Three Tales of Vampires (The First Three Books in the Tale of Vampires Series)
Page 5
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Eventually, Juliana came to, and when she did, a familiar face was in front of her. But the face looked strange, like those animals that are stuffed to convince their owners that they are somehow still alive.
It was the girl, the daughter of that police officer. Nina. She didn’t look quite right. Juliana squinted her eyes, and could see that Nina’s head was intact. Marcus, who used a mallet to smash people’s heads in, would have appeared to have left the girl alone.
Why did she look so strange then? The trauma of being kidnapped, she supposed.
The girl was trying to speak. Apart from her strange look, where for all the world she appeared to have been drugged, she seemed otherwise unharmed. Juliana craned her neck to hear what she was saying, but no words would come out. Eventually, the girl lifted her arm and pointed to something, or someone behind Juliana.
In the darkness, a simple word which filled her with terror.
“Sister.”
Definitely Marcus.
Juliana tried to get up, but Nina started to gesture wildly. Above Juliana, was some kind of spike, a sword of Damocles perhaps, but definitely something sharp. Her mind raced, and then the answer came to her.
It was a stake.
“Don’t try to move, sis. It will only make things worse.”
Marcus circled around his sister, before reaching above his head towards the stake, and pulled it down.
“It’s for the best, Juliana.”
“What? What are you on about?”
“You have to be stopped.”
“Marcus? What’s got into you?”
“Oh dear. She doesn’t remember, brother. Stand, my sister. Slowly.”
Juliana felt dizzy from the hit. Marcus had definitely whacked her with something. The side of Juliana’s cheeks burned with the pain. It was like a hot iron had been placed on her face.
She could make out a shadow in the background, but it was clearly Rocco. The girl, Nina, remained rooted to the spot.
“Rocco? You’re helping him? You’re actually helping him?” That shrill again. Juliana really hated it when her voice did that. Why would Rocco side with Marcus, after all they had been through together? Marcus was the bad one.
“We got her away from you, but if this is what it takes, then go right ahead Juliana.”
Maybe it was the haze of being hit by whatever it was, or the burning sensation on her cheek, but Juliana listened carefully to Marcus all the same.
“Go right ahead?”
“Yes. Kill her. After all, that’s what you want, isn’t it?” said Marcus. “Just let us live, sister. Let us go, unharmed. We don’t want to die like those ones in the station. We won’t tell anyone, we swear.”
“Marcus, what are you on about?”
Juliana started to march towards Marcus, but he held the stake up.
“No sis. Not another step. Please don’t.”
Actually, there was a hint of fear in Marcus’s voice. So Juliana complied, and stopped walking forward.
“So what now? You are still responsible for the murder of the Hills.”
“It wasn’t murder, Juliana.”
Oh. She was not Jooly anymore.
“That sweet couple. I don’t know how you can stand there and say that, Marcus.”
“In the early days, yes, I’ll admit, they were games. But they were dying, Juliana. I bet you didn’t know that. Mr Hill asked me if I could make it look like an accident. I tried. I tried to involve Rocco. Made him think we were vampires. I really did think I was one. And then, there was you. How you scared us, sis. That’s why I locked you in the wardrobe, though I knew you’d be mad once you got out.”
“You’re lying, Marcus.”
“I am not. Mr Hill wanted out. He had stopped his meds. He didn’t want to tell Mrs Hill.”
“Still, how could you do it Marcus?”
To this question, he offered no direct answer, except to say, “Nellie Hall wanted it too. To go out with a bang on her birthday. We were helping her family, because you were threatening them.”
Hazy details would come back to Juliana. Maybe she did threaten them. Maybe Marcus was right.
“Is your cheek still hurting?”
“Yes,” Juliana replied, gritting her teeth. She could feel her fangs protruding. A memory of Mrs Hill saying, “Teeth! A pain coming, and a pain going.”
Right on, lady, right on, thought Juliana.
“We’re going to go now,” said Marcus. “Don’t follow us, sis, okay? The girl, she is a gift. Do her a favour, and finish her off. Don’t….don’t leave her like this.”
Marcus backed off slowly, and then something fell from Juliana’s face; a holy communion wafer that had been sticking to it.
It had burnt her skin.
She turned to look at little Nina, who looked so confused, so innocent, so angelic…much like themselves on occasion. Juliana’s heart quickened, and soon, she had pulled little Nina towards her, and tasted her blood. Now, she realised everything. Now everything was clear. Now, Juliana realised why her brothers feared her.
She was a vampire. She had always been a vampire. Slowly, the memories came back, then hit her, wave after wave. Marcus had even tried to initiate Rocco into the game, using authentic fangs to sink into Mr and Mrs Hill. They had hoped that Juliana was not what they thought she was. They had hoped it was a game, and if it wasn’t, that Juliana would be taken away and corrected, somehow.
That’s why Marcus had insisted she join them on the hunt. She was the hunted, and she was the one they were trying to kill. She had simply avoided it, until now. The holy communion wafer was a distraction, whereas the stake could have killed her. The show of compassion from Marcus was not something she was going to share.
She had taken little Nina. She was setting up a new group of vampires.
And now, Nina, whose blood she had drank, would become one too.
Marcus had talked the talk, but had resisted for so long. Rocco, with nowhere else to go, was uncertain whose side he should take. No matter. Juliana watched as the boys began their run, and to be fair, had made good progress. But Juliana and her newest companion could move quick as light. They always could outrun the runners. Because fear makes you fall.
She grabbed Nina’s hand, which by this time had turned cold.
“Don’t be frightened,” Juliana said, blood still dripping from her mouth. “This is just the beginning.”
Juliana wiped the blood from her mouth, and walked towards the moonlight. Marcus and Rocco could run, but to vampires, such things didn’t matter. They would be caught, and they would be made. A new dawn of vampires had arisen. For now, it was just Juliana and Nina, and as they morphed into vampire bats in search of their quarry, a third vampire bat joined them in the sky. One who had not died giving birth, after all.
In vampire bat form, Juliana signalled to her mother that Marcus and Rocco were just up ahead. “They need to embrace the life, as we do, Mother.”
Juliana, her mother, and little Nina were true vampires. Marcus and Rocco had been merely playing at it.
No longer.
Soon, her brothers would join them.
The Blood and the Raven
A Tale of Vampires – Book 2
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Books by the same author
FICTION
Dark Winter (I): The Wicca Circle (2013)
Stormling (Book One of the Mordana Chronicles) (2014)
Dark Winter (II): Crescent Moon (2014)
Murderous Little Darlings: A Tale of Vampires: I (2014)
The Blood and the Raven : A Tale of Vampires: II (2015)
NON-FICTION
The Essence of Martial Arts (2011)
The Essence of Martial Arts: Revised Edition (2012)
The Essence of Martial Arts: Special Edition (2013)
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Copyright
Copyright © 2015 John Hennessy
Cover and back design © Images courtesy of Depositphotos.com
Typography © John Hennessy
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews – without the permission in writing from its publisher, John Hennessy.
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. The author is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2015.
Text copyright John Hennessy 2015
The right of John Hennessy to be identified as the author of this work is asserted by him.
ISBN-13: 978-1493622368 (CreateSpace-Assigned)
ISBN-10: 1493622366
A CIP Catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade of otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author, John Hennessy.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Inspiration for The Blood and the Raven
The first vampire story I ever read was Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Like most children attending school, reading the classics was a major part of the school curriculum. But I actually enjoyed this book, I became more curious about the subject, and looked up other books in the genre.
Upon finding Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, I believed I had found the definitive vampire tale. Many years later, I still believe no-one is a higher authority on witches and vampires than Anne Rice.
Irish author Joseph Sheridan de Fanu’s Carmilla, is another wonderful story that pre-dates Stoker’s work – but is no less a classic in my view.
For a long time, I have wanted to tackle the vampire genre. In Autumn 2014, the first of seven novellas was released. Titled Murderous Little Darlings: A Tale of Vampires: I; I wanted to get back to what I thought vampires really were. In recent years, vampires have been repackaged as romantic figures, and this is not really how I see them.
Watching countless Hammer Horror movies as a child, the vampire, especially a female one, would appear as a seductress. But she was never meant to be the kind of entity that could be romanced. Vampires are killers. That’s how Stoker wrote the character.
The 1992 movie of Stoker’s classic was subtitled Love Never Dies. In the movie, the reincarnated Prince Vlad believes he has found his Elisabeta in the Victorian-day Mina Harker. If you’ve read the book, it is a stretch to believe it is a romance.
It works for Coppola’s film, and whilst it was not scary, it had some good moments. But that was a long time ago. In this second Tale, I’ve attempted to make the subject matter more scary, more alarming. The vampires in the tale make no attempt at romance. They kill, and enjoy the very act. Such things should turn us off, and if I have done my job right, you will see vampires in the way that Stoker and Rice meant you to see them.
The Blood and the Raven: A Tale of Vampires II is the fifth fiction book I have had published.
One of the drinks mentioned in this book can actually be purchased in Birmingham. You’d have to go to The Wellington in the city centre to drink Hung, Drawn and Portered.
To readers of this story:-
Thanks very much for purchasing The Blood and the Raven. I hope you enjoy the story, and do let me know, as I love to hear from fellow readers.
You can contact me here:-
●http://www.johnhennessybooks.blogspot.co.uk/
●http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6869934.John_Hennessy
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The Blood and the Raven
Table of Contents
Contents
Table of Contents
Copyright
Five Candles
The Blood and the Raven
Night Terrors
A New Way of Living
Daughters of the Devil
Candle Flickers
Dedication
Dedicated to those who frequented a dark tavern in search of a relaxing drink, and shelter from a wicked night’s weather.
In researching this book, and others, I visited a public house called The Lad in the Lane, which is reputed to be Birmingham’s oldest pub, but also one of its most haunted.
My thanks also go to Aditi Saha, Cristiane Serruya, J Kahele and Maxine Groves, who also know a (good) vampire (story) when they see one.
Five Candles
“So she opens the door, and that’s when he kills her.”
“And?”
“What do you mean, and? She’s dead. He’s killed her. She’s left the building. Pushing up the daisies. She’s worm food. She’s dead.”
“Sorry. I was just expecting something more scary.”
Five teenagers sat in near darkness, two boys, three girls; candlelight shimmering on their faces. Each one hoped that they had a tale to tell, something that would make them fear going home alone. If it were memorable enough, a tale that would make them feel frightened even when it was daylight.
“Seth. It’s your turn.”
“No. It’s late, you’re all tired. I’m tired. And I’m not sure I want to be the last one to tell a story tonight.”
“Oh come on, Seth. We all agreed to be here.”
“Yes,” he replied. “And we’re here. So we can go home now.”
“Are you scared, Seth?”
“No,” he lied.
“Then come on. The story. Can’t be any worse than anything else we’ve heard tonight.”
Seth sighed heavily. After an age, he spoke. “I’ve heard the stories tonight, and frankly, they’re boring. We’ve heard Dracula rip-offs. Two Twilight type tales. Jeez. There’s even been one about robots. You really want to hear something scary? Well, I’ll tell you. Because my story is based on true events-”
Raucous laughter erupted in the darkness.
“True events. That’s what they always say, but it never is. Is this the infamous Book and the Raven?”
Although incorrectly stated, at the mere mention of the title, Seth stood up, and two of the candles the group were holding blew out.
“You see? You see what you’re messing with?”
“That was just because you stood up too quickly. Now come on Seth, true events or not, we want to hear it. Three long years, it’s been ‘Oh, I’ll tell you the story of the Book and the Raven.’ Then you wimp out, and we never hear it.”
“Fine. But I am not to blame if anything happens to you all, as a result of telling you this tale.”
The group failed to contain their barely muffled laughs.
“So what’s the title of your oh-so-scary story?”
“I have just one final disclaimer,” said Seth. “Saying the name of this story is a little like saying Candyman five times. It’s not to be messed with.”
“Candyman Candyman Candyman Candyman Candymuh-” mocked Joel.
“I am not joking about this,” said Seth, the pitch of his voice rising as he spoke. “Fine. Shut up and listen. Shut. Up. Yes. And you have got the title all wrong. The actual name of the story is-”
“Hang on,” said Daisy. “I’m pretty shook up as it is. And it will be long after midnight when Seth finishes his story, rig
ht? I am just raising my objections. If this story is anything like what Seth is saying, we should vote.”
“Voting?” sneered Joel. “It’s just a stupid story.”
“Of the five of us, two candles have blown out,” said Gretchen. “Yours, Joel, and yours too, Anna. You’re mocking Seth’s story. That’s why, every year, when we all meet up, he refuses to tell it. I know why he refuses; it’s with good reason too.”