Between Darkness & Light

by Theresa Van Spankeren

  Matthew got up and sat beside me. He gently squeezed my shoulder. “You’re with me. That’s all that matters right now. Do not worry about anyone else.”

  I leaned back and laid my head against his shoulder. I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the comfort of another’s closeness. The first comfortable silence in three days fell between us.

  ***

  A little before dawn we arrived in Rome and Matthew said something to the driver. I looked up as the carriage stopped. He turned to me. “We’re going to go the rest of the way on foot. We can pinpoint Samuel’s location better on our own anyway.”

  I nodded as we gathered our things and Matthew paid the driver. I looked around as the carriage pulled away. Large white buildings and archways towered above the small shops and homes of residents. Taking a few steps, I glanced down another street to see a flowing fountain in the middle of a square. The city of Rome was breathtaking even in the predawn light.

  “It is beautiful,” I mumbled. “So different from London.”

  “Rome is quite amazing, isn’t it?” Matthew commented from beside me. “It has been here since long before Christ walked the earth. It has never ceased to awe me every time I have been here.”

  “How often have you been here?” I asked, as I wandered over to study the carvings on one of the buildings.

  “Several times. Some say the city itself is alive.”

  “How could that be possible?” After a moment, I touched the old stone. A thrumming went through me; a sound like a thousand whispers filled my ears. With a gasp, I removed my hand and stared at it. When I glanced up, Matthew was staring at me thoughtfully. “What?”

  “You sensed it. Not everyone can.”

  Puzzled, I looked back at the stone. “What did I sense exactly?”

  “The energy of this place. Rome is one of the few places I know that has it. You felt a vibration of sort, but it was not physical. Right?”

  “Yes, I felt that.” I took a deep breath. “I also heard voices.”

  “Voices? What did they say?”

  “There were too many. I could not tell.” I expected scornful laughter, but there was only silence. “What does this mean?”

  “Truthfully, I am not sure yet. However, this I know– you are among the very few. Not even Mary Anne can sense places this way.”

  As I contemplated that, I looked back over the city. With effort, I tore my gaze away from it back to Matthew. He was staring into the distance with heavy concentration. “Matthew?”

  He turned to me. “We need to get back on task. Come on, he’s down this way. It’s not far. I almost expected him to be deeper in the city.”

  We walked quickly down the narrow streets until I could sense Samuel within a couple of blocks. I paused as I tried to home in on an exact location, but hissed in frustration when I could not do it.

  Matthew glanced at me when he heard the sound. “Trouble?”

  Nodding, I replied, “Why is it that the closer we get, the harder it is to pinpoint where he is?”

  “That is the nature of the barrier he put up. He doesn’t want to be found, remember?” He closed his eyes and seemed to be listening to something I could not hear or sense. After a moment, he smirked and opened his eyes. “Found you,” he whispered.

  I frowned as I followed him to a brownstone building. It was nothing very ornate, but it was larger and separated from the smaller homes around it by a small garden and alley. “How did you do that?”

  Matthew shrugged. “I’ve had years of practice locating Samuel. I needed to be close enough to try. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not.” He glanced at me. “If it had not been for your guidance the other night, I may not have gotten anywhere near here.” He banged on the door. “Samuel!”

  “There is no one here by that name!”

  I frowned at the words. Matthew sighed, then replied, “Come on, Samuel, open the door!”

  Samuel answered, but I could not understand it. His words were spoken as only a native could utter them – a flurry of melodious sounds, even if they were slightly slurred.

  I frowned as Matthew attempted to open the door, but was unable to. “What did he say?”

  “You do not want to know,” he replied.

  “Was he insulting me?” I questioned. “Did he want me to leave?”

  “They were insults, but I do not think he realizes who he is talking to,” he said. “Samuel –” He started as he tried the door again, but stopped as the sound of growling was heard. Matthew turned and leaned against it. “Tell me I just didn’t hear what I thought I heard.”

  “Samuel growling like a wild animal?” I asked.

  “I told you to tell me I wasn’t hearing that.” He frowned. “He’s had too much to drink. We’re not going to get in. Samuel has the entrance locked or blocked it with something.”

  “Do we break down the door?”

  “No. It’s too close to dawn, which means humans will be up soon. They’ll be more likely to hear us now than earlier. And even if we did get in, he may attack us – barking and growling like an animal.”

  I shuddered. “Good grief, Matthew, that’s not funny!”

  “It wasn’t supposed to be. Samuel’s so drunk; he probably will not recognize us anyway. Let’s find somewhere we can stay. We can come back tomorrow, long before sunrise.”

  I nodded, somewhat reluctantly. We turned and stepped down the stairs. “Good riddance!” Samuel shouted.

  Matthew and I exchanged looks and went to a nearby inn. Within a few minutes, we were sitting in a simple furnished room. A single candle burned in the middle of the small table. I had a horrible urge to cut after failing to see Samuel, but carefully restrained myself from doing so.

  “This is bad,” I said absently.

  “Yes. It is. Do you want to go back to arguing? It was a fun way to pass the time.”

  I gave him a withering look.

  Matthew laughed. “Only jesting, of course. You should get some sleep, Julia.”

  “I will,” I replied, but continued sitting at the table. He shook his head and sprawled out on the bed. “Night, Matthew.”

  “Good night, Julia.”

  I pulled out my dagger and began to sharpen it.

  “Julia?”

  “What?” I asked, thoughtfully studying the blade.

  “You really need to rest. And no cutting, understand?”

  “Yes, Father,” I teased. I worked the dagger’s edge before I put it back in its sheath. I sat up alone for the longest time before finally extinguishing the candle.

  Chapter 5

  Groggily, I lifted my head as I felt a sudden sharp pain in my left arm. I was still sitting at the table where I had fallen asleep earlier in the day. The arm in question was on the wooden surface where it had served as my pillow. I didn’t notice any blood on the repaired sleeve that would explain the throbbing I felt.

  Matthew jerked upright in the bed, swearing. He also glanced at his left wrist, and grated, “What the hell did he do now?”

  I looked toward him in confusion. “Matthew, what’s going on?” I asked. “It almost feels as if my wrist is cut open. And I did not do it.”

  “It’s something Samuel did. We’re feeling what he’s feeling.”

  “The bond between makers and their fledglings?” I questioned as I got stiffly to my feet.

  “Yes. The power of the ka-tet intensifies it. Come on, I have a feeling that Samuel’s done something really foolish this time.”

  I rubbed my aching neck. Falling asleep at the little table was not the best decision I had ever made. “Foolish as in slitting his wrist?”

  Matthew nodded, looking troubled. He frowned at me. “Why did you sleep at the table? I cannot imagine that was very comfortable.”

  I shook my head as we gathered our things. “I wasn’t intending to sleep there. I guess I lost track of time,” I replied. As we hurried down the street to the villa Samuel was in, I asked, “Slitting one wrist isn’t enough to endanger him, is
it?”

  “Normally, that wouldn’t be likely. However, I doubt he has been feeding very well. And I also suspect he has used a similar weapon to what you had,” he said.

  He didn’t bother to knock but immediately tried the door instead. To our surprise, the door swung open easily. I stepped inside and looked around the barely lit hallway. “Samuel?” I asked, moving father into the villa. I stopped in the doorway of the sitting room. “Oh, Jesu! Matthew! He’s in here!” I shouted as I sprinted over to where Samuel lay crumpled on the floor. There was blood everywhere.

  Matthew followed me, and then pushed past me when I stopped in terror. He knelt beside Samuel. After a long heart-wrenching moment, he said, “He’s alive.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. I thought . . .”

  “I need something to stop the bleeding, Julia. He slit his wrist with a piece of wood.”

  I turned and stumbled into the kitchen. I found rags along with many liquor bottles on the floor. I hurried back to Matthew and handed him some rags.

  He wrapped them around Samuel’s wrist. His left wrist, I noticed dazedly. “You idiot. You should know by now that doing this won’t help any!”

  I looked back down at them. “He does not care. He truly doesn’t care. All he sees ahead is pain. Who wants to live like that? You’ll do anything to get out of it.”

  Matthew shook his head. “It’s funny. Samuel may despise your very existence right now but sometimes you two think so much alike it’s scary.”

  “Has the bleeding stopped?” I asked, ignoring his statement.

  He lifted the cloth, then nodded. “It just did. I’m going to put him to bed and dress the wound properly. Why don’t you go feed? I’ll stay with him.”

  I hesitated a moment. A part of me wanted to argue, the other part realized I was awfully hungry. The scent of Samuel’s blood hung in the air, almost intoxicatingly. My stomach rumbled as the smell forced me to admit how starved I really was. I inhaled deeply as a tremor went through me. It had been a week since I fed. When I opened my eyes, I found I was staring intently at the cloth in Matthew’s hand and the blood surrounding Samuel.

  “Go on, Julia. I’ll be here. You won’t be any good to him like this. You need to feed before you do something you’ll regret. Besides, it might be better if I try talking to Samuel first when he wakes up. I’ll let you know when he wakes.”

  “All right, I’ll be back soon.” Matthew nodded and I left the villa. As I headed down the street, I found myself once again awed by the size and beauty of the foreign city before me.

  Eventually, I turned my attention to the task at hand. Finding supper. Without knowing how active Rome was at night, I wandered down streets until I spotted a lone man at the far end of the road. I didn’t sense any other vampires in the area so I knew this area was all right to hunt in. Briefly, I wondered if all humans in Rome were stupid enough to walk around alone at night. If so, I did not think feeding will be much of a problem, even with their group of vampires.

  As soon as I reached the young man, I put my hand on his shoulder to turn him. He spun, knocking my hand aside with a snarl. I glimpsed fangs, suddenly sensed him through the telepathy. A vampire. He was no more human than I was. He had obviously been shielding himself. Yet, I had never seen a vampire outside of my ka-tet shield themselves that well at such a close range. “Bloody hell,” I cursed as I stepped back, instantly dropping my hand to my side. “Pray pardon.”

  The vampire was dressed all in black, in an odd combination of clothing. The trousers were of a peasant type but the dress shirt was one of the upper class. And then there was the suitcoat. It was also all black and went down to about ankle length. I had never seen a coat like that before.

  I glanced up into the vampire’s face. He had light brown hair, all short, except for his bangs which fell over his left eye, covering that side of his face. A glint of amusement appeared in the eye I could see. I wasn’t sure what he thought was amusing – the fact that I had mistaken him for a mortal or my reaction at finding out he was one of us.

  “Why the hell couldn’t I sense you?” I blurted out in bewilderment.

  The vampire simply stared at me. I wondered if he even understood what I was saying. Maybe he didn’t understand English. Or maybe he was just refusing to answer the question. This situation made me nervous, especially when I was an intruder in another’s territory. I wasn’t very welcome by Resistance and Loyalists alike.

  “Are you a part of Rome’s group?” I asked this question in English as well. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember any of the Italian I had learned.

  “No. I am not,” he answered, startling me as I realized he understood my native tongue.

  “Thank the Lord for small favors,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Tryin’ to feed.” His accent was unique too. It reminded me more of my own accent than an Italian one, but it was also distinctively different.

  I closed my eyes for a second. Stupid question, I scolded myself. “Uh, for the sake of clarity, you have no connection at all with the group that lives here?”

  The vampire narrowed his eyes. “No, why?”

  For the first time all night, I smiled. “Good. Please do not tell them you saw me. I am trying to avoid a confrontation while I am here. Good hunting,” I answered and turned back the way I had come. I definitely needed a different place to hunt tonight. And I needed to hurry. God only knew what was going on at the villa. It would be my luck that Samuel had woken and had returned to drinking.

  I eventually sated my gnawing hunger a half hour later. I ended up almost halfway across the city before I was confident enough that I would not encounter any more surprises. The blood I had taken from a young man made me feel as if I had been a starved person allowed to partake of a grand feast.

  I fretted the entire trip back to the villa. I had been gone a lot longer than anticipated and Matthew hadn’t called me telepathically. I couldn’t decide if that was good or bad.

  When I walked in, he was stretched out in one of the chairs, tapping his fingers against a table. “You took long enough,” he said, looking up.

  “There’s a reason for that. How is Samuel?” I asked.

  “He is still insensible. He’s lost quite a bit of blood, therefore I do not know when he’ll wake. Sit down and tell me what happened. It’s not as if we have anything better to do.”

  I sighed and sat across from him. “I encountered another vampire. The strange thing was that I mistook him for a mortal. I almost fed off him.”

  “What have you been drinking, Julia? It must be some good stuff.”

  I scowled at him. “Nothing. He had been completely shielded until I put my hand on his shoulder. It was only then I realized he was not human. I have never seen a vampire outside our ka-tet cloak so well.”

  His smile abruptly vanished. “Are you certain he was cloaked that well?” I nodded and he continued, “Julia, what did he look like?”

  “He had light brown hair. It was short except for his bangs, which covered the left side of his face. His eyes are gray . . . at least the one I saw.”

  As I spoke, his expression turned into one of astonishment with a trace of unease. “Go on,” he prompted when I hesitated.

  “He wore all black. I know that is not unusual for us but the combination of clothes was strange to say the least. He wore a black dress shirt, peasant pants, and –”

  “A black suitcoat that came down to about ankle-length,” Matthew finished for me. “Lane.”

  “What?”

  Matthew’s face was unreadable. “His name is Lane. Lane Marlow. He’s from Ireland.”

  “That would explain why he knew English,” I muttered.

  “You’re lucky he didn’t kill you!”

  “Why would he kill me?” I glared at him. “If he is so ‘dangerous’ why didn’t any of you tell me about him?”

  “We did not tell you because we thought he was dead. We hadn’t heard any
reports about him in almost thirty years.” He looked up at me. “Lane is about your age, Julia. We do not know a lot about him, but we know he was an accidental vampire. It should never have happened. If that fool that fed off of him had done it properly. . .” Matthew took a deep breath, then continued, “Lane was twenty when it happened.”

  “The same age as Samuel was when he was made,” I murmured.

  He looked sharply at me. “I never thought of that. In some ways, Lane’s story starts out similar to Samuel’s. It is believed the vampire who fed off of Lane – attempted to at least – did not hypnotize him.” As my eyes widened, he continued. “He fought back. Who wouldn’t? The scoundrel’s stupidity left him dead and Lane a vampire, without any idea how to feed from humans without killing or any idea on how to bring someone across.”

  I shook my head. “Samuel did not know any of that either at first.”

  Matthew’s face scrunched in anger. “Lane wasn’t as lucky as Samuel was. Samuel found Valerie. She taught him how to do everything.” He blew out a breath. “We know Lane found other vampires, but they either couldn’t or wouldn’t teach him. However, it was a place to belong, you know? It was his group.”

  I nodded. Belonging was important. Even if it was only with one other person.

  “A year or two after Lane became one of us; most of his friends had been killed. I am not sure if it was Hunters or other vampires. He and another survivor of his group were attacked by vampires loyal to Valentino. No one knows why they attacked. His friend was killed. Lane killed a couple of the attackers before the rest managed to capture him. Since he was such a young vampire they took him to our all-so-favorite friend.” Matthew’s voice turned sarcastic.

  “Valentino?”

  He nodded. “He must have been in a very bad mood. He sentenced Lane to death for the killings.”

  “I guess he took his people’s side, no matter what the circumstances.” I tilted my head and studied him. “I’m afraid I’ve failed to understand why he is dangerous. Lane sounds like someone the Resistance would have wanted to recruit, not be fearful of.”