by Simon Cantan
When he ran his fingers over his leg, he saw his clothes were ripped, but the holes in his skin had already healed. He felt powerful again. It was time.
With a heave, he launched himself up, arcing taller than any building in Fredrikstad. He was more than a hundred metres in the air, as high as a twenty-storey building. All of Caterina’s power was inside him, combined with his own to make him invincible.
Far below, a kilometre away, he saw his father jumping from roof to roof. Jaden landed and sprang toward his father. He reached him in moments, overshooting, and returning as his father realised he was coming.
“You’re powerful now,” Rans said. “Almost too powerful. I told you to let me drain your mother.”
“That wasn’t going to happen,” Jaden said. “Not after I realised you were planning to kill me.”
“Kill you? I told you, I love you, son.”
Jaden smiled at that. “You thought it might not happen at once? That when I turned, the emotions might take a while to fade? Or I might somehow believe you? I’m a vampire now. I feel what you feel, what little that is. We feel hunger, anger, fear, but not love. I remember I loved you, but that’s gone. And if it’s gone for me, then it was never there for you.”
Rans sprang away from Jaden, but Jaden was on him before he could land, bearing him to the ground. He held the man down easily, his hand on his father’s chest.
“Please,” Rans said. “I raised you for years, took care of you. I hid you from everyone that wanted to eat you.”
“You saved me.”
“Yes,” Rans said.
“Like a vintage bottle of wine.” Jaden wrenched Rans’ head aside and sank his teeth in. The pain felt even worse than it had with Caterina. It was as if death itself was spreading through his body from his fangs. He ignored it and kept going until his father’s body crumbled to ashes beneath him.
Even with his strength down again, Jaden couldn’t help grinning. He got to his feet and looked around him. A few people were watching from the path nearby, their faces strained in horror. He realised he was in the middle of the road, car headlights pointed at him.
“Student film,” he said to the nearby people. “Vampire thing.”
“Bloody students,” one man said, shaking his head and striding away.
Jaden did his best to move inconspicuously in the other direction, but his new strength made it difficult to stay fixed to the ground. Now he knew where he needed to go. With Rans and Caterina gone, there was only one minor threat left to his domination of the small town.
Chapter 36
The Cure
The woman filled Katie’s cup with coffee for the twelfth time that night, a look of curiosity on her face. It seemed like she wanted to talk, but didn’t dare to. Maybe Katie’s expression kept her from asking.
Katie pulled out her phone and checked it. It was quarter to nine. She’d been sitting in the coffee shop for long enough, it was time to head to the bank. She brought up a search on her phone and found what she was looking for. After paying her bill, she headed out into the night, feeling the jitters from lack of sleep and too much coffee.
She followed her map to the right place and stopped outside, waiting for it to open at nine.
“What is this place?” Loki asked. “Gold Exchange? What do you need the gold for?”
“Have a guess,” she said, smiling at the guard as he unlocked the door and let her in.
“I didn’t think you had any money,” Loki said. “You spent it all on getting rid of your father’s demon, remember? And I know you’re not thinking of using my money.”
She walked up to the cashier and handed over her bank card. “Eight million kroners’ worth of gold.”
The cashier stared at her. “We’ll have to run a check on your identity to give out that much.”
Katie nodded. “That’s fine. I can wait.”
Loki appeared in front of her, his mouth twisted in anger. “What are you doing? That’s my money.”
She ignored him, moving to a nearby chair to wait while the cashier processed her order.
“Answer me,” Loki said. “Or you’ll regret it.”
“Outside,” Katie muttered. “Later.”
Loki glared at her and vanished from view. She breathed a sigh of relief and waited for her gold. When the cashier reappeared with a heavy cloth bag, she still seemed uncertain. She opened the security door and brought it out to Katie, handing it over.
“Do you mind me asking—” the cashier said.
“I do,” Katie said. “But if you must know, my grandfather entrusted me with his life savings and he doesn’t like banks. Or cash.”
She took her card from the cashier and left the building, having trouble holding the bag up. It was far heavier than her half million had been the first time she’d been in Oslo.
Loki was waiting outside the door of the building, barring her way.
“Around the corner at least,” Katie said. “Or it’ll look suspicious.”
Loki nodded and stepped out of her way, gesturing with mock manners. As soon as she rounded the corner, he reappeared in front of her.
“Answers now,” Loki said. “I don’t like people stealing from me.”
“It’s for the cure,” she said. “I’m going to Church Street to buy a cure for Jaden.”
“What cure? There is no cure for vampirism. He’s dead and evil. No amount of gold will help that.”
“You told me how to cure him. You said when you were a demon, someone cursed a vampire with you.”
“Sure,” Loki said. “That’s not a cure.”
“Maybe a curse for someone else can be a cure for Jaden. You have to at least let me try.”
Loki didn’t seem convinced.
“If I can get him on our side, how useful would that be?” she asked. “A vampire as a Servant of Loki? He could infiltrate their circles, learn their secrets. Not to mention the training possibilities we’ve already seen.”
Loki still seemed unconvinced, but he stepped out of her way. “I can see you’re not going to listen to anyone. Even the evidence springing toward you, blood lust in its eyes, wasn’t enough. Go try. It’ll be a waste of money we’ll need later.”
She nodded her gratitude, hefted the bag onto her shoulder, and made for Church Street.
When she got there, she had to stand and look for a moment. It had only been eight days since she’d been there last, yet it felt like a year or more. More had happened in those days than in her life leading up to them.
She walked to the door and knocked, waiting for Charlie Rivers to answer. When he did, he stared at her in surprise.
“Back already,” Charlie said. “There aren’t any refunds, you know.”
“I know.” Katie jolted her bag a little to make it clank. “I’m here buying for a friend.”
“Must be an important friend,” Charlie said, letting her in the door and leading her through to Church Street. “That or you’re exceedingly rich. Hope it works out.”
“I do to.” Katie walked straight for the first demon church on the street. She knew she’d need something powerful, if her plan was going to work.
Inside, the church took her breath away. It was as if someone had made it their life’s work to detail the history of pain in stained glass and sculpture. Hideous creatures loomed from each alcove and the light was tinged red and green.
A priest stood in the centre of the aisle, an elaborate headdress on his head. At first, she thought it was made from actual meat and bones, but on closer inspection, it appeared to be plastic.
“I’m High Priest Canker,” the man said. “Can I help you?”
She dropped the bag of gold gratefully to the ground. “I hope you can. I need a demon that will give someone a conscience.”
Canker frowned. “That sounds more like a god type of thing, young lady.”
She reached down and opened the bag, tipping it to let the gold spill out.
“Is what a lesser church might say,�
� Canker said. “We can definitely accommodate you. You need someone to gain a conscience? Are they psychopathic?”
“Probably. He’s a vampire. His name is Jaden Beck.”
“A vampire?” Canker pursed his lips, bringing up one finger to stroke his bushy eyebrows. “I see. So not a Godchosen?”
“No… I’m guessing that costs extra?”
“Yes. Definitely. Give me a few moments; I need to do some research.”
“Take your time.” She found a pew and sat, pulling out her phone. She tapped around on news sites for a while, looking for any sign of vampire attacks from the night before.
One site called the buildings collapsing an earthquake. Which seemed unlikely, particularly when it was so localised. Another site guessed there had been a series of structural failures. A third had a video of Jaden on it. She pressed on it and saw something fly through the air on a shaky video. Jaden bore his father to the ground and fell on him, saying a few words before biting his father’s neck. Rans crumbled into dust.
The video was labelled, Student Film in Fredrikstad. Below it, comments talked about how impressive the special effects were. Others complained that they didn’t have a permit for filming. No one seemed to notice the lack of a crew, or proper cameras filming the scene.
She shook her head. Even with video evidence, people were able to dismiss the hidden world around them. She doubted any of them would remember it in a week.
Canker returned, holding a laptop in his hands. He held the screen out to Katie to show her. On it, an engraving showed a demon called Belial gesturing at the world.
“Belial?” she asked.
“One of the most powerful demons ever created,” Canker said. “He ruled Hell before Lucifer. He pushes men into horrific acts, then drags them to suicide from regret.”
“That sounds terrible. I don’t want Jaden to commit suicide.”
“Oh. I assumed this was a revenge thing. To make him feel guilt for killing a friend or loved one.”
“No. I want to turn him back into the person he was. Vampires lose their senses of guilt and compassion. I want to give that back to him.”
“That’s…” Canker reached up and stroked his eyebrow again. “That’s a strange request. I’ll need to do more research.”
She nodded and turned her attention back to her phone, texting her father. Be back this afternoon. How’s the packing going?
Then she went on social media and read some of the posts from people in her class. There were a few asking where Jaden had been all week, but none mentioning Katie. She went to the school’s page and read for a while there, seeing all the assignments she’d missed out on. She wondered if Loki could help her study for her exams like he’d helped her train.
Canker returned again with a new page on his laptop screen. “I can’t find anything for compassion. Demons aren’t good with that. Sadness, guilt, anger, lust, selfishness, that’s all I have.”
“And love?”
Canker had to turn a chuckle into a cough. “No. No love.”
“Then what do you have.”
“I have a mix,” Canker said. “A bunch of lesser demons that combined should give some semblance of a soul: Jinnon, a demon of an over-thinking your impact on others; Seusur, a demon of nervousness and shyness; Baelweabohr, a demon of fear for others’ wellbeing; Gruelihr, a demon of excessive generosity; and Gorfemach, a demon of self-doubt.”
“It’ll work?”
“It will make him so wracked with guilt, he might never kill again. If he were human, he’d consider everyone’s feelings above his own. It would turn him into a wreck of self-assessment and paralyse him with fear. He’d never leave his home. Since he has no feelings to bolster, I’m not sure what will happen. It may not be enough to fight the hunger.”
“Do it,” Katie said. She cut off Canker’s next words with a nod. “It’s expensive. I know. Just do it. I’ll be outside.”
She got up and walked out the door, leaving Canker to count the gold behind her. When she emerged into the crisp February air, she saw it was snowing. Light flakes were settling on the surrounding ground. And Loki was waiting on a bench nearby. She walked over and sat beside him.
“That was a waste of gold,” Loki said. “You might as well try to house-train a lion.”
“Once this is done, I’m going back to Fredrikstad to find him. And we’ll see.”
“It’s not a cure.”
She ignored him, turning her face toward the sky and watching the snow tumble down from above.
Chapter 37
The Disease
Jaden shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t know how his father had slept in the thing for so many years. The dirt was hard and unyielding. Giving up, he pushed the lid open and got out. He stared at the coffin, at the last remnant of his father. All he had left of the years they’d been together. Jaden’s thoughts went to the events of the night before, to killing his parents.
He smiled, then felt tears run down his cheeks at the thought. The warmth inside him froze. He’d killed people, taken their lives to feed base hunger inside himself. He’d kicked a dog to death as it tried to stop him. Jaden sank to his knees, the guilt tearing at him. He’d killed Katie’s father, not because he was hungry, but because the man might have posed some tiny threat to his plans. If Katie had been there, he’d have killed her too.
He tore at his clothes with his hands, but no matter how he ripped at himself, he couldn’t feel it. His pain was inside his chest, threatening to burst him, growing with every moment.
Chapter 38
Home Again
“Dad?”
Chapter 39
Revenge
The world around Katie had vanished; narrowed to a point of rage that made it all irrelevant. She had no thought in her mind anymore, nothing but the impulse for revenge.
She turned the last corner onto Jaden’s street and her glare fixed on the trees shielding his house. As she walked, she ripped her bag open and pulled out her macuahuitl. She didn’t wonder if it could kill a vampire anymore; she would make it. If she had to drive it through him with the power of sheer vengeance, she would.
At the trees, Loki was waiting. He didn’t stop her; he didn’t even speak. His eyes held an understanding of what she needed to do. What she’d needed to do from the start.
She stalked up the path to Jaden’s front door and saw it was open. He was probably waiting for her inside. A tiny thought told her it would be a trap, but she didn’t care. Let him spring it on her and find out the consequences. She pushed through the door and went inside, through another open door and another, to the living room where Jaden was waiting.
He was shirtless, his skin covered in cuts that didn’t bleed. Most of them were around his heart, or where it would have been if a block of spite wasn’t there in its place.
“Do it.” He threw his arms wide. “Do it.”
Katie pulled the macuahuitl back and swung at his neck. The shock of her arms stopping made her gasp in pain. Her weapon had halted a centimetre from Jaden’s skin. He leaned toward it as if willing her to cut him down.
She glared around her, searching for Loki and finding him behind her. “Do that again and I’ll have you exorcised.”
Loki nodded.
Turning back to Jaden, she pulled back her macuahuitl and struck again. And again the weapon stopped short of its mark. Her muscles screamed in agony from the frustrated swing.
She spun around and swung at Loki instead, but the blow passed straight through him. She panted in frustration. “Why won’t you let me kill him?”
“Because it worked,” Loki said. “You tamed a vampire. He’ll help us now.”
“He killed my father.”
Loki reached out, as if he wanted to touch her, but couldn’t. “He did. His kind have killed thousands of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons. Your pain isn’t unique, Katie. All around the world, hundreds of people are going through the same pain today. Most of them won’t even know where their lo
ved ones went. They’re just gone. One meal in a string of them for a vampire.”
She shook her head. “And revenge?”
Loki nodded. “Revenge. I won’t stop you again when you strike. Nor will he. He’s destroyed. You did worse to him than I ever could by killing him. Look at him.”
She turned and saw the pain in Jaden’s eyes. He met her gaze and his expression pleaded with her.
“You want mercy?” she asked.
Jaden nodded, almost imperceptibly.
“Mercy you didn’t give my father,” she said. She realised Loki was right. Jaden would suffer worse as he was, than turned to ashes and dust. The only question remained what would make her feel better.
Strangely, she didn’t feel pity for him. There was nothing left inside her for the man in front of her. He wasn’t her former friend, he was something else. She’d used evil itself to turn him into a third thing, but he’d never be her friend again.
Chapter 40
An End
The funeral was quiet. It seemed Aidan hadn’t had many friends at his work. He hadn’t been there long enough. A few of them turned up briefly to pay their respects, but soon Katie was all alone with the undertaker. He stepped out of the room and left her with her thoughts, seeming to sense she wanted to be with her father one last time.
She walked closer to the coffin, to where Aidan was lying with his eyes closed. The marks on his neck were gone, masked with makeup by the undertaker. She saw with appreciation that he didn’t even appear dead. If he weren’t so still, she’d have been convinced he’d sit up and hug her. She wished he would hug her, one last time. He’d been her whole world for so long.
She put her head down on his chest, feeling the tears flow. They’d barely stopped for days. How could her father be taken away from her, just like that? It wasn’t fair. She had nobody left to turn to. Her best friend was gone, taking her father with him. She tried to imagine going back to school again, but didn’t think she could face their stares.
