The case to kill Mariana became stronger by the day.
The experience with the nun was perhaps Nina’s destiny. Juliana had previously thought Nina far too weak and conflicted to ever carry out a kill. But things had changed for them both, perhaps forever.
Juliana’s influence had not been completely lost on Nina, who began to practise different forms on a regular basis. She decided to practise on her own. Nina did not want to give Juliana any other thought than she would be a compliant, well-behaved and dutiful vampire.
Today’s form was mist. This was the one Nina seemed to have the most trouble with. Juliana had described it as simply ‘letting go’, and it really did feel like every part of her body was not just being pulled apart, but actually falling apart. Not a comfortable feeling at all.
Nina found she could only hold the form for a few seconds at first, but it was getting easier with practise.
Taking the form of the raven, a kind of perverted inspiration from Mariana, was something Nina could do, but was very unhappy with. She felt rather small and vulnerable. It might be fun for the adult vampires to morph into a much smaller form, but as Nina was small already, she wanted to experiment with larger targets.
She was not envious of Juliana, but she did like her figure. Whilst she had been tired, and surprisingly so, from turning into mist, transforming herself into an adult female was much easier.
Nina looked at her figure in the mirror, which gave off a faint reflection, and realised she could try on some of Juliana’s adult dresses after all.
She rushed to the wardrobe, and defiantly chose one of the imperial yellow coloured dresses.
The dress felt good, and real enough, because of course it was real. Her body, although pleasing to the eye, was a little less curvaceous than Juliana’s, and for that matter, was not as tall as Mariana either.
The body felt hollow. A shell. Nina looked again and again at herself. She loved what she could see, but not what she could feel. She wanted to ask Juliana just one thing – is it possible for a vampire to truly enjoy this existence, when, in her mind, it felt anything but real.
It was likely Juliana would just laugh at her, and say You’re dead, you stupid little girl. Be glad you’ve got this existence. You see the world like no-one else does. Why don’t you just enjoy it?
Apart from appearing to wrestle with her conscience in the small hours, Juliana genuinely seemed to get a kick out of being a vampire.
“When you’re not suffering from amnesia, you bitch!” screamed Nina, she had thought to no-one in particular.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Juliana had returned, unbeknownst to Nina.
“I’m-I’m-I-” Nina stammered.
Juliana stood in front of Nina, glaring at her. “Well?”
“I was just wanting to know, what it was like. But it’s a game. A stupid game. Who am I kidding? I’ll never be like you.”
To Nina’s surprise, Juliana’s stern expression softened. Nina thought that this might be the kind of situation where sisters would hug, but Juliana could be relied upon to keep her distance.
“I heard what you said, you know,” said Juliana, but there was no obvious hatred in her tone. “I’m not amnesic; it is just easier to block out those things. You’ll learn why I do that, when you make your first kill. A vampire cannot have a conscience.”
“You’re still on about that. You’ll never let it go, will you?”
“You can wear that dress whenever you like, once you have done what you need to do.”
It never failed to both surprise and unsettle Nina how Juliana could change from menacing, to pleasant, back to being menacing once more. She desired the adult form no longer, and morphed back into her small body.
“You’re taller than I was when I was your age. Best get the dress off, Nina. I don’t want you dragging the hem on the floor, making it all dirty.”
“Have your bloody dress then!”
Nina stormed off in a huff to her bedroom, and ignored Juliana’s attempts at reconciliation. Nina was tired of Juliana’s behaviour, whose mood seemed to swing in the direction the wind happened to blow.
She slept for a while, then, when she woke, she had an inspirational thought. A way to save herself, and Juliana. She would need outside help for this, so as the light escaped from the sky, she prepared to meet the one who could make it happen.
***
Nina took a deep breath, and opened the window in her bedroom. A strong wind buffeted the castle. Just for a moment, her footing was unsure, and her confidence wavered in what she was about to do. She looked down but could not see the bottom, for she was high up in the castle grounds.
Attempting to regain her composure, she swung a foot off the ledge, but immediately pulled it back. She doubted a vampire could die from jumping from a height, but wanted to know, all the same. Perhaps she was more human than she believed. Save for her appearance, Juliana was anything but human. Any being that came into contact with her, would find that out at their cost. But for Nina, this life, this existence, whatever it was, and regardless of what Juliana called it, was not for her.
So she jumped.
Was it true, or a trick of the mind, that when someone faces death, that your life flashes before you? Nina could see her mother. She recalled an early memory of her mother in her police officer’s uniform.
She recalled playing at school, wearing her own dresses. Not a care in the world.
Another memory. One where Marcus and Rocco casually walked into the school, and walked hand in hand with Nina, saying they had been sent by her mother to collect her, and had told the teachers that they were good friends with Occifer O’Hara.
Oh, Nina could remember it all so clearly. An innocent time, before she was made into a vampire. Marcus and Rocco had tied her up and left her all alone in the cemetery chapel. She screamed, they told her to shut up. Marcus even slapped her, the sting on her cheeks only slightly calmed by the tears from her eyes.
“It’s you or us,” Marcus told the very frightened young girl, “and it is not going to be us.”
Just before she hit the ground, Nina remembered the last sentence from her captors, when the younger looking one asked if it would work. “It had better, otherwise we’ll all be dead.”
Nina was just a few feet from the ground, before timing her transformation to perfection.
A small vampire bat she was, but one that was able to fly nonetheless. It had been easier to fly when Mariana and Juliana had been ahead of her, but now Nina would have to manage this herself. She needed help, and whilst Mariana existed, there would be no saving her, nor freedom for Juliana, who simply and ruthlessly carried out her mother’s wishes.
Nina would not enter via the front door. This was to be no quiet entry. It was a risk, but one she had to take. Her descent through the top window of the convent was met with a loud crash that shattered the peaceful night.
The glass was everywhere, but as Nina transformed into her true shape, the nuns who ran into the room to see what had happened could only look on in wonder at first, before the adrenaline kicked in; and the only emotion they could feel, was fear.
“Child of Satan! Stay back!” screamed one of the nuns. She brandished a cross at Nina, who hissed, and the cross burned the nun’s hand, forcing her to drop it.
“I’m here to help,” said Nina sternly. “The priest – where is he? Where are you keeping him?”
The nuns looked at each other, with one of them, perhaps a Sister, shook her head as if to instruct them not to speak. Nina wasted no further time and grabbed the Sister by her throat.
“Alright then – you think having one of us here is bad? Wait until the lot of you are Children of Satan. Now take me to him if you want to live.”
One of the nuns shrieked as Nina ripped her habit from her shoulders.
“For my protection,” said Nina. “Your blasted crosses are everywhere.”
It was much worse than that for Nina. She felt so weak, disea
sed by the convent, just as the church had weakened her. The only thing going for her, was that she had not killed. In the end, would their God take pity on her black soul?
She scrubbed such thoughts from her head. This was no longer about her, but about everyone. She could not kill Mariana without help, and Juliana, perhaps understandably, had refused. If the priest turned into a vampire, he would kill all the nuns too. That would be the kindest thing to do for them. Still, while he lived, there was hope.
The nuns instructed Nina to walk down an ever winding staircase, its walls were narrow, its steps even more narrow and steep. Nina decided not to use her powers to glide, and walked as the humans did.
Finally, they entered a great hall, but it was shrouded in darkness. Ahead of Nina was an altar, and sure enough, the priest lay on top of it. She knew it was him, even though his body was covered with a sheet, which was purple in colour.
His hand lay to the side, draped over the edge of the altar. Nina recognised the small purple birthmark on the priest’s hand. It was unmistakable. This had to be him. She could sense he was still breathing. Some of the nuns began to sob and whimper.
“Cut that out, will you?” snapped Nina. “It would seem I am not the only child around here.”
Nina pulled back the sheet. The priest was weak, but certainly alive. He tried to say something, but it was barely a whisper. Nina smiled as he heard his words.
“You can’t seem to keep yourself away from these holy places, can you child?”
“That depends on what you term as holy, isn’t it Father?”
“What do you want, child?”
“The same as you. An end to the Dreymuirs.”
“You lie.”
Nina pressed a nail into her wrist, and turned her hand over. The nuns screamed as blood splattered onto the priest’s mouth.
“I don’t care if you think I am telling the truth or not. I don’t have time for this and-”
Nina turned the priest’s head to the side. The marks of the vampire lay on his neck, but they were not clean. It was as if a beast had made them. The puncture wounds looked unclean, sore and angry. Even if the nuns had tried to clean the wounds up, their ministrations had only served to make things considerably worse.
“-neither do you, priest.”
The priest attempted to spit the blood out, but Nina pinched his nose and held his mouth open. “By her blood we are made, by the spilling of her blood will we become undone.”
Nina turned her attention to the nuns. “All of you stay back, if you know what’s good for you. He is weak. I am just trying to strengthen him for this task.”
“What task?” screamed one of the nuns. “We will not let you take him to the castle to be sacrificed.”
“Fine,” said Nina, who wiped a bloody hand on the purple cloth. “You can wait for Mariana and her delightful daughter to come here. Then you’ll be the ones being sacrificed.”
“Wicked child!” screamed the Sister. “You will burn in Hell!”
“Oh Sister, don’t be so obtuse. I am already there.”
“Yes, Sister, leave her be. This is the child’s day off.”
The priest had recovered quickly. Enough to speak clearly, and to stand unaided.
“Father, no.” The Sister spoke sorrowfully. “The child is evil.”
“Maybe she is, maybe she isn’t,” replied the priest, who could feel the blood of Nina and Juliana coursing through his veins. “She came here tonight at great risk to herself. I will go with her and do what needs to be done.”
The nuns reluctantly stood aside and watched as the priest and the little girl vampire walked slowly in the direction of the castle.
“Sister, as soon as dawn has broken, make the call to the Bishop,” spoke one of the nuns. “I expect that the church will be needing a new parish priest.”
***
“Are you scared, Father?” asked Nina.
“No, child. The Lord gives me strength.”
“Which Lord would that be?”
The priest smiled. “I am not playing this game with you. Satan is alive within you, child.”
“So you walk with the Devil, just as Jesus did for forty days and forty nights. As the raven flies, we will walk for less than forty minutes, Father. Perhaps the Lord does give you strength. You’re going to need it.”
As they walked towards the castle, Nina explained what needed to be done, and the order in which these actions were to be carried out. The bodies of Juliana and Mariana Dreymuir would be in their respective coffins. If one were attacked, and killed, the other would attack her assailant. It would not be possible for Nina to kill both at the same time.
“I’m quick, but not that quick Father. You will stake Mariana through the heart. I will take care of Juliana.”
“It should be the other way around. You are making this too personal, child.”
“Juliana spilled my blood. I am merely returning the favour.”
Cries of Jesus Christ filled the air.
“Father, you’re not trying to attract attention, are you? I need you focussed for this.”
“What will happen after we have driven stakes through their hearts?”
“I’m pretty curious to find out, Father.”
Another Jesus Christ.
“This is not a game, child!”
“I’m glad we’re singing from the same hymn sheet,” smiled Nina. “You see, Father? I can make jokes too.”
***
As they turned up the road, the sky seemed to turn even blacker in colour. The moon shone brightly, almost lighting a trail for them to follow to the Castle.
The gates swung open, the creaking sound alarmed the priest, whose head had began to swim with feelings of evil so overwhelming, he wanted to lift the little girl up and impale her body on the gate.
He gripped his left wrist with his hand, and prayed to God that he would get a hold of himself. The girl was right. The Dreymuirs had to die, and although they too would almost certainly die, at least this line of vampires would be at an end.
“Any questions before we go in?” asked Nina.
“Just the one. How have you fought the urge to kill?”
“It has taken more strength than you will ever fully understand, Father. Maybe one day, you will know what I’ve gone through.”
“Then let us get it over with, and be done with it,” said the priest solemnly.
Nina told the priest to walk to the north part of the Castle.
“I have to get the stakes,” said, Nina. “Go. I will catch up with you in a moment.”
The priest sensed Nina was leading him into a trap, but said nothing of his concerns. If it come to it, he would kill three vampires tonight, before throwing himself down onto the spikes below. He promised himself that no matter what happened on this night, he would not become one of them.
Sure enough, he entered the darkened mausoleum. It was deathly quiet. He counted more than three coffins, which started the nerves once again. The priest had a nervous tick in his left cheek, and right now, it was doing overtime.
As he approached the coffins, it was obvious to him which ones contained Mariana and Juliana Dreymuir. Where the dust had been disturbed, the coffin lids were shiny. Others remained completely covered in dust, as if it were a second skin.
“Or a shroud. That’s what you were thinking, right Father?” Nina had returned with two sharpened stakes, each one as big as she was.
“You just have to place your hand on the coffin lid, and it will rise,” instructed Nina, her voice barely audible. “Don’t try and heave it open, as humans do. You no longer possess human strength. But if your Lord gives you strength, use it to bury that stake into Mariana’s chest. You must also use this.”
Nina produced a dagger and gave it to him. “After you’ve staked her, hold her head up like this-”
Nina raised her own head up by pulling on her hair.
“- then use the blade to take the head clean off. Don’t second guess yourse
lf, Father.”
“That I won’t, child. That I won’t.”
Nina touched the coffin lid containing Juliana, who slept with her hands resting on her chest.
“See how I did it, Father? See how the casket opens?”
The priest nodded that he understood. “She looks like an angel, child. Not at all like the vile creature that has killed so many.”
“Yes. She looks so innocent while she sleeps, Father. But I tell you, she does not rest. Her conscience does not allow her. The faces of everyone she has killed torments her. For my own part, I start to pity her. I no longer hate her. Finally, I can give her peace tonight. Are you ready, Father?”
Three Tales of Vampires (The First Three Books in the Tale of Vampires Series) Page 14
