Dead Souls Volume Three (Parts 27 to 39)

by Amy Cross

  “Why wouldn't she be?” Kate added. “She must want to come back to Anna!”

  “Souls tend to become less attached to the physical world if they've been gone for too long,” Nixon told her. “Even though she's only been dead for a few hours, she might have begun to sink into a new way of being, a new consciousness. She might have forgotten this life, in which case there's no way to get her back.”

  Kate stared at Jennifer's lifeless face for a moment. “No,” she said finally. “I know her. There's nothing in the whole world that will keep her from coming back to her daughter. This is going to work.”

  V

  “What you have to understand about Madeleine,” Edgar continued, as he and Benjamin made their way across the dark field, heading toward the stone circle that stood in the distance, silhouetted against the night sky, “is that she's her own worst enemy. She wants to be like me, but she doesn't realize that would be the worst path for her.”

  “I don't think she wants to be like you,” Benjamin replied. “Not really. She wants to come out from your shadow and find her own role in the Le Compte family. It's easy for you, you know what's expected of you. She's struggling.”

  “Traditionally, women in my family dedicate their lives to breeding, and to serving their partners.”

  “I'm not sure Madeleine feels much like serving anyone,” Benjamin pointed out.

  “I know she has her own ideas,” Edgar continued, “and I want her to break free from the chains of tradition, but...”

  Benjamin waited for him to finish the sentence. “But not too much?” he asked finally. “Maybe, instead of struggling to decide what role she should fill, you should just let her make her own decisions. And then accept them.”

  Stopping, Edgar turned to him. “I believe that would be an unmitigated disaster.”

  “But it'd be her disaster, and she might learn from it. You have to trust her enough to let her make mistakes and bounce back from them. She's stronger than you realize.”

  “She has certainly surprised me of late,” Edgar replied. “But for now, this is as far as I will permit you to come. I am glad that I had you with me up until this point, but the rest of the journey is for me alone, and I must prepare for Quill's arrival.”

  “Edgar -”

  “You undertook to leave when asked to do so. That moment has come.”

  Looking over at the stone circle, which stood barely more than one hundred meters further on, Benjamin suddenly felt overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness. He'd spent so much time among vampires and werewolves over the previous few weeks, and now he was more aware than ever of his own mortality, as if he was an insignificant figure trying to run with giants.

  “How long will Madeleine live?” he asked finally. “In theory, I mean. What's the lifespan of a vampire?”

  “Much, much longer than that of a human,” Edgar told him. “Barring accidents, Madeleine and I could both live to see the limits of the stars themselves.”

  “Then...” Benjamin paused, feeling a knot of discomfort in his gut. “Then what am I going to be to her, in the grand scheme of things? Just a mayfly? Something that exists for a few decades and then dies, leaving her to move on and find another mayfly, then another, and another? I mean, I can comfortably say that I'll love her for the rest of my life, but for her to say the same thing about me...” He paused again, as if the concept was overwhelming. “How can love exist between two people who experience the world in such different ways?”

  “You fear that the love you share will die with you? That she'll forget you?”

  “In a way,” Benjamin continued, “but at the same time, the alternative is worse. The idea that when I'm gone, she's left alone... How can our love ever work in the long-term?”

  “I cannot answer that question for you,” Edgar replied. “You should speak to Madeleine herself.”

  “What about you and Kate?”

  At this, Edgar frowned. “Me and -”

  “Everyone knows,” Benjamin continued. “You're not actually going to marry Estella, are you? Everyone can see that you and Kate are -”

  “Any vampire faces this struggle,” Edgar replied, interrupting him. “It is one of the many reasons why relationships with mortal creatures are generally frowned upon. Ultimately, the weaker will die, and the stronger will be left behind to mourn and then move on. There are certain measures that can be taken to deal with this problem, but they involve changes that...” He paused for a moment. “It is not easy, but if you choose to follow this path with Madeleine, you must be aware that there will be pain ahead.”

  “If -”

  “And now you should go to her,” Edgar added, putting a hand on Benjamin's shoulder. “If you love her, be with her while you can.” Turning, he began to walk toward the stones, before stopping and looking back at Benjamin. “And if anything should happen to me tonight, tell Madeleine that I truly believe she can take my place as head of the family. Tell her... Tell her I have faith in her, that I once had doubts but that she has proven herself to me. Tell her she has my love and my esteem.”

  “How could anything happen to you?” Benjamin asked. “Isn't Quill weak and old now?”

  Ignoring the question, Edgar turned and walked away.

  Turning to head back toward the mansion, Benjamin stopped for a moment and then glanced back toward the stones. He could just about see Edgar in the distance, silhouetted along with the stones against the night sky. Although he found it hard to believe that Edgar could truly be threatened by someone like Quill, he nevertheless felt a little worried, since Edgar's words a moment ago had seemed almost like a farewell, almost as if he expected something bad to happen.

  “Madeleine can wait a few hours,” Benjamin whispered finally, keeping low as he followed Edgar toward the stones. Reaching a patch of tall grass, he knelt down and watched as Edgar seemed to stop in the middle of the stones, as if he was simply waiting for Quill to arrive. Figuring that he didn't want to leave Edgar alone, Benjamin finally decided that there'd be no harm in waiting for a while, just to make sure that his help wasn't needed.

  ***

  “How much longer should we give it?” Estella asked, with her hand still pressed against the side of Jennifer's face. Looking up at Kate, and then at Nixon, she seemed worried. “If it's not going to work -”

  “It's going to work,” Kate said firmly, staring down at Jennifer. “Just keep trying.”

  “She should be back by now!” Estella continued. “Her body is healed, but for some reason her spirit is not close.”

  “You don't know that for certain,” Kate told her. “Obviously it just takes longer, that's all. There's no way she'd stay away, not with Anna in danger.”

  “Maybe she doesn't know that her daughter needs help,” Estella pointed out.

  “You can't give up,” Kate continued, making her way over to the sofa and taking a closer look at Jennifer. “Please, as long as there's even the slightest chance, you can't give up.”

  “Estella might be right,” Nixon said, watching from over by the window. “I've heard it claimed that some souls, once they pass on to the next life, simply can't get back. It's possible that Jennifer Kazakos, wherever she is, has lost all her awareness of the mortal world. Is there anyone who might lure her deeper into death? Someone important to her, someone who died recently?”

  “Her husband died not too long ago,” Kate replied.

  “Then it's possible that when she died, he met her and they went off together,” Nixon continued. “I'm sorry, Kate, but everything that's written in the texts suggests that if she was going to return to her body, it would have happened by now. There's simply no precedent for a permanent human revival after so many hours, at least not in any of the books I've been able to study.”

  “So I should stop?” Estella asked.

  “No,” Kate said firmly, leaning down toward Jennifer's face. “If you can hear me, you have to come back! Anna's in big trouble, and she needs your help! She's been taken to
an orphanage on the mainland, I don't know what's going to happen to her, but Quill got hold of her so I'm certain she needs our help. Please, Jennifer, I know you might want to stay in the next world with your husband, but you have to come back! For Anna's sake! Please!” Reaching out, she nudged the dead woman's shoulder. “Anna needs you. Even if you don't want to come back for yourself, come back for her!”

  Nixon watched for a moment. “Anything, Estella?”

  Shaking her head, Estella began to pull her hand away.

  “No!” Kate said again, grabbing her hand and forcing it back onto Jennifer's face. “You're not giving up! Not now, not ever!”

  “Kate,” Nixon continued, “I think you have to face facts. It's over.”

  Kate shook her head.

  “Maybe I'm not powerful enough,” Estella suggested. “Maybe I'm just not that strong a witch?”

  “Oh, you're way stronger than you realize,” Kate snapped.

  “I am?”

  “Just... Keep trying!”

  “Then maybe I'm not strong enough yet,” Estella continued. “Maybe it's too soon for me to be trying something like this. My abilities might need time to develop, to grow.”

  “It's possible,” Nixon replied, making his way over to join them at the sofa. “Estella, everything I saw you do up until this point made me feel as if you possessed great untapped potential, at least up to the third grade of witchcraft, but maybe I was wrong. The witchcraft in your soul might just be a faint trace, fifth or sixth grade, enough to kill a few plants but not enough to pull off anything of this magnitude. I mean, a witch who can bring back the dead is pretty high up on the scale of powers.”

  “Kate,” Estella continued, “I'm so, so sorry, but obviously I'm not able to do this. Not now. Not today.” Slowly, she took her hand away, and this time Kate didn't try to stop her. “I tried, I really did.”

  Kate stared at Jennifer's face for a moment. “I know,” she said finally, stepping back. “You did everything you could, you both did.”

  “In the future,” Estella added, “did you ever hear anything about Ms. Kazakos, about her ultimate fate?”

  Kate shook her head.

  Holding her hand up, Estella stared for a moment at her palm. “For a moment there, I really thought I might be able to... Well, you know, to do something wonderful. I suppose it was tempting to believe that I might be powerful and strong, that I might be able to raise the dead. The whole thing seems rather foolish now.”

  “She doesn't have any family left on Thaxos, does she?” Nixon asked, staring down at Jennifer.

  “I'll take care of the funeral arrangements,” Kate replied, her eyes glistening with tears. “Leave it to me.”

  “That's good. We -”

  “And then I'll take care of Quill,” she added.

  Nixon paused. “I'm... sorry?”

  “He did this,” she continued, her voice trembling with rage. “He killed her and then he took Anna off to an orphanage, and that's just his first move. He's using an innocent little girl as a pawn in his game, and if he's willing to do that, it's clear that the man has no conscience. There's no telling how much misery and carnage he plans to cause on this island, but I'm going to stop him.”

  “I think Edgar -”

  “Screw Edgar,” she continued, heading to the door. “I'm going to the library. I'm going to find something I can use to make Quill pay for this. There's a way, I just have to find it.”

  “Huh,” Nixon replied, watching her leave the room, before turning to Estella. “She certainly has pluck, I'll give her that.”

  “Do you think she has a chance?” Estella asked. “Of defeating Quill, I mean?”

  “A mortal human woman versus a cold-blooded vampire?” Nixon paused. “No. She doesn't have a hope in hell, he'd kill her within seconds. Fortunately, I don't think she'll get her chance.” Heading to the window, he looked out at the darkness. “If we're lucky, Edgar's got this covered. He's out there now, he's probably tracking Quill down. Honestly, Edgar is the only one who has a hope of stopping that maniac.”

  ***

  “Where are you?” Madeleine muttered, standing at the front door and looking out at the dark island. “Come on, Benjamin, I thought you were coming back to me tonight!”

  Pausing for a moment longer, she finally sighed and pushed the door shut, before making her way to the foot of the stairs. At the last moment, however, she noticed that a door at the far end of the hallway had been left partially open, allowing a cold draft to enter the house. Making her way over, she pushed the door shut and then slid the bolt across, before going back to the stairs and hurrying up to her room.

  Once the hallway was empty, silence fell for a few seconds, before there was a hint of movement in the shadows under the staircase. A moment later, a figure stepped into view, looking around to make sure that there was no-one else nearby. With a faint smile on his lips, Quill moved quickly and quietly, leaning his cane against the wall before starting to follow Madeleine up the stairs.

  Part Thirty-Eight

  I

  “I'll find her,” Kate whispered, sitting alone in the crypt with Jennifer's body laid out on a nearby table. “I swear to God, I will find Anna and bring her back to Thaxos, even if I...”

  Pausing, she felt overwhelmed by the shock of the past twenty-four hours.

  “Even if I die,” she added finally. “I won't rest, not until that little girl is safe.”

  She waited, almost expecting Jennifer to reply, but deep down she knew the situation was hopeless. A solitary torch burned nearby, casting flicking orange light across the room and causing shadows to dance across Kate's face. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to imagine where Anna was and what was being done to her, but after a few seconds she realized that she didn't dare think about the situation in too much detail. Opening her eyes again, she realized that only one thing mattered:

  Finding Anna.

  Hearing footsteps nearby, she turned just in time to see Estella reaching the doorway.

  “What do you want?” Kate asked, although she immediately regretted the hint of anger in her voice.

  “I came to see how you're doing,” Estella replied, making her way across the room and placing a hand on Kate's shoulder. “I was thinking, despite everything Nixon said earlier, it might still be worth trying again. You never know, maybe we just gave up too soon. Maybe I gave up too soon.”

  Shaking her head, Kate sniffed back tears.

  “At least I could try,” Estella added.

  “She's dead,” Kate replied. “You did your best, but she's not coming back.”

  “Such a shame about the little girl, too,” Estella continued, making her way around the table and looking down at Jennifer's face. “Anna Kazakos always seemed like such a sweet little thing. Why, I remember the night I found her here during one of Edgar's parties, and I walked her all the way into town.” She paused for a moment, as a faint smile crossed her lips. “I enjoyed that. Looking after her, I mean. Holding her hand, telling her everything was going to be okay, acting like her...” Another pause. “I think I shall make a good mother. Edgar will undoubtedly want boys, but I think I would like a few girls as well. Yes, I definitely want girls. Edgar will fuss so much over the boys, he'll take control of their lives and he'll mold them in his own image. But he'll more or less ignore the girls, so they'll be mine, won't they? All mine.”

  “I guess that's one way of looking at things,” Kate replied, resisting the urge to grab Estella by the shoulders and shake some sense into her.

  “So you see?” Estella continued. “No marriage is perfect, but one can get by if one is adaptable, and if one looks for little nooks and crannies of happiness.”

  “And that's going to be enough for you?” Kate asked. “Nooks and crannies of happiness?”

  “It's more than most people get.”

  Kate couldn't help but allow herself a faint smile. “Maybe I was wrong about you, Estella.”

  “How so?”


  “Maybe you've got the right idea after all. You're making the best of a bad situation. I don't know how you can live like this, but fair play to you. You're an eternal optimist.”

  “A bad situation?” Estella asked, clearly surprised by the words. “Whatever do you mean?”

  “You don't love Edgar.”

  “I...” She paused. “Well, I... I mean, I... He and I, we...” Her voice trailed off for a moment. “Maybe love means something different where you come from, Kate. Maybe our two worlds are further apart than we imagined.”

  “Maybe,” Kate replied. “What about Doctor Lassiter?”

  “I don't foresee him being a problem.”

  “If you have feelings for him -”

  “It would never have worked,” Estella said firmly, cutting her off before she could say any more. “Once I recognized that fact, the decision was an easy one.”

  “It was?”

  “It was.”

  “Then you're tougher than you look.”

  Estella looked down at Jennifer's face for a moment longer, but it was clear that something else was on her mind. “Do you love him?” she asked finally, briefly looking up at Kate before turning away. “Edgar, I mean. Do you...” She paused again. “Oh. Did I really ask that?”

  “Are you sure there isn't someone else Edgar loves?” Kate asked.

  “Like who?”

  Kate thought back for a moment to the creature in the altar, and to the suggestion that the creature was Edgar's true love. She'd seen no trace of anyone else since arriving in Thaxos's past, so she figured that this 'true love' was someone who was either long gone, or who hadn't arrived yet. Then again, since she knew the altar to be empty at that moment, it was clear that the missing love would have to turn up at some point. Somehow, none of the pieces really seemed to fit together, not yet, although she felt she was on the verge of understanding everything.