by Amy Cross
"What matters is that she has a mother," I say firmly. "Her name is Sophie Hart. She's dead, but she's still her mother. And Patrick's still her father, no matter what you say".
"I can see I'm not getting through to you," Benjamin says. "I was rather hoping you'd be able to get past this melodramatic sentiment and see what's best for Abigail, but apparently I had too high an estimation of your emotional intelligence". He pauses. "Let's try this from another angle, Shelley. I know that Patrick whispered something to you many, many years ago. I also know that you've never told another living soul the truth about what he said. Maybe you told Sophie or someone else a part of the message, or maybe you didn't. But you certainly didn't tell anyone the whole thing". He smiles. "It's time to say the words. Tell me what Patrick said to you".
"Or what?" I ask.
"Or nothing," he replies. "I simply think it's time for the truth to come out".
"Not quite," I say. "There's still a little further to go".
"Time's running out," he says.
I shake my head.
"Don't you think Abigail deserves to hear her father's words?"
"Maybe I'll tell Abby some time," I reply. "I'll never tell you".
"You're stubborn," he says. "You should reconsider your attitude, Shelley. It might get you into a lot of trouble".
"Are we done here?" I ask, standing up.
"You haven't finished your whiskey," he says.
"It's a little bitter," I reply, pushing the glass over to him. "I've tasted better".
"I doubt it," he says with a laugh. "I know the kind of flophouses where you used to sell your body to drunks. You're nothing more than a pathetic whore. I hope you realize that you're making a terrible mistake, Shelley. You've chosen the wrong person to trust. Patrick is a monster".
"There's only one monster here," I say, "and it's not Patrick".
"You trust him to have Abigail's best interests at heart?" Benjamin asks. "Are you sure it wouldn't be better to help me, so that I can help her?"
I pause for a moment. "I know what I have to do," I say finally. "I've known ever since Patrick whispered it to me. For years and years, I didn't understand. I was scared. Now I know what he meant, and I'm going to do it. Not for you, not for me, not for Patrick, not even for Sophie. I'm going to do it for Abby".
"You're scared," Benjamin replies. "I can see it in your eyes. You're terrified. There's no need to do things like this. Let me help you. You can't fool me, Shelley. I can see the fear written all over your face".
I take a deep breath. "I never said I wasn't scared," I say, before turning and walking out of the bar. No matter how terrified I might be, it's time to do what Patrick told me I'd have to do long ago. I only hope Abby will repay his faith.
Chapter Eight
Dedston, 16 years ago.
And then Patrick grabs Shelley by the waist, picks her up and carries her across the chamber and towards the distant light. I run after them, scrambling over broken stones, barely able to see, as the three of us head out. There's smoke everywhere, and flames are spreading fast. Behind us, I can hear the sound of crumbling stone as the roof of the chamber continues to fall in on itself.
Finally, we emerge in the forest clearing, and Patrick puts Shelley onto the floor. He walks a few paces away, turns to me and gives me the faintest of smiles. It's a curious moment, unlike any I've ever shared with him, and for a moment I wonder what it means. Then there's a cracking sound, and a bizarre expression of peace crosses Patrick's face, and his skin starts to change, and at first I can't work out what's happening to him, but then I see how his skin is turning gray and becoming textured. I rush over to try to stop him, but it's too late. By the time I get to him, he has turned to stone.
I look back at Shelley, who is still on the ground and is staring at me with a horrified expression. “What did he say to you?” I shout at her. “I saw him whispering to you, what did he say?”
She doesn't say anything. She just stares at me, and slowly shakes her head, as if in shock.
“What did he say?” I scream. I grab Shelley and pull her toward me. “What did he say to you?” I shout into her face. “I'm not going to ask you again, what did he say?”
She shakes her head, her eyes almost glazed over with shock. “I can't tell you,” she says. “Please don't ask me”.
“Tell me,” I say, searching her eyes for some sign. “Tell me what he said. You're my friend. You have to tell me”.
“I can't,” she says, breaking free from my grip. “Don't ask me, because I can't. I can't ever tell you”.
I turn to Patrick, who is just stood there, made of stone. I run over to him and run my hands over his stone body. “You're in there!” I shout at him. “You're hiding!” I look at his stone face. “Get out of there! Come back!”
Looking up at him, I see his stone face staring into the distance. In some ways, it's not that much of a change: he's always been pretty impassive. But the crazy thing is, now he's made of stone, I almost feel like I can read his face better. It's as if he's... I'm not sure, but it looks like he's... happy.
“Come back!” I shout again. I shake him, and he starts to tilt, and he's too heavy for me to hold up so I fall back and he lands with a crash next to me, and there's a loud cracking sound and I see with horror that his left arm has broken off and has landed away from the rest of him. And it's clear that he's stone all the way through. No flesh. No blood. Just stone.
“What happened to him?” Shelley asks, staring.
“What did he tell you?” I ask her. “Was it about this? Did he tell you why he turned to stone?”
“No,” she says. “It was nothing to do with this. It was... It wasn't about this”.
“Then what was it about?”
She shakes her head. “Please, Soph, don't...”
I stare at her for a moment, then I go over and grab her by the collar, pulling her close to me. “Tell me,” I say. “Tell me what he said to you or I swear to God I will fucking kill you right here and now”.
“Don't,” she replies.
“If you're my friend,” I say, “you'll tell me”.
She stares back at me. “If you're my friend,” she replies, “you'll never ask”.
“Tell me!” I say firmly, shaking her by the shoulders.
There are tears in Shelley's eyes as she shakes her head, her lip trembling. “Don't you think I would if I could?” she sobs. “Don't you think I'd tell you everything he said if...” She puts her arms around me. “I can't ever tell you what he said to me,” she cries. “Not if you ask me ten million times. I can't ever tell you”.
Chapter Nine
Wyoming, Today.
Hurrying toward the front of the hotel, I spot movement out in the street. I came to a halt as I see three Watchers coming up the steps, and I immediately realize that they're here for me. Benjamin wasn't joking when he told me that time's running out, and it looks like he's determined to get his way. I don't believe for one second that Abby killed Todd; it's far more likely that Benjamin's armed goons ambushed him and put a bullet in his brain, and they're probably coming to do the same thing to me. Turning, I run across the foyer and head down a corridor that runs by the side of the elevators. I stop by a small door marked 'Private', and I glance back to see the Watchers heading toward me. I guess this is it, except I know that they can't kill me. If I'm going to die today, it's going to be thanks to someone else.
Pushing the door open, I step into a small kitchen. I shut the door and hurry across the room, heading quickly down some steps. Soon I find myself in what seems to be some kind of basement store-room. It's brightly lit at one end, although the far end is mostly in darkness.
"Hey, Shelley," says a voice nearby.
I freeze, my blood running cold through my body. This is it. This is the moment Patrick told me would happen. The only question is: was he right about what Abby will do next?
"Relax," she continues, stepping out of the shadows. "No-one's going to disturb us
. Not Patrick. Not Benjamin. Not the Watchers. No-one. I've made sure of that".
"I bet you have," I reply, trying not to let her see that I'm scared. Although she looks human, it's becoming increasingly clear that Abby is basically some kind of wild animal. She has senses I can't even begin to understand, and she looks at the world very differently. She has Patrick's calmness and sense of menace, and - although she's less than twenty years old - she has the same look of ancient anger in her eyes. On the other hand, she still looks like Sophie in so many ways. No wonder she's so conflicted: she seems to take after both of them, which means she has human and vampires sides battling for control in her heart.
"Did you talk to Benjamin?" she asks, taking another step toward me.
I nod.
"What did he say?"
"A lot of things," I reply. "He told me you killed Todd, for one thing, but I know -"
"It's true," she says.
I stare at her. My heart is pounding so fast, I feel it could burst out of my chest. "Why?" I ask eventually.
"It was the right thing to do," she says. "He'd turned against us. He'd turned against Benjamin. Everyone has a time they're supposed to die, and he'd reached the end of his life".
"How did you do it?" I ask.
A faint smile crosses her lips, before she opens her mouth to reveal her two large fangs. As she takes another step toward me, she lets out a faint hissing sound, like a snake. "How do you think?" she asks after a moment. "It was the first human blood I'd tasted properly. It was so warm and rich. I've killed a couple of other people since then, but I guess the first time is always the best, isn't it?"
"I wouldn't know," I say, taking a step back. "It's not something I've ever tried".
"Really?" she says, still walking slowly toward me. "I'd have thought you'd have at least tried some kinky stuff with blood. After all, you've got a bit of a reputation around Dedston. People think you're a little dark. Didn't you ever play with knives?"
"Sorry," I say, backing up until I'm right up against the wall. "Knives were never my thing".
"Not even when you were alone?" she asks, stopping when she gets a few paces away from me. "Back in the facility at Dedston, I saw your upper arms. You've got a lot of scars, Shelley. Let me guess... When you were a kid, you sat alone in your bedroom and..." She smiles, baring her fangs again. "All those times you cut yourself... Didn't you even once taste your own blood?"
"Maybe," I say, "but I don't think that means I know what it's like to... do what you do". I stare at her fangs, imagining them ripping into Todd's neck.
"I suppose," she replies. "The truth is, I don't think you could ever guess what it's like to be me. I know we look the same, but there's this fire burning in my soul". She laughs. "God, listen to me. A fire burning in my soul. You know what, Shelley? Those words don't even come close to explaining how I feel. A few months ago, I was just an awkward teenage girl, and now I feel like I'm walking through eternity. I feel like I'm stronger than everything around me. I feel like I've finished growing up".
"Then take that collar off," I say. "If you're so powerful now, why are you letting Benjamin keep you like a dog?"
She pauses, and I can see a flicker of doubt in her eyes. "Benjamin is my father now," she says after a moment. "He's more of a father than Patrick could ever be. Patrick's nothing to me. Benjamin cares about me. He wants the best for me. He's going to make sure I'm safe, and he's going to teach me to realize my potential. After all, he's only human. He'll die eventually, and then I'll be on my own".
"Happens to all of us," I say, realizing I'm going to have to find a way out of here. So far, everything is happening how Patrick told me it would when he whispered in my ear all those years ago, but I'm not sure I share his faith in Abby's human side.
"Why do you hate my father so much?" Abby asks, staring at me darkly.
"I don't hate Patrick," I reply. "I just -"
"Not him!" she spits at me. "My father! Benjamin! He's my father now". She pauses. "Don't ever refer to Patrick as my father again. And don't mention Sophie, either. She and Patrick aren't my parents, not really. He's a soulless monster, and she's a bitch who abandoned me. That time I saw her in the wilderness outside Gothos, she didn't even bother to try talking to me. She can go to hell".
"You don't mean any of this," I say.
"I do," she replies. "I really do. Stop pretending you understand how I feel". She takes another step toward me, and now she's just a couple of feet away. "I'm nothing like you. Look at me. You see little Abigail Hart, the girl you helped rescue from Callerton. But I'm not like her. Not any more. She might as well be dead".
"I see a girl wearing a collar," I reply, my heart racing. "I see a girl who's so scared, she's willingly given up her freedom in order to feel safe".
She smiles. "If that's what you see, there's something wrong with your eyes. Maybe you'd see better if you were blind".
I take a deep breath, determined to keep my faith. When Patrick whispered in my ear, he told me that I had to face Abby, but he promised me that she wouldn't kill me. He told me this confrontation would allow her to assert her human side, and he told me I need to trust that she won't end my life. Looking at her right now, however, I can't help feeling that maybe he was wrong. There's such anger in her eyes, and she seems to have gone so completely over to Benjamin's side, that I feel maybe Patrick's promises are going to turn out to be empty.
"I'm going to go now," I say firmly, trying to stay calm. "I'm going to walk out of here. If you ever change your mind and decide that you want to talk about your mother -"
"She's not my mother!" Abby shouts.
"If you ever decide you want to talk to me," I say, unable to stop my voice from wavering, "come and find me, and I'll tell you everything you want to know".
She stares at me, her face filled with hatred.
"Goodbye, Abby," I say, turning to walk past her. I've barely taken a single step, however, before she lunges at me, throwing me to the ground. As I land, I feel a sharp pain in the center of my face and I let out a sharp scream. Putting my hands up to protect myself, I feel warm blood flowing down my cheek. Finally I look down and see that my hands are covered in blood, and something else is wrong: I can only see out of my right eye.
"Does it hurt?" Abby asks.
Struggling against the pain, I look up and see that she's holding my left eyeball. The optic nerve is dangling between her fingers, and blood is splattered across the floor. The pain is getting worse and worse by the second, and I put my fingers on my face and feel the gaping hole where the eye used to be.
"All that blood," Abby continues. "Such a waste to see it flow out so easily".
I try to get to my feet, but the pain in my eye socket is intense and I can't stand. Falling down onto my hands and knees, I let out a cry of pain. The agony is so powerful, I can barely even think properly. Trying to crawl away from Abby, my hand slips through the pool of blood on the floor.
"Where are you going?" Abby asks, and I feel her foot slam against my back. I collapse onto my chest, my face smeared in my own blood. "I asked you a question earlier," she says, holding me down as her foot presses against my spine. "What did Patrick say to you? What did he whisper in your ear?"
I let out a whimper of pain.
"Don't be pathetic," she continues. "It's too late now. Tell me what he said".
I shake my head. All I can think of right now is that I have to get away from here. Patrick told me that no matter how bad things got, Abby wouldn't actually kill me. I never thought she'd cause me such pain, but my only hope is to assume that Patrick was right.
"Stop struggling," Abby says. "I won't warn you again".
Barely even able to come up with a plan, I try to crawl away.
"Why won't you listen to me?" she shouts, pushing down with her foot on the small of my back. I feel an intense pressure, before there's a cracking sound and a jolt of pain flashes through my body. I let out a scream, hearing my own voice echoing in the empty
room. Trying to get away, I realize I can't feel my legs. I guess Abby broke my spine, but I can still move my arms so I desperately try to crawl across the floor.
"Tell me what he said," Abby continues. "Tell me, and this can all be over. I'll let you die without feeling any more pain".
I feel her getting closer. Moments later, she grabs me and rolls me onto my back. With my remaining eye, I stare up at her face and see that she's smiling. My vision is a little blurry, but after a moment I realize there's someone standing behind her. It takes me a moment to recognize the person, and I have no idea whether she's really there or whether she's just a hallucination, but I find myself staring up at Sophie. She's standing behind Abby, and she's looking down at me with the kindest smile I've ever seen. That's when it hits me: she's here because I'm going to die. Patrick was wrong when he said Abby would let me live; he put too much faith in her, and he under-estimated how much damage Benjamin would cause.
"Tell me what he said," Abby sneers, "or I'll make your death long and slow and painful".
I look into her eyes. If only she'd turn around, maybe she'd see her mother behind her.
"Tell me!" she shouts.
"He..." I start to say, but I've lost a lot of blood and I feel weak. "He said this would happen..." I pause, finding it hard to breathe. "But he said you wouldn't kill me. He said your human side would keep you from doing it".
She stares at me for a moment. "He was wrong," she says quietly. With no warning, she suddenly leans down and bites my neck. I feel her sharp fangs slicing through my skin and into the muscle, and I feel my blood flowing into her mouth. For a few seconds, I feel completely weak, as if my life is slipping away, but then I'm filled with a sudden rush of anger and strength. I don't want to die. No matter how badly she's hurt me, I don't want to die yet. I'm not ready. Summoning up the last of my energy, I push Abby away and - to my surprise - she jerks backward. It's as if she wasn't expecting me to fight against her.
