by Amy Cross
Watching as her brother made his way through to another part of the castle, Madeleine seemed stunned by this latest development. With tears in her eyes, she looked down at her trembling hands, and slowly her shock began to twist and grow until it became a kind of simmering anger. With pain in her soul and pure venom in her heart, she realized the only way to overcome such sorrow would be to make someone else feel a greater agony. Slowly, she turned and stared at Mike, who was cowering in the corner.
Chapter Four
"No!" Mike screamed as Madeleine dragged him across the stone floor. "I swear to God, I won't tell anyone! Stop! I won't do anything! Just let me go! Please, God, get me out of here!"
"Shut up," Madeleine muttered as they reached the conservatory. "Where the hell is he?" she asked, glancing around the room. She'd spent the past half hour dragging Mike through the castle, but Edgar was nowhere to be found. All she wanted was to find him and make him forgive her, but he seemed to have disappeared completely. She'd expected to find him in one of the castle's deeper rooms, probably sulking and brooding, but instead it was as if he'd left the castle. Still, she was convinced that he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. Despite everything, despite his anger, he was still her brother, and they were still tied together by fate and destiny and love.
"I'll give you anything!" Mike shouted. "There must be something you want! Name it!"
"I want to find my brother," Madeleine said calmly, looking down at him, "so I can kill you while he watches." Out of sheer frustration, she yanked the chain that was tied around Mike's neck, pulling him closer. "Do you happen to know where I might find him?"
"No!" Mike screamed, trying desperately to get free from the chain.
"Edgar was right," Madeleine said quietly, as she impassively watched Mike's continued struggle. "Three hundred years have passed, and humans are still more or less the same. It's a miracle that no other species has come along to take your place as the dominant power. You're just lucky that vampires prefer to stay in the shadows. If we gave a damn about empires, your sorry civilization would have been wiped off the map centuries ago. You're nothing but food to us. Walking, talking, moaning bags of blood and meat."
"Get off me!" Mike yelled, with tears rolling down his cheeks. "For the love of God, just let me go! Why are you doing this? I won't hurt you! Just let me go!"
"I'm doing it to prove a point," Madeleine replied, turning and dragging him back the way they'd come. "My brother seems to be lacking a certain passion these days," she continued, even though Mike was too busy screaming and sobbing to hear her. "He's lost his edge. I'm worried he might become listless and depressed. Hopefully, some fresh blood will be enough to get him all fired up again. Believe me, when he's firing on all cylinders, Edgar's a hell of a sight to behold. I guarantee you've never seen such an impressive sight."
Stopping, she looked down at Mike's struggling form as he tried to rip the chain apart with his bare hands.
"Are you still doing that?" she asked after a moment, with a disinterested tone to her voice. "Can't you just accept your fate? It's not as if your life really means anything, anyway. Your only value is as food, so can't you focus on the fact that you're about to fulfill your true calling?" She paused. "I can't tell you what an honor it's going to be for you to be devoured by us. When Edgar and I fall upon a body and feast, it's such a divine moment. All that blood. All that screaming. I hope you hold on for a while. I'll try not to kill you immediately. You might not have had a very interesting life, but I'll make sure you have a fascinating death."
"If you touch me," Mike said, still trying to get out of the chain, "I'll kill you. I swear to God -"
"Whatever," Madeleine replied, leaning down to him. "Keep struggling, though. All that effort should make your flesh a little more tender when we -"
"Fuck you!" Mike screamed, suddenly looping a section of chain around her neck and pulling tight, trying desperately to cut off her circulation. He was pulling as hard as he could manage, hoping to strangle her, but his sweaty hands were constantly slipping on the metal chain. "You thought you were smart, huh? You thought you could -"
Before he was able to finish the sentence, Madeleine ripped the chain from his hand and let it drop to the floor, before leaning closer and hissing as she bared her fangs.
"No!" he screamed, covering his face with his hands.
Madeleine laughed. "Oh, Mike. You're going to be a pleasure to kill. You're so theatrical and -"
Somewhere deep in the house, there was a loud, ominous groaning sound, like metal straining under some kind of enormous weight.
"What was that?" Madeleine asked, letting go of Mike and standing up. She'd lived in the castle, on and off, for many years, but she'd never heard such a noise, and there was no way she was going to believe that it could be something natural. After a moment, she heard the noise again, except this time it seemed to be coming from a slightly higher part of the castle. Dropping the chain that was wrapped around Mike, she took a step toward the stairs. "Did you hear that?" she asked eventually, turning to look back at her prisoner. "I didn't imagine it, did I? There was a noise. Like a kind of..."
She stood in silence for a moment, listening out for every sound.
Somewhere nearby, there was a brief click.
Silence again.
The floor rumbled.
The wooden buttresses began to split.
A shower of stone-dust fell from high above.
"What's he doing?" Madeleine asked eventually, with fear in her voice.
From far below, there was another groaning sound, and the floor seemed to shudder for a moment. It was as if something was affecting the entire castle, ripping away at its foundations.
Turning, Madeleine saw that Mike was crawling slowly toward the main door. Reaching down, she grabbed the end of the chain and pulled him roughly back toward her.
"Nice try," she said, her voice filled with tension as she heard the noise yet again. Moments later, the floor started to shake, and a deep crack opened in one of the walls. "What the hell is he doing?" Madeleine asked, wandering over to inspect the damage as pieces of rock tumbled down to the floor. "What could he possibly be up to? What kind of crazy idea has he got in his head this time?"
Hearing a sobbing sound nearby, she turned to see that Mike was once again crawling toward the door. Sighing, Madeleine wandered over and grabbed him by the neck, before lifting him up to face her.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked. "It's over. I've decided what's going to happen to you, and there's no room for argument, so just -" Before she could finish, there was a loud rumble from above, and Madeleine looked over at the stairs just in time to see that more rocks were breaking loose from the walls. "I don't like this," she muttered, carrying Mike over to the stairs as the rumbling sound began to spread throughout the entire castle. "He's doing something. I don't know what, but -"
A loud grinding sound filled the air as the entire castle seemed to shake, and the whole structure started tilting to one side. Small pieces of rock fell from the ceiling.
"It's like..." Madeleine started to say, before she suddenly felt a moment of realization wash through her body. "It's like..." She turned to look back at the stairs. "It's not possible. He wouldn't... Not the whole castle. He's not that angry with me. This is our family home. It's all we have left. Why would..." She paused, before turning to stare at Mike. "My brother," she said slowly, "is a madman. A vengeful madman. A brilliant, vengeful -"
"Please just let me go," Mike whimpered.
"It's -" Madeleine said, before the whole building seemed to lurch and shudder.
"Oh God!" Mike shouted.
"I knew he couldn't give up on the game," Madeleine continued. "I knew it! He said he was tired of playing, but don't you see? All that bluster was just part of the game! All the time, he was planning his revenge, but I never thought..." She looked down at the ground. "I never thought he'd go so far. Just as he underestimated me all those years ago, I underest
imated him today. Oh, I can't wait until the next time I see him. He's going to be so pleased with himself and I'll have to do something fabulously terrible to him in return! I knew he hadn't changed! He still loves me!"
"Dear God," Mike said, squeezing his eyes tight shut, "get me out of here!"
Ignoring him, Madeleine hurried over to the main door, just as the floor lurched again. The rumbling sound was getting louder and more persistent, and now that she understood what was happening, Madeleine was filled with the understanding that it was far too late for her to do anything to stop her brother's scheme. Staring out at the mountains, she felt another jolt as the castle lurched, and as she turned to look up at the top of the building, she felt the ground begin to give way.
"Clever," she whispered with a smile, putting her hands together under her chin and starting to clap. "Such a fabulously clever boy, my darling brother."
Seconds later, the ground collapsed completely as the entire castle began to fall away from the mountainside. Madeleine felt herself starting to plummet, but she couldn't stop laughing as she realized that Edgar had found a way to punish her for everything she'd done for him. As she fell, surrounded by the rest of the collapsing castle, she realized that her brother had rejoined the game, which meant only one thing: he still cared for her, and everything was back to normal. It'd take her a while to get herself out of the ruins, of course, but she knew that she deserved this. Besides, being buried in the ruins of the castle would give her time to come up with an even greater plan for getting her revenge when she finally found a way out.
With an ear-splitting rumble, the full weight of the castle came crashing down. The heavy iron bolts, having long supported the structure, had been removed one by one, and the entire structure was now coming loose. High above, a massive section of rock began to fall away. Madeleine was powerless to do anything other than watch in awe as the castle continued to fall all around her, slowly at first but finally gathering speed until it began to plummet down the side of the mountain, eventually tipping over and smashing completely. Finally, her body disappeared into the rubble and was quickly covered by a huge mass of rock and stone. Every part of the building was churned and ripped apart, breaking into thousands of pieces. A huge pile of stone and wood crashed to the bottom of the valley, followed moments later by a massive rockfall as one entire side of the mountain gave way and came tumbling down, landing on top of the castle and crushing its remains. A cloud of dust rose slowly into the air, and finally the scene was still.
All that was left, in the end, was a pile of rubble where one side of the mountain had collapsed on top of the castle. There was no more movement, no sign of life. A few rocks were still slipping down, but otherwise the scene was completely still. If any life persisted, it was buried deep under an enormous pile of rubble. The castle, and all its occupants, were beneath thousands of tonnes of mountain debris.
Nearby, standing on the edge of a rocky outcrop, Edgar LeCompte stared down at the wrecked, buried castle. After a moment, he turned and began to walk away, leaving his sister to begin the long task of crawling out from the vampire's grave.
Epilogue
"Tell me the truth," Caroline said, her eyes filled with tears. "Is she ever going to be okay again?"
"It's far too early to make a call," Dr. Webber said gravely. "Mrs. Wilson, you have to understand that we still don't know exactly what happened to Eva. The nature of her injuries, the manner in which she disappeared and was found... There are so many variables. I'm not comfortable making too many forward-looking statements right now. I know it's hard, but we just need to wait and see."
"Can I see her?" Caroline asked. "I want to see her."
"You can see her," Dr. Webber continued, "but first, I need to -"
"Let me see her first," Caroline said, standing up and walking over to the door. "She's my daughter. She needs me."
"I understand that," Dr. Webber replied, remaining seated, "but first there's something I have to tell you."
Stopping at the door, Caroline turned back to look at him.
"Eva's undergone an immense level of physical and psychological trauma," Dr. Webber continued. "We can't even begin to estimate -"
"You've already said this!" Caroline hissed, starting to lose her patience. "I want to see my daughter!"
"People in Eva's condition don't always wake up," the doctor explained. "I know that's not what you want to hear right now -"
"You're saying she's dead?"
"Not at all. I'm simply saying that we need to be realistic in terms of what we can expect from her. In terms of her waking up, there's no way to accurately predict when there might be a breakthrough. It could be in a week, or a month, or a year, or ten years, or..." He paused for a moment. "It could be never."
"Or it could be today," Caroline firmly, fighting back her tears. "She might wake up as soon as I walk into that room and talk to her. She might hear my voice and come back to me."
"Anything's possible," Dr. Webber said diplomatically, although the look in his eyes betrayed a lack of hope.
"I want to see her," Caroline said again. "Now!"
"I'll take you to her," Dr. Webber said, getting to his feet and heading over to the door. The pair of them walked in silence along the hospital corridor and into the ward. After checking a few details on a clipboard, the doctor gestured for Caroline to follow him to the far end, and finally he stopped.
"You don't know my daughter," Caroline said, still on the edge of crying. "She's strong. She's stronger than anyone else you've ever had in here. She's been through so much since the death of her father, and she's always been able to hold up just fine. She's going to surprise you."
"I hope so," Dr. Webber said with a sigh, sliding the door open. "Spend as much time as you need with her. Talk to her. Read to her. Whatever you think might help. There's always a chance."
Without saying anything, Caroline turned and headed into the room. She immediately stopped when she saw her daughter resting on a large white bed, with all sorts of tubes and wires connecting her body to a series of machines. The whole room was humming thanks to various computers that were lined up on a nearby table, displaying various readouts.
Walking over to the bed, Caroline stared at Eva's face, which was still just about visible from beneath all the equipment. She looked so peaceful, it was hard to believe that she'd been through such a traumatic incident. Sure, there were a few cuts and bruises here and there, but for the most part she seemed to be absolutely fine. She just wouldn't wake up. It had been twenty-four hours since she'd been found out in the forest, and she'd shown no sign of responding to any kind of stimulus.
"Honey," Caroline said, taking a seat next to the bed and reaching out to run her fingers against the side of Eva's face. "It's going to be -" She paused, before looking down at her knees as she began to sob uncontrollably. She'd warned herself to be prepared for this. She'd reminded herself over and over again that Eva was going to look bad, but it was still horrific to actually see her in such a terrible state. "Oh God," Caroline sobbed, shaking uncontrollably.
Several minutes passed before she was able to pull herself together. Reminding herself that she needed to stay strong for Eva's sake, Caroline reached past the tubes and wires and pushed the hair from across Eva's forehead. It wasn't much, just a small gesture, but it felt important to Caroline. Her daughter had been missing for almost two weeks, and all she cared about right now was being with Eva and finding some way to bring her back from whatever darkness had tried to claim her.
"I don't know if you can hear me," she said slowly, her voice faltering as she tried to fight back more tears, "but I'm here, darling, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise, I won't leave your side until you're better. One day soon, we're going to walk out of this place hand in hand, and we're going to go home and..." She took a deep breath, trying to make sure she held herself together. "I swear to God, you're going to be okay. You're a fighter, Eva. You're tough, like me, and like your father. You're
going to get through this, and you're going to show all those stuffy doctors that Eva Wilson's make of strong stuff."
Glancing over at the door, she saw that Dr. Webber was talking to a nurse out in the corridor.
"They don't think you're going to make it," Caroline continued, turning back to Eva. "I can see it in their eyes." She squeezed her daughter's hand. "We're going to show them. Right? We're going to make them regret the day they doubted you." Smiling through the tears, she stared at Eva's pale, almost white face, and she couldn't help but notice that there skin around her eyes was a little red and sore. Whatever had happened to Eva during those two missing weeks, it had clearly taken a terrible physical toll.
"God," Caroline said with a sigh, looking down at the floor for a moment. She felt utterly wiped out, as if all her energy had been drained away.
"Momma?" said a familiar voice suddenly.
Looking at Eva, Caroline saw that her eyes were still closed but she was certain she'd just heard her daughter's voice.
"Eva?" she said, tapping the girl's arm. "Eva, did you say something?"
"Don't call the doctor," Eva whispered, keeping her eyes closed. "I don't want him to come in here. If you call him, I'll pretend to be dead again."
"It's okay, honey," Caroline said, her heart racing. "Are you okay? Eva, sweetheart, I was so worried about you!"
"I'm fine," Eva said quietly. "It's just that... They wouldn't understand. I'd rather be like this than have to talk to them. I've been listening to them, and I don't like it. They'd just get it all wrong."
"I promise," Caroline continued, "I won't let them do anything to you. Do you hear me? I won't -"
"Come closer," Eva whispered.
Caroline stared at her for a moment. "Sweetheart, why don't you try opening your eyes?"
"I will in a minute," she replied. "Just come closer first. Please, Momma."
Smiling through her tears of relief, Caroline leaned toward her daughter, although the tubes and wires got in the way.
