by Amy Cross
I stare at her for a moment, trying to work out if this is some kind of test. I can't quite believe that my own mother would suddenly appear to me like this, only to tell me I have to let my sister die.
“I can't abandon her,” I say finally, turning and making my way across the rocks. “Maybe you're right, I don't know, but I can't just leave her to face this alone. She needs -”
Before I can finish, my foot slips and I drop back down. Catching my injured wrist again, I let out a cry of pain as I drop to the ground.
“Jonathan,” Sophie says, “please -”
“She's my sister,” I mutter, already getting to my feet again.
“Your father murdered me,” she replies.
Stopping, I feel a shiver run through my body. “I know,” I say after a moment, turning to her.
“I was like you,” she continues. “I thought I had no choice, I thought I had to follow a path into all this madness, and do you know it ended? Patrick, in a fit of rage, tore my belly apart. It's only now I'm dead that I realize how much my entire life was dictated by that stupid prophecy. My mind was barely my own. From the moment I was born, other forces informed all my decisions, carefully shepherding me toward where I needed to be. I made some insanely foolish decisions, Jonathan, and all because of something that was beyond my control.”
“I still can't -”
Before I can say another word, however, I realize that the world around me has changed. I turn, only to find that I'm standing in a hospital room, and nearby there's a bed with a ravaged and bloody corpse on the sheets, dripping blood onto the floor.
“That's your uncle,” Sophie explains. “His name was Todd. He tried to help Abby, and she slaughtered him. She might not realize it herself, but she has a lot of her father in her soul.”
I turn to her, but suddenly everything changes again and I realize we're in some kind of large, bare basement room. Hearing a ripping sound nearby, I turn and see a teenaged girl covered in blood, tearing lumps of meat from a bloodied body on the floor. Sobbing as she continues to rip the corpse apart, she has her head lowered, as if she's ashamed.
“Recognize her?” Sophie asks.
I take a step forward, before realizing to my shock that the teenaged girl is Abby. Younger, of course, but still recognizably her, with an expression of pure horror and anger in her eyes as she looks up for a moment.
“The dead woman on the floor is Shelley,” Sophie continues. “She was my best friend once, before all of this started. She tried to help Abby too, and this is what happened to her. You mustn't blame Abby entirely, she can't help what she is, but these are just two of the many people who've died before of her. Do you really want to be the same? You felt your father's anger rippling through your body when you killed those spiders at Gothos, Jonathan. If you feel that anger again, you won't be able to push it away. It'll consume you, the way it's consuming your sister.”
I watch in stunned silence as Abby continues to tear the dead woman's body apart. Still sobbing, but still pulling away strips of flesh.
“Abby's a monster,” Sophie says calmly. “I love her with all my heart, of course I do, she's my daughter, but... She is a monster. She tried to deny that truth to herself by living among humans, she tried to accentuate her human side and push down the instincts she gained from her father, but she can't deny the truth. I couldn't help her, but I can help you, and the first thing you need to understand is that you absolutely cannot follow her to Karakh. If you go after her, not only will both my children be dead, but the demons will have a much stronger chance of succeeding with their plan.”
I turn to her, as the world around us changes again and we're deposited back on the rocky ground that leads to the palace in the distance.
“I'm begging you,” Sophie continues, reaching out and taking my hands in hers. “Don't make the same mistakes I made, or the mistakes Abby has made, or the mistakes your father made. Turn around and go home. Please, you have to trust me.”
Abby Hart
I'm pretty sure that Emilia heard every word of our conversation just now, but I doubt she really cares. She seems too determined to find the demons, although I'd rather hold back a little.
“Wait!” I hiss, hurrying after her as she makes her way across the vast hallway. I grab her arm but she quickly pulls free. “Emilia -”
“There's no point waiting,” she replies. “We're here, so let's get on with fixing this mess.”
“We should wait for Jonathan to come back,” I tell her. “He might have found out something useful.”
“And I'm sure he'll be here at any moment,” she replies, looking across the hall. “Shame there's no welcoming committee,” she continues, running her right hand against one of the gossamer columns as she makes her way toward the steps at the far end. “No trumpets, no fanfare, no great celebration that the last daughter of the royal household has returned to Karakh. Then again, I guess this isn't really the palace of the spiders, not anymore. If it's anyone's palace, it's theirs.”
“I'm not sensing anything,” Oncephalus says cautiously. “We're not being watched.”
“Thanks for the newsflash,” Emilia replies, rolling her eyes. “I guess they must have better things to be doing with their time.”
“Wait,” Oncephalus adds. “Over there.”
Turning, I see a small pile of dead bodies in the corner, seemingly piled up with blood having soaked from their wounds.
“The grunts that were hired by the demons to run this place,” Emilia says coldly. “Obviously the demons didn't need them anymore, so they killed them. Looks like there are pieces missing, too. It's nice to know that the demons are well fed, at least.” She turns to me. “There's one of them I want in particular. His name is Skellig, and I want my face to be the one he sees as he takes his last breath.”
“Jonathan should be here by now,” I mutter. “It shouldn't be taking him so long to find Tenzac and get back to us.”
“We're not alone,” Oncephalus says suddenly, drawing her sword. There's anger in her eyes now, maybe even fear, as she steps forward and then turns to look around the great hall. “Don't you sense them? There are eyes watching us.”
“Chill,” Emilia tells her. “I don't sense a goddamn thing.”
“Then you're a bigger fool than I thought,” she snaps. “Achievement unlocked.”
“I don't sense anything either,” I tell them. “Still, it's hard to believe we'd be allowed to just walk in here without someone keeping tabs on us. We probably are being watched, even if we don't realize it.”
“I realize it,” Oncephalus says firmly, her hand shaking slightly as she grips the sword. “Come out!” she shouts suddenly, making her way toward the center of the room. “Are you cowards? Come out and face us, and then let's see who should be scared. I've faced greater dangers than anything you can throw at me!”
“She seems keen,” Emilia points out. “Anyone'd think she wants a big fight.”
“Come on!” Oncephalus shouts, her voice trembling with rage. After a moment, she actually stamps her right foot, almost as if she can't control her anger. “Show your goddamn faces, you stinking cowards!”
“This isn't right,” I whisper, turning and looking toward the partially-collapsed steps that lead up to a set of huge stained glass windows. “Of all the things I thought might be waiting for us here, an empty room just seems so...”
“Anti-climactic?” Emilia asks.
“Face me!” Oncephalus screams.
“She's got issues, right?” Emilia says, turning to me. “Like, major issues?”
“This is some kind of trap,” I continue, feeling a shiver pass through my chest. “I mean, obviously it's a trap, but I think it's a trap on an even deeper level than we realized. We assumed we'd find the mighty demon race waiting to rise up and show its power, right? Well, where are they? Why are they hiding?”
“Maybe they're not so powerful yet,” she suggests. “I was trying to explain that to you before.”
/> “Maybe, but...” I pause for a moment, trying to work out what to do next, before finally realizing that there's only one smart choice. My thoughts are crashing against one another and I can't straighten them out. “We need to get out of here.”
“Are you insane?” Emilia asks.
“We need to leave,” I continue, taking a step back. “Right now.”
“This isn't the time to get scared,” she replies. “Abby, seriously, we can't just run and hide.”
“I'm not talking about running and hiding,” I tell her, as I feel a sense of fear rising through my chest. “I'm talking about a strategic exit so we can wait for Jonathan to return. I'm sure he'll have some useful information, and then we can take time to work out what we're dealing with. The worst thing would be to just keep going deeper into this place, letting ourselves be maneuvered into whatever trap the demons have laid for us.” I turn to her. “You can't seriously think it's a good idea to just walk straight into their open arms!”
As Oncephalus continues to shout at the empty room, I can see that Emilia is starting to understand my point of view.
“They were here,” Emilia says finally, turning to look around the room. “They came to Karakh because the palace was built on the ruins of their own home.”
“Which means parts of those ruins are still here,” I continue, “woven into the fabric of the spider palace. I don't know what their plan is, but I sure as hell don't intend to just deliver myself to them. We have to withdraw, just while we try to figure out our next move. We shouldn't go charging ahead just because we're scared of looking like cowards.”
I wait for a reply.
“Okay,” Emilia says finally, “you've got my vote. I hate these creatures as much as anyone, but I think you might have a point.”
“These cowards aren't even willing to come and face us,” Oncephalus sneers, turning to us. “Come on, we have to keep going! They're obviously weak, so if we dig them out of this place we can kill them before they have a chance to put their plan into action.”
“No,” I reply, “we're going to leave and wait for Jonathan.”
“The hell we are!”
“Oncephalus, this is clearly a trap, we just -”
“You've never fought in a war, Abby,” she continues, cutting me off. “You've read about it in the Book of Gothos, sure, but you've never really faced the enemy, not like this.”
“I was at Gothos when the spiders attacked,” I reply, bristling at the suggestion that I'm some kind of naive wannabe who doesn't have the mettle for a true fight.
“You were at Gothos when the spiders won,” she says firmly. “Maybe you know how to lose a fight, but you don't know how to win one. I do, I was with the other vampires during the great war against the spiders, I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Absalom and the Le Comptes and -”
“Please,” I reply, “we just -”
“I stood with your father,” she adds.
At this, I feel a shiver of anger rippling through my chest. People always invoke my father's memory when they're trying to get at me, and it always works.
“I stood with Patrick,” she continues, “as vast spider armies crossed the plains, headed straight for us, beneath a dark sky filled with the ghosts of our brothers and sisters who had already fallen. Do you think we considered retreating that day? Do you think we worried about traps? Do you think your father even considered the possibility of turning back?”
“That was a different situation,” I point out.
“Retreat is still retreat,” she replies. “It saddens me, Abby, to see you letting fear grip your heart. If he could see you now, your father would...” Her voice trails off for a moment. “Maybe there's too much human in you. Maybe you don't have what it takes to follow in Patrick's footsteps. Absalom and I were right about you when you left Jagadoon.”
“In that conversation I was supposed to overhear?” I reply. “Absalom admitted it was another test.”
“Is that what he told you?” she asks, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “Good old Absalom, trying to save your feelings with more lies.”
“What do you -”
“Let's go,” Emilia says, putting a hand on my shoulder. “This dumb bitch can go throw herself onto the fire if she wants, but we're smarter.”
Staring at Oncephalus, I feel as if she's challenging me to decide who I really am. She wants to stick to the old ways, to the ways of my father and the vampires of Gothos, whereas I think there's a better approach.
“Right, Abby?” Emilia continues, with a hint of caution in her voice. “We're smarter, aren't we? We're not idiots. You said it yourself, we have to hang back and wait for your brother to come and join us, and we have to figure out what we're really dealing with here.”
I want to agree with her, but at the same time I know that Oncephalus is right about one thing: my father would never retreat, he'd never hold back and play the tactical game. He might have been a monster at times, but he never lost, he never failed at anything, and in the end he saved the people he was supposed to save.
“Don't do this, Abby,” Emilia hisses. “Don't get drawn into making a mistake.”
“We have to keep going,” I reply, still staring at Oncephalus. “Jonathan will find us when he can. For now, we have to go further and -”
“We've got company,” Emilia says suddenly.
Turning, I realize that she's right. Several figures are standing at the far side of the hall, watching us. They're wearing hoods, but I can just about make out their darkened faces, which seem to be cracked with ripples of blue energy burning in their skulls.
“That's them,” Emilia whispers, her voice filled with fear. “I guess the demons have come to say hello after all.”
Jonathan
“Daddy, who's the woman in this photo?”
Even before Maisie has reached me, I know which photo she's holding in her hands. She passes it to me, and I immediately feel a shiver as I see Abby's face. The same photo has rested on the piano for so long, but I've always managed to avoid looking at it directly. I was always too ashamed.
“That's your aunt,” I tell her. “Her name was Abigail.”
“I didn't know I had an aunt,” Maisie says with a frown. “Why haven't I met her?”
“Because...” Pausing, I stare at the photo for a moment longer before setting it down on the kitchen counter. “Because she's been gone for a long time,” I continue, reaching down and picking Maisie up. I guess I should have known that eventually my children would want to know about my past; maybe that's why I kept the photo of Abby around, so that one day I'd be forced to explain. “She was lost a long time ago.”
“Lost? How was she lost?”
“I don't know if you're old enough to be told,” I reply, carrying her to the back door and then setting her down again. “Why don't you go and play with your brother?”
She stares at me for a moment. “But if my aunt -”
“Go on,” I continue, putting a hand on her shoulder and guiding her out into the garden. “I'll tell you about your aunt some other time, when you're older. It's a sunny day, you should be having fun.”
I watch as she runs over to join Michael on the grass. After a moment, however, I realize someone else has come into the kitchen, and I turn to see my wife Laura standing in the doorway.
“You could always tell me about your sister,” she says cautiously.
“There's nothing to tell,” I reply.
“Yes there is.” She makes her way to the counter and takes a look at the photo for a moment. “You always find a way to avoid talking about her,” she continues, with a hint of sadness in her voice. “I never really forced the issue, because it's obviously something that really upsets you, but Jonathan... I'm your wife. Don't you think you should tell me about your family? I know they were vampires, but apart from that...”
Heading over to join her, I stare at the photo for a moment. “Abby died a long time ago,” I say finally. “She died at a place called Ka
rakh.”
“Karakh? The spider palace? I think you mentioned that to me a few times.”
I nod. “I was on my way to join her,” I explain, “but then my...” My voice trails off, and for a moment I feel as if I can't get the words out. “My mother appeared to me,” I say after a few seconds. “I know it sounds crazy, but my dead mother appeared and told me why I had to turn around. At first I thought she was insane, I argued with her, but eventually she persuaded me that I'd just be throwing my life away if I joined Abby at Karakh. After all, my mother had been through something similar, and she'd died as a result, so I figured she knew better than anyone.”
“So you abandoned your sister?” Laura asks.
“I didn't abandon anyone,” I tell her, flinching at the use of that word. “I just... If anyone was abandoned, it was me. I was never a part of Abby's world to begin with, not really, I was just being dragged along. There was a prophecy, but I wasn't even mentioned in its text. Whether or not I'd gone to Abby that day at Karakh, the outcome would have been the same. I chose to come back home to New York and leave all of that behind. My mother pointed out that if I stayed with Abby, I'd have become someone else.”
“And what happened to Abby?” she asks, still holding the photo.
I open my mouth to reply, but for the first time in many years I find myself thinking back to that fateful day.
“You don't know?” Laura continues.
“Of course I know,” I reply. “Word spread after a while, I heard stories. Legends... Plus, my mother appeared to me a few more times, just to calm my thoughts whenever I started to have doubts. She was very good at that, she always knew exactly what to say to me.”
“Did Abby die?”
I pause for a moment. “Yes,” I say finally. “She died at Karakh, just the way the prophecy warned.” We stand in silence for a moment, and I can't help imagining Abby making her way into the spider palace. “I did the right thing when I turned back,” I continue. “My mother helped me to see that.”
“I'm sure she did.” She forces a smile, but I can tell she's not convinced.
