an awful lot on your plate recently.’

  April shrugged. ‘I’m doing okay,’ she said. ‘I mean, it has been tough with the new school and my dad and everything, but—’

  ‘Oh, I don’t mean all that,’ said Miss Holden, taking a sip of her tea. ‘I mean the vampires.’

  She said it so lightly, in such an offhand manner, that April didn’t think she could have heard her right. ‘I’m sorry, the vampires?’

  Miss Holden smiled. ‘Yes, April. I know all about it, and I’ve been trying to discuss it with you.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s been rather difficult so far.’

  April put down her spoon. Suddenly she didn’t feel like eating any more.

  ‘You … you know?’

  The teacher nodded. ‘I’ve been a little economical with the truth, I’m afraid. It’s true that as a teacher, it’s my responsibility to look after you, but my responsibilities actually go a lot further than that. I know that you’ve recently discovered your true place in the world and I’m here to help you however I can.’

  April shifted in her seat. She felt uncomfortable and, frankly, a bit weird. Was this woman really telling her that she knew about the Furies thing?

  ‘What place in the world?’

  ‘You’re a Fury, April. You have the mark behind your ear, don’t you?’

  April couldn’t help reaching up to touch her hair defensively. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said.

  Miss Holden nodded and looked down at her cup. ‘I completely understand. This must be the strangest thing in the world for you at the moment. Not only have you discovered that vampires are actually real, you’ve discovered that some of them live in your town, in your street. Then, when you’re getting your head around that, you find that they even go to your school.’

  April genuinely couldn’t think what to say. It seemed stupid to deny it when Miss Holden clearly knew so much, but even so, she had become used to being paranoid and careful. After all, she had no idea who this woman really was or what she wanted. She said she was here to help, but how could she possibly help?

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said April, as evenly as she could.

  Miss Holden smiled slightly. ‘Okay, fine,’ she said, fixing April with a serious look. ‘I’m guessing that no one has been straight with you up until now, so I will be. My name is Annabel Holden and I am a Guardian. I have known about the vampires since before I could talk, and I have been fighting them ever since I could stand. The Guardians are a secret society dedicated to gathering information on the vampires and doing everything we can to prevent their rise. We have been doing this since the first undead climbed from the grave, and many believe that moment pre-dates the Bible. My mother was a Guardian and so was my grandfather; the secret is passed down the generations. We have a network of friends around the world - police, church members, academics, even people in government - who let us know where the vampires are active. We go there to do what we can. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I teach at Ravenwood. At first, I thought I was here to learn about the Ravenwood organisation and do my best to protect the students, but now it seems I am here to train you.’

  ‘Train me?’

  Miss Holden smiled. ‘Not like Rocky. I’m here to teach you everything I know about vampires. Who they are, what they can do, what they want. What you can do. Because without that knowledge, you’ll be in serious danger.’ She watched April’s face carefully. ‘I don’t want to scare you, April, but it’s pointless to pretend otherwise. There’s something bad happening around us, a darkness is gathering.’

  ‘A darkness?’

  ‘Three high-profile killings, unprovoked attacks, an increase in recruitment, and I think that’s just the beginning. The vampires are on the move. Maybe it’s just a power struggle between the clans, but the rise of Ravenwood suggests a bigger plan, something much more far-reaching and sinister.’

  ‘But wasn’t Marcus acting alone?’ asked April with a terrible feeling of dread. It had been hard enough to grasp the fact that she’d been half-killed by a vampire, but the idea that it might not have been a random act was too much to bear.

  Miss Holden saw her frightened expression and softened her tone. ‘Yes, it’s possible Marcus was just out of control, although if he was involved in your dad or Isabelle’s deaths, I assume he was acting on orders, but this -’ she gestured towards April’s wounds ‘- this was personal. I’m sorry. I should have guessed that Marcus would do something like this after you were targeted by Benjamin.’

  ‘I was targeted?’

  ‘Yes. All of your friends have been - you must have noticed that?’

  April looked down at her hands, feeling guilt at having dragged so many people she cared about into this horrible mess.

  ‘I can only think Marcus felt threatened by you when he saw how strongly Benjamin, Davina and the rest of the vampires were drawn to you. He felt the attraction too and I think he hated being so powerless; that’s probably what sent him over the edge. Mr Sheldon disciplined him after he t
hreatened you, of course, and I thought that would be enough, but I was wrong.’

  ‘What do you mean, they were drawn to me?’

  ‘You’re a Fury, April. Like it or not, you’re a part of nature, a counterbalance to the vampires. You’re a honey trap for vampires. Everything about you is designed to draw them in: the way you look, the sound of your voice, even your smell. You must have noticed that people at the school were reacting to you in an unusual way?’

  April felt cold; goosebumps ran up and down her unbandaged arm. She had felt it. Of course, she had assumed it was because she was new and therefore interesting, but perhaps … It would certainly explain a lot: like why someone like Milo Asprey would want to kiss her. Like why Davina wanted to be friends with her. But could any of this be true? Was she really that different from everyone else? She knew one thing: she didn’t want to be different.

  ‘You’re not saying much,’ said Miss Holden.

  April shook her head. She was reluctant to open up to the teacher, tell her how angry she felt at having been backed into this corner, having so much heaped upon her shoulders, having people around her get hurt. She wanted to tell someone, to let it all out before she burst, but she had no idea who Miss Holden really was and what she wanted from her. April shrugged. ‘I’m finding it hard to get excited about any of it to be honest. My dad’s dead, I’ve been mauled by a lunatic and … well, I’ve got a lot on my mind.’

  ‘Gabriel, you mean?’ she asked.

  April looked up and saw a kind expression on the teacher’s face. ‘For what it’s worth, I don’t think the Fury thing is what drew him to you,’ said Miss Holden. ‘I think there’s a much simpler explanation.’

  April could feel herself choking up and Miss Holden touched her hand gently. ‘I know what he did for you, April,’ she said softly. ‘It was a wonderful thing, whoever or whatever he is. So maybe this will help: a Guardian’s job is to know where the vampires are and what they’re doing, and as far as I know, Gabriel Swift hasn’t shown any interest in another woman since he buried Lily.’

  April’s eyes widened. ‘How do you know about Lily?’

  ‘I know the whole story, April - it’s what I do. But you watch yourself with him, okay? He may have saved your life but he’s still a vampire.’

  April shook her head, tears pricking her eyes again. ‘Not for much longer.’

  Miss Holden lifted her bag onto the table and pulled out a book. ‘Listen, I’ve got to be getting back to school, but I’ll leave you this.’

  She slid it across to April. It was an old linen-bound book, the sort Mr Gill had stacked up in their thousands. On the spine in faded letters was the title Magick and Ritual.

  ‘This will answer a lot of your questions,’ she said. ‘It’s a sort of Rough Guide to mythical creatures, written in 1840. You can take whatever you find in there as gospel, more or less.’ She tapped the edge of the book where a bright pink Post-it note was sticking out. ‘I think you’ll be particularly interested in chapter six. I’ve marked the page, although as a Guardian, I really shouldn’t be telling you about it. Think of it as a goodwill gesture.’

  April looked at her quizzically, but Miss Holden just smiled.

  ‘You’ll see,’ she said, rising. ‘And I’ve written my numbers on the bookmark. Give me a call when you feel up to it, then we can have a proper talk. My door, of course,’ she said with an ironic smile, ‘is always open.’

  April got up with her and walked back towards the lifts. ‘So what happens when I go back to school?’ she asked.

  ‘Business as usual. I’m the teacher, you’re just another student.’

  ‘But how can I pretend nothing’s happened?’

  Miss Holden stopped and looked at April, her expression deadly serious. ‘You have to, April, because your life depends on it and so do the lives of the people around you.’

  April began to object, but the teacher held up a hand to stop her.

  ‘Yes, I know you don’t like it and I can sympathise, but the vampires will be looking for you - some of them will have worked out that there is a Fury in their midst -and it’s vital that we stop them before they figure out who and what you are. The best way to do that is to stay in school, gain their confidence and try to get to them from the inside. Your friend Caro’s theory is a good one. Only this time, we will be doing it together.’

  April nodded. She wasn’t sure she had grasped everything Miss Holden had told her, but she believed her when she said she was in danger.

  ‘So does this mean I’ll get an A in History?’ she asked.

  ‘No, April. It doesn’t,’ said the teacher as she turned away. But April could see that she was smiling.

  April got back in the lift and returned to her room. Carefully laying Gabriel’s coat on the chair, she clambered into bed with difficulty and opened the book. The chapter was headed Mesapotamic Alchemy: Solve et Coagula.

  What is that? French? Latin? she wondered. She read on:The great Persian alchemists were men of infinite wisdom and vast ambition, and among their myriad lusts were three primary aspirations, to whit: the transmutation of base metal into gold, the creation of a panacea - a universal remedy that held the power to cure all known contagions - and the discovery of alcahest, a universal solvent which could dissolve any material, even the hardest stones. The most ancient and secretive of all the alchemists were the Hermetic scholars whose dread experiments combined all of the magick and heretical knowledge to one end: the search for immortality. Many believe that the Muslim physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, or Rhazes, actually succeeded in his quest in the ninth century, inadvertently creating the vampire race, although another, equally lucid school believes the alchemists were searching for a cure to the vampire disease: a chicken and egg argument. What is indisputable is that by the early sixteenth century, with the rise of chemistry and biology as mainstream philosophical approaches, many branches of alchemy were forced to choose a side, go underground, or both -for example, the Guardian sect, direct descendants of the alchemist Rhazes, who had sworn to use their substantial knowledge to fight vampires and lycanthropes. The Guardians also swore to protect the Furies, a group of humans with the biological ability to destroy vampires. Guardian lore also contends that they held the antidote to the Fury virus, known as ‘Dragon’s Breath’, suggesting that the sect had great magickal learning. Little is known ofthis elixir, except that it involved distilling the root of the Hawmarsh tree and the leaves of the Spirula plant, only found in a very few ancient English woods. The recipe is supposedly hidden in the Latin tract Liber Albus, one of the many spellbooks lost with the rise of materialism.

  ‘What are you reading?’

  April looked up to see Gabriel standing at the foot of her bed.

  ‘Gabriel!’ she cried and jumped up, throwing her one good arm around him awkwardly.

  ‘Hey, steady!’ He laughed, hugging her back, then helped her into bed.

  ‘You came back.’

  He shrugged sheepishly. ‘For my coat. I’m feeling the cold all of a sudden.’

  April threw a pillow at him. ‘And there I was thinking you couldn’t stay away from me.’

  ‘That too.’ He smiled.

  ‘Listen, I’ve got some amazing news,’ said April eagerly, quickly explaining what Miss Holden had told her, then showing him the book. When she had finished, Gabriel just nodded and looked thoughtful.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ asked April. ‘Aren’t you pleased?’

  ‘Of course. I want to stick around as long as possible now I’ve found you.’ He smiled at her. ‘But there’s a catch.’

  ‘What catch?’

  ‘This potion - assuming we can find all the ingredients - may well counteract the Fury virus, but it won’t cure me. I’ll still be a vampire, April.’

  ‘But you’ll be alive!’ said April with excitement. ‘And where there’s life there’s hope, Gabriel. Once you’re back to strength we can start looking for the Vampire Regent, but first we have to get
you well. Please, Gabriel,’ she said, the tears beginning to run down her face. ‘Don’t go away just when I’ve found you.’

  Gabriel pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. ‘I don’t want to leave you. It’s just that this past week, I’ve felt so alive, so connected with the world, with you, and I don’t want to lose that either. But of course you’re right. Let’s find the book, wherever and whatever it might be. Let’s find the Regent. Let’s find the man who had your father killed. Okay?’

  She looked up at him with shining eyes. ‘Okay,’ she said.

  He pushed her back onto the bed and began kissing away her tears. ‘Besides which, I’ve got some ideas of my own.’

  April giggled and reached out for him, but instead he turned away.