by Zara Novak
Ellie stepped forward beside Jack and nodded. She spoke, her voice timid and respectful. “That’s what everyone’s calling me these days, I usually just go by Ellie.”
Eric laughed again, nodding in encouragement as he looked back at Jack. “And she’s funny too. I must admit it’s quite amazing. The second daughter… a vampire hunter. I doubt we ever would have found her. Where have you been all this time Wraith? How did you survive that night at the castle?”
Jack looked around and paced across the floor in front of the mirror. “First of all, I think you should understand that my name is no longer Wraith, it’s Jack.”
“Of course,” Eric said and nodded. “Kara informed me of that. She brought me up to speed as best she could. Old habit. Apologies. Carry on. Jack.”
Jack nodded back at the vampire looking back at him. The mirror might have been charmed to act as a communication portal, but the image staring back at him almost looked like a reflection anyway. His brother’s face was extremely similar, and while their hair and clothes were slightly different, it was obvious they were related.
“We think the prophecy is leading us north,” Jack said, thinking of the image in his memory. “It wanted us to come up here for some reason. I can’t say why, all I know is that’s what I feel.”
Eric nodded, but there was a look of uncertainty on his face. “It would be good if we could reconvene at some point. Perhaps it’s best for you and Ellie to join us at Belmont castle? It’s safe here. The castle is a fortress, you know that.”
Jack considered the suggestion for a moment. The image in his mind flashed temporarily, fire and chaos replaced the frozen stone. “I’m… I’m not sure that would be so good. My intuition is telling me to follow the prophecy.”
“I understand Jack, I just thought it might be best if you were here with us. Our numbers are strong now, and we are well versed for a fight against the Red Circle and the White Order. Now that you have found Ellie, there only remains one daughter.” Eric broke out in a smile. “Can you believe that? One more and we’ve solved this thing. Do you know anything of the last daughter?”
The elder Kara stepped forward at this point and cleared her throat. “He does not, believe me I have already tried to mine him for this information, Belmont. She however might.” Kara turned and looked over at Ellie. “And it might be best if you bring your beloved in here. It’s quite possibly time that the lost daughters met each other for the first time.”
Ellie’s whole body trembled with nerves as she stared into the mirror in front of her. The door to the room re-opened and Eric entered once more with a brunette woman at his side.
“I just don’t see what’s in here that could possibly be so important,” she said as she followed Eric across the room to the mirror on their side. “It better be more important than our children, that’s—”
The brunette looked up and saw the mirror for the first time, her eyes locked onto Jack’s and then to Ellie’s. She stood there frozen in shock, staring back at her, her mouth hanging open. “Claire I’d like you to meet Ellie. The second lost daughter of the prophecy. She is your… sister. Ellie, meet Claire.”
Ellie stood there in wordless amazement, her reaction mirrored back in Claire’s exactly. Tears brimmed at her eyes, just as they did in Claire’s. “It can’t—It can’t be,” Claire gasped.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Ellie stammered back. She brushed back the tears from her eyes as Claire did so, and they both took a few moments to gather themselves, collecting their breath, trying to process the sight in front of them.
“I wish I could walk forward and hug you,” Claire said, laughing and wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.
“Same,” Ellie said, laughing back. For all the differences between them there was definitely a similarity in their faces. They had the same dainty nose, the same cheekbones, the same pointed jaw. Their hair was different, but there was no denying there was a relationship between them. “I have so many questions to ask you,” Ellie said.
“Me too!” Claire laughed back. Her eyes flicked with the burning of curiosity. “What do you remember? Do you remember me as a child? Do you remember our parents? I can’t, I can’t remember anything—”
Kara stepped forward again at this point. “Not to interrupt, but it’s probably best we don’t go into too much detail while talking like this. There’s always a chance the wrong type of person might be listening into this conversation. There’s no way of knowing what kind of detail might aid our enemy.”
Ellie and Claire both nodded in acknowledgement. “We can save the Q&A for the real reunion,” Ellie joked. Claire laughed again, her face beaming with joy.
“It’s a date. When are you coming back? Soon?”
“I was just discussing this with Jack, dear,” Eric said as he moved his arm around his mate. Claire’s eyes flicked over from Ellie’s to Jack.
“My goodness… Wraith. I didn’t even see you. Are you—are you okay?”
Jack nodded. “I am. I must let you know that I’m not the creature you once knew. My name is Jack now. Wraith… he is still a part of me, but he is no longer in control.”
Claire’s eyes seemed to flush with recognition. “O-Of course. Eric mentioned to me that your mind was different now. I just hope that you’re both well. It’s remarkable to hear that you’re alive. I never got the chance to thank you for saving us all that night.”
Ellie looked over at Jack and saw a smile on his face. “I might be able to accept that thanks if I could remember the night itself.” He laughed.
Eric stepped forward. “Before I forget I’d like to update you both on the situation down here while I can. I held a meeting recently with many powerful vampire families from across the country. They have all rallied together to help our cause, to help defend the prophecy and the lost daughters.”
A flush of gratitude swept through Ellie at the news. “That’s promising,” she said. “It means a lot to hear that people would be willing to help us out like that.”
“They are finally starting to realize what is at stake,” Eric said. “The latest resurgence of Black Fang has made people more aware than ever. Vampires are taking notice. The prophecy has repercussions, bad and good. We have to find the final daughter soon, or things could take a bad turn.”
Jack paced across the floor, nodding as he did so. “And what is the morale like in the castle? Are the people well?”
Eric nodded. “There is much to do, so yes. Keeping people busy helps. There are more vampires at the castle now than ever before and hunting enough blood to keep everyone alive is taking up most of our time. It’s too risky to drink from humans now, we are pushed to our limits.”
“Things are the same here,” Kara said sagely. “These are hard times for all us.”
“Indeed,” Eric answered. “But there is good news as well. Claire and I have triplets now… and there is the miracle with Ansel and Kat too.”
“Ansel?” Ellie asked. “Kat? Who are they?”
“Friends of ours,” Claire answered. “They are staying here at the castle with us. They travelled here from the west with another vampire named Edmund and a witch. Kat found out she was pregnant recently, which was most surprising. She wasn’t a breeder before all this started. It seems their direct involvement with the prophecy brought out this change.”
Ellie opened her mouth in shock. Was that one of the benefits of the prophecy? Would all vampires finally lose their infertility? She stopped to think what her father, Valdis, would think of that and smiled. If the three lost daughters could find their mates it would seriously put a dent in the Order’s agenda.
“There is still this issue of the disease however,” Ellie said. “This Black Fang. What can be done about that? Can vampires live off animals forever?”
Eric nodded gravely as he considered the question. “It is very troubling, and we do not know its exact source, but we suspect it is another weapon of the Red Circle. It seems that they are the agency m
ost involved in trying to stop this prophecy. We have some theories as to why, but as Kara mentioned before, it’s probably not best to discuss them over this channel. Hunting animals will sustain us for now, but we will need to find another solution in the long term.”
“But we almost have one, do we not?” Claire said and placed her hand on Eric’s shoulder. He turned and looked at her in confusion.
“We do?”
“Yes.” She nodded with encouragement. “Did you forget about the progress the York scientists are making with their synthetic blood research? Eli was saying just the other day there is a girl in his laboratory, Jessica, she is extremely bright and apparently very close to—”
Eric rolled his eyes and smiled, waving his hand through the air dismissively. “Don’t listen to a word he says. The York’s have claimed for decades that they are months away from creating synthetic blood. It is a pipe dream.”
Kara and Jack looked back at the bickering couple in amusement, but there were several words in Claire’s speech that had caught Ellie’s ear and pulled her attention to the ancient memories swimming in the vastness of her mind. York’s. Was that the name of the vampire family her and her red-haired friend were taken to live with?
Her attention was inevitably pulled back to the room a minute later as Jack placed his hand around the small of her back. The couple in the mirror were waving back at her, and it seemed the conversation had come to a close for now. The foreign room flickered out of the mirror’s frame and was replaced with their ordinary reflections moments later.
Kara stared at them both in the mirror, nodding to herself as she did so. “I’m proud of you both for doing that, I understand it can’t have been easy. If anything, you can rest a little easier knowing that a lot of people are on your side now. The Red Circle might want to destroy us, and the White Order might try to help, but there are a lot of vampires banding together to make sure the prophecy is protected. To make sure you are protected.”
“It helped,” Ellie said with an encouraging nod. She felt an overwhelming sense of strength rising up inside of her after speaking with Eric and Claire. With the support from the villagers in Skarvast and the support from the vampires back at the Castle Belmont, it really felt like the numbers were starting to fall on their side.
Before this it had just been Jack and Ellie, fighting against the tide together, and sometime even fighting against one another. They were stronger now, they were better, and they had the loyal following of a small army to help protect them. The Circle could fight, but they’d be no match for those that wanted life to prevail.
As they left the temple Ellie walked with her head held high, feeling renewed and invigorated about the prophecy. It had always felt like a heavy cross to bear, but for the first time since her involvement she felt excited about it all. What if they could fight back? What if they could win? A smile came to her face as she considered the idea and she squeezed her arm tight around Jack’s.
Nothing could go wrong if he was by her side. What could possibly stop them now?
29
Kaleb eased his wrist off the bike’s throttle, slowing the roaring machine to a stop for the first time since he’d left the gate. Engine purring over, he placed one boot down on the ground and stared at the tall wooden gate in front of him. A small door opened at the bottom of it a second later, a group of vampires emerged holding guns, pointing them warily in his direction.
“What’s your business here vampire?” a guard at the front asked.
“Just passing through. I’m visiting some old friends in these parts.”
The guards eyed him suspiciously. They looked him up and down, examining every detail. Kaleb smiled to himself. They would find nothing out of place. He’d swapped his Circle uniform out on the way up here. An unexpected run in with a farmer on the road up to Skarvast let Kaleb know that a Circle uniform might not be the best outfit to run his covert assassination. He killed the old man after he tried to stake Kaleb and took the clothes off his back. Now he was just Kaleb the farmer. Kaleb the Circle member was long gone.
“We’ll need to give you a full pat down before you’re allowed in, and you can stay for one night, max. There have been a lot of scrupulous characters in these parts recently and security is at an all-time high. Do you mind turning that bike off?”
Kill. Destroy them all. Eradicate obstacles and find the target. Kaleb turned off the bike with a simple flick of his wrist, stood, and held his hands up. “I’m more than happy to comply. Feel free to search everything. I’m just a regular vampire passing through, just like I said. Nothing to hide.”
Five minutes later he was through the gate and rolling down the track to the main village. He could have very easily killed the six guards that had met him at the front gate. He could have waltzed in here and killed everyone, but that ran the risk of tipping off his target and letting her run. Fuck, a chase might be fun, but he didn’t want to jeopardize the mission. He didn’t want to fail his creator.
A guard led him through to the main square. There was a faint presence of familiarity about the village, but Kaleb couldn’t place it. It looked like a petty little town. A place of simplicity and squalor. The sooner he got out of here the better.
“Guest quarters are over there in the Royal Oak,” the guard said and pointed to a large building across the square. “That’s where you’ll be staying. Ask for a girl called Natalie at the desk and she’ll help you out. If you need anything from us you’re free to come and visit the guard’s station.”
Kaleb thanked the guard and watched him walk back to the gate, not taking his eyes off him until he was sure he was gone. He turned back to the square and walked in the opposite direction of the Royal Oak. It was time to look around and find his target. Where could she be?
Don’t do this! A distant voice echoed in the vastness of his mind. He stopped momentarily, turning his head at the strange voice. We don’t have to kill anyone! We don’t have to do what the Vistor says!
A few people looked over at him as Kaleb seemed to take several pained breaths. He pushed the voice down and carried on until the sound of a stray voice in the crowd stopped him. He turned back, scanning his ears across the busy square. His eyes stopped on two vampires dressed in hunting gear.
“…grab Ellie and get out on this shift. There’s an extra demand for food with this festival tonight, so we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I said we’ll meet her at Garret’s shop.”
“Probably busy gawking over lover boy,” the other vampire joked.
Kaleb pushed back through the crowd immediately, knocking vampires left and right as he made to follow the two men. He took no notice of the complaints from people he knocked over. His mind was focused on only one thing, finding the girl. He kept a safe distance behind the two men and followed them to a blacksmith shop at the opposite edge of the square.
It seemed the men were collecting the target and going out into the forest to hunt with her. That would be a prime spot to complete his mission. It was far too busy here, and a wrong move might jeopardize his attempt. Hanging back, he buried himself in the crowd while keeping a close eye on the shop.
It was almost time.
30
Ellie wandered through the blacksmiths into the workshop at the back and saw Jack working away with his hammer. She had to stand there for a moment in awe just to appreciate him. Tall, muscular, his thick forearms tensing and flexing as he worked. Sparks burst with each monumental hit. Heat flared in the room, making the air feel hot and stuffy. He looked up after a moment and saw her standing there.
“Ellie?” Jack put his tools down and mopped the sweat from his brow before coming over to her. A huge smile filled his handsome face. “What are you doing here?”
“Just thought I’d surprise you and say hi. We had a big haul this morning, so we had to come back partway through the day to unload the trucks.”
Jack swept forward and kissed her, taking the air from her lungs momentarily. When he st
epped away she couldn’t help but smile, feeling slightly dizzy as she stared up into his smoldering red eyes. The booming voice of Garret echoed into the room and they both turned to see him at the door on the opposite side.
“No distractions! We’ve got enough to catch up on already! Too much to do for this bloody festival!”
“Sorry Garret,” Ellie said, laughing as she fanned the heat from her skin. Everyone in town was currently making preparations for the upcoming solstice festival and there was a lot to do. The last two days had been non-stop overtime with Malachi and Rourke to try and get enough food for the event. Garret and Jack had been coerced into making metal cradles for lanterns that were going up in the street later tonight. “I just wanted to say hi to Jack while I was back in the village. We’re heading on out again now. Lots to do before the big event.”
“I’ll dare say there is,” the blacksmith boomed. “Everyone’s looking forward to the festival. It’s a much-needed break after that recent attack.” A bell on the wall beside Garrett started jangling and he rolled his eyes with much weariness at the sound. “Looks like the furnace is ready. Say goodbye to your love, Jack, and come help me with this! Bye Ellie!” Garrett disappeared again, leaving Ellie with Jack once more.
“Sorry about that,” Jack said, laughing to himself. “He doesn’t cope well with stress. Still on for our plan later?”
“Sure,” Ellie said. “I’ll be back with Malachi and Rourke in a few hours, I’ll meet you in the Oak just before the festival starts.”
“Sounds good to me princess,” Jack said, leaning forward to give her another long kiss. Ellie finally turned away with some reluctance and made her way back through the shop to the square outside. Posted immediately outside were the eight guards assigned to watch them both. Four were stationed outside the shop for Jack, four stood there temporarily to wait for Ellie.
