by Sean Stone
“And are you going to tell me that Nickolas doesn’t want to use me against her?” I said.
“I’m not going to tell you anything. I’ll let our leader tell you what he wants himself. Let’s go to him,” she said, once again standing up.
“No,” I replied firmly. “I am sick to death of being pulled here and there by leaders of this organisation and that organisation. Clara, Aldric and now Nickolas too. I’m not going anywhere. If your leader, whoever he may be, wants to meet me he knows right where to find me.”
I held my ground. The warlocks exchanged another glance and then with agonising slowness the two of them left me in peace. I looked over at Neil who was still buried in his book. Unbelievable.
Chapter Eleven
I decided to go and see Matt and Emma. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen them, and I needed to switch off from all the dramas going on. A good old catch up with my two best (and only) friends was much needed. I told Neil to take himself home before I left the pub. He wasn’t much good to me anyway. I’d let Gabe know he needed to train his staff better. I also made a mental note to borrow whatever book Neil was reading when he was done with it, it was obviously a riveting read.
“Eddie. Wasn’t expecting you,” Matt said when he answered the door to me. Like I said, it had been a while. He didn’t look overly pleased to see me. The look on his face was akin to the expression a child might pull when caught in a naughty act.
“Yeah, sorry I haven’t been over in a while,” I replied, giving an apologetic smile as I invited myself into his house.
“It’s been hectic, we know,” he finished for me. “No bodyguard?”
“Gabe’s night off,” I replied. I headed through to the living room where Emma was sitting. “He gave me a stand in, but he wasn’t much…” I tailed off when I saw that rather than being cluttered with tv show memorabilia the room was filled with an assortment of cardboard boxes, all sealed and stacked. The only thing left out was the television. “Moving again?” I asked.
“Yeah, we wanted to tell you,” Emma said awkwardly. She was curled up on the sofa with a hot chocolate complete with cream spilling over the top of the mug.
“But you’re so hard to get hold of these days,” Matt finished for her.
“You could have phoned.”
“It’s better to tell you in person,” said Matt.
I laughed. “Mate, you’ve moved before. It’s not really going to bother me that much.” I was a little confused as to why he was being so awkward about this. They both were in fact.
“We’re moving away. To Manchester,” he explained.
There are few things that can stun me to silence. That was one of them. “Manchester?” I repeated the city name as if it was a dirty word. I’d been there once before and to be honest it was a grubby looking place.
“Yeah, we’ve always liked the place,” he said a little defensively.
“But it’s… horrible,” I said, grimacing.
“It’s a beautiful city!” Emma said defiantly, sitting a little straighter.
“Oh, no it isn’t, it’s nasty as hell,” I said turning to face her. “It’s like a grubby version of London.”
“London is grubby,” Matt pointed out.
“Exactly! So, imagine a grubbier place.”
“I can’t,” said Matt.
“Manchester!” I said spreading my arms wide.
“Have you ever even been to Manchester?” Emma asked. She placed her hot chocolate on the side table with such force that some sloshed over the side. She didn’t even notice.
“I don’t need to go to Manchester to know it’s an armpit of a city, but as it happens I have,” I said arrogantly. “Why are you even leaving?” That was the real issue here.
“Because, this place is dangerous,” Matt said simply and truthfully. “Not just Maidstone. The whole county now. One side is ruled by vampires, the other by sorcerers and now the warlocks are joining in. We can’t stay here anymore. We want to live in safety without wondering when someone is going to kill us in the street.”
“I’ll protect you,” I said. Neither of them responded to that and neither of them needed to. It was written all over their faces; I couldn’t protect my own girlfriend, so I definitely couldn’t protect them. They weren’t wrong. I had failed Ashley and I would inevitably fail them too. Hell, if Annabelle was right I wouldn’t even be able to save myself.
“When are you leaving?” I asked, defeated.
“End of the week.”
The time passed quickly. My days were filled with all the usual town business. I set time aside and made sure I spent some of my evenings with Matt and Emma and when the day finally came for them to depart I helped them load up the truck and then stood on the edge of the road waving like a goon while they drove away into the darkness of the night. And that was that. They were gone. My last two friends in the world. I walked back to the car down the other end of the road and slid into the back seat. Gabe turned in the driver’s seat to face me, eyebrows raised expectantly.
“Looks like you’re all I’ve got now, Gabe,” I said with melancholy. He said nothing and he turned front to drive us home.
We were halfway down St Luke’s Road when the car suddenly died. The hum from the engine stopped abruptly bringing us to a standstill in the middle of the road. “Why’ve we stopped?” I asked Gabe. I was still staring grumpily out of the window, lamenting what I’d lost.
“I don’t—” Gabe slumped forward over the steering wheel and remained still. I can recognise a sleeping spell when I see one, using them often enough myself. It looked like someone had drummed up the courage to attack me. Nobody had tried something like this since the night Ashley had died. Well good. I had some pent-up frustration that I really wanted to toss in someone’s direction.
I kicked open the car door and bounded out onto the road. I looked about but there was nobody in either direction. The street was still and quiet. “Come on then!” I shouted into the night. I didn’t care who heard me. I wanted a fight.
The street light above my head blinked out with a pop. I watched with growing amusement as each streetlight blinked out one after the other in both directions, the darkness spreading from where I was standing. Then the lights shining from inside the houses were consumed by darkness too until I was standing in total blackness, unable even to see my hand in front my face.
“Nice touch,” I laughed. “Very dramatic.” I flicked my finger at the light above me willing it to reignite with its electric glow. Nothing happened. That was odd. It was rare that I came across someone strong enough to overpower me these days. I tried again. Still nothing. The smile very quickly dropped from my face. That was fine, though. Their spell on the streetlight was strong enough to defend against my magic but I could still produce my own light. I held out my palm and conjured a small globe of white light. I levitated the ball up into the air, willing it to grow and throw its glow across the street. Before it had risen even an inch I felt the other’s magic cover it like a fiery blanket and snuff it out. Now that was a cause for concern. Not only could I not undo their spells, but they could literally block my magic. This person was a lot more powerful than me. I needed to leave.
“Who’s there?” I called out. My voice was no longer confident. No longer amused. It was small and timid. I was alone on this street. My only bodyguard was slumbering in the car and my magic was no use. I was standing in total darkness. This person had extinguished every light, I couldn’t even see the stars or the moon in the sky. I could see nothing.
“You wanted me to come to you. Here I am.” The voice was luxuriously deep and rich like chocolate. It was also right behind me. I’d heard the voice before. Months ago, this very voice had spoken to the vampire Sebastian. It was the voice of the leader of the warlocks. He was standing behind me.
“Nickolas Blackwood?” I asked in a whisper.
“I have been eager to meet you,” he said. He was now directly behind me, practically whis
pering in my ear. I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck making my hairs stand on end.
“Well here I am,” I tried to muster up some of my usual confidence and failed. The man standing behind me could kill me and I’d be dead before I even knew what was happening.
“Indeed.” There was mirth in his tone. There was a noise a little further away, the sound of a foot scraping on the ground. There were a few more rustles in the darkness. They seemed to be all around us. “It would appear you have company. Let us adjourn for now.” There was no sound but there was a definite change in the atmosphere and I knew he was gone. A second later the lights all came back, not one by one but all at once. They were blinding, and I had to shield my eyes against the assault. As my eyes adjusted I saw who had interrupted us. I now found myself completely encircled by about twenty vampires. Terrific.
“Hello again, Eddie,” said a familiar female voice. Out of the circle came Veronica Monderson. She was the vampire who’d been conducting experiments using Aldric’s blood. She was responsible for the seven vampires I now had in my employ.
“Veronica,” I said grimly. I looked around, trying to think up a good escape route. It was unlikely I’d be able to fight them all, as strong as my magic was. Vampires were fast.
“As you can see I have quite the following now. Aldric grows more unpopular every day. More vampires to flock to my cause,” She said. I could tell it was the beginning of a long and rambling speech which I really didn’t have the patience for.
“Spare me the boring explanation and get to the part where you tell me what you want. Revenge for killing your brother I suppose?” I said trying to convey my boredom, although I was anything but. Adrenaline was already being pumped through my veins.
“No. I am willing to forgive that, or at least forget it if you provide me with a single stake capable of killing Aldric Ashworth. That’s all I need,” she said plainly. She held out her hand and the vampire to her right placed in it a long stake presumably made of ash-wood. Veronica tossed it into the road where it clattered noisily at my feet. “Fill it up,” she commanded.
I stared down at the finely whittled stake and then laughed. “You can’t kill me because then you’ll never be able to kill Aldric, my magic being the only thing that can. So what leverage do you really have?” I said, putting on my most irritating smile.
“Death isn’t on the cards for you. No, you’ll be subjected to torture until you give in and you will give in. Take him, she barked the command at her minions. Two darted forwards at once. I conjured a fireball and launched it as fast as I could. Mid-air I split the ball in two and watched as the flames engulfed the vampires, burning them to ashes. That was the only victory I was to have. The rest rushed at me as one. I tried to conjure a barrier around myself but there were too many of them and they were too fast. Before I could even think about another spell I was on my knees and a heavy iron chain was being fixed around my wrists, cutting off my magic. I struggled but against so many vampires it was futile to say the least.
“Not so smug now, are you?” Veronica said as she walked towards me. “The great Eddie Lancaster, bound and beaten in his own town.”
She was cut off by the slow, insulting sound of someone clapping. All of us turned to see a dark-haired man leaning on the nearby lamppost, clapping in mock applause.
“Well done. Well done indeed,” said the rich tones of the warlock who had been behind me just minutes ago. “You have overpowered a man with odds of twenty-to-one. Congratulations. Now,” he stood up straight and stepped into the open road. “Let us see how you fare against me.”
He stretched out his hands and the nearest vampires to him screamed as their hearts soared out of their chests and landed neatly in his palms. He flipped his hands over, tipping the hearts to the ground like they were trash. Seconds passed in which nobody moved. Nobody dared. They all stared nervously at the grinning warlock. I wasn’t sure whether I should be thankful or afraid.
“Don’t just stand there. Kill him!” screamed Veronica. The vampires charged at the warlock, but Veronica did not join them. She grabbed the end of my chain like it was a lead and dragged me down the road in the opposite direction. She didn’t give me a chance to stand and my knees scraped painfully on the tarmac as my trousers tore open. I could hear the vampires screaming as they died but I was moving too fast to see anything. Then suddenly I was no longer moving. I hit the ground hard and rolled about a foot as Veronica ground to a halt. I could feel where all the bruises would be soon enough. Luckily, I would be able to heal my injuries as soon as the chains were off.
Veronica was standing still looking dead ahead. I followed her gaze and saw the warlock yet again. He’d somehow managed to get to the opposite end of the road, blocking her path and was approaching Veronica with hideous slowness. As he drew near I saw that he was splattered from head to toe with blood. Looking back in the direction we’d come from I saw the mangled remains of all the vampires. Some were charred and smoking husks, others were dismembered piles of limbs. I looked back at Veronica and saw that the warlock was right in front of her, in his hand was the stake she’d tossed at me. I rose shakily to my feet, not wanting to remain on my arse like a helpless infant.
“Yours, I believe,” he said as he offered her the stake. He kept the point facing his way. She reached out to take it and as her fingers wrapped around the wood his free hand grabbed her wrist and held it in place. Magic can be used to increase a sorcerer’s strength, I’ve done it on occasion, but it takes a shit lot of power to make yourself so strong that you can outfight a vampire, but this guy was having no trouble. I could see by the way that Veronica’s face was strained that she was fighting him, but it was hopeless. I heard her bones crack as he twisted her wrist one-hundred and eighty degrees so that the stake, still in her hand, was now pointing at her own heart. Then silently and looking her right in the eyes he pushed the stake towards her. Being unable to fight him she started backing up until her back hit the nearby Volvo and she could go nowhere else.
She let out an unintelligible grunt. The warlock said nothing. He continued staring blankly into her eyes and he continued to push the stake her way. She let out a whimper as the point reached her and penetrated her flesh. The whimper turned to a full ear-shattering scream as the warlock drove the stake all the way in, still holding her own hand around it. Blood drooled out from the wound and still she tried to fight. The stake dug deeper and deeper until only the end was left. Her grey and lifeless hand fell away limply, and her body slid down the car to land with a thud on the tarmac. I looked at her wide, dead eyes and wondered if I was next. The warlock, obviously not content with murdering her, then kicked her corpse so it rolled over and faced the other way. I was a little thankful for that. I didn’t want it staring at me.
Then he turned to me. He strode across the road to where I was standing. I held my ground despite the terror that was seizing my heart. He glanced at the chains binding me and they turned to dust at once. Amazement did not begin to describe what I was feeling. Before I could react, he was upon me. He seized my chin and lifted my face so I was staring into his dark blue eyes. For the first time I could see him completely. He was a little taller than me and very slightly broader. He looked like he worked out perhaps. His hair was dark and a little messy. His square chin was coated in dark stubble and his dark ocean-like eyes had the look of a person who had seen more than they should have done. They looked haunted and yet alive and amused and enthralled. Every emotion seemed to be mingled in them somehow. But what struck me the most was the feeling I got from the light touch of his fingers on my chin. I could feel his power radiating from him. I imagine it was like standing at the edge of a crater of a live volcano. The magic was red hot, burning into my skin, though it was not unpleasant. It was magnificent. Never in my life had I felt something so strong.
“It is true,” the warlock said to himself rather cryptically. “We’ll talk soon.” And then he was gone. One moment he was standing in fro
nt of me and then he was not. Teleportation was one of the impossible abilities for humans, only the most powerful can do it. There was no doubt in my mind that I had just met the most infamous warlock in history. Despite what Clara claimed to be true, I had just encountered Nickolas Blackwood.
Chapter Twelve
The annoying thing about having twenty dead vampires scattered around the street was that it was now my job to clean them up. Gone were the days where I could just walk off and let someone else deal with the mess and believe me I did that a lot. Now if some stupid unsuspecting human came across this lot it would raise a lot of questions that would all be dumped on me.
The commotion had brought out some disturbed residents and luckily Gabe was now awake and rushing around erasing memories as required. It was handy having a vampire on the payroll. Not that I paid him. I got on the phone to Neil and had him bring a van as well as all the other vampires — minus Marty. I didn’t want him anywhere near me. That guy was a moron.
We — and by we, I mean they — bundled the remains into the van and then took it to the crematorium on Bearsted Road where Neil handled the burning. Job done. Technically, I did still get someone else to clean up my mess, but I gave the orders.
Even though Veronica and all her followers were dead I still didn’t feel very safe. Like she said, Aldric’s detractors were growing in number every day and maybe Veronica had told a few more of them that I alone knew how to kill Aldric. That meant more might come for me. I decided to increase my security detail. From now on Gabe would continue to follow me around but three of the others would stay nearby too. I told them that I wanted them to be discreet and if possible out of sight. I didn’t want to be walking around surrounded by heavies like some kind of gangster. I also made it clear that my safety was never to be put in the hands of Marty-the-idiot. Gabe seemed offended by this but he didn’t argue.
