The Key to Erebus (The French Vampire Legend. Book 1)

by Emma V. Leech

Chapter 8

  I walked in past the heavy, oak front door and followed Rodney up a spiral stone staircase. The treads were worn with age and I had to watch my step as there were only torches burning and no electric light visible. I wondered uneasily what my room would be like. We walked up past two floors and I peered around corners trying to get a glimpse of the rest of the house. Everything I saw looked like it hadn’t changed in hundreds of years. Massive fires blazed and everywhere was lit with candles and torches. It was eerie.

  We got to the top floor and Rodney opened a door, gesturing for me to go through. After the ancient look of the rooms I’d glimpsed off of the staircase I wasn’t prepared for what greeted me.

  It looked like a photo shoot for some slick men’s magazine. The original Château was in evidence with the massive frame of the roof which looked like the hull of a boat had been turned upside down. In stark contrast, there was a state of the art stereo system and massive speakers placed strategically around the room. Yet the ancient and modern seemed to blend together seamlessly. Sleek black leather settees sat back on thick rugs in front of yet another blazing fire. In fact, the temperature in here was about ninety degrees. I slipped off the cardigan I was wearing and noted Rodney grinning at me.

  “Vamps love the heat, it’s always baking in ‘ere, cause they can’t generate their own of course.”

  “Like reptiles?”

  “Ha! Yeah, though I wouldn’t say it to their faces!” he winked at me and I gave a nervous laugh.

  “I think it’s ‘cause they miss the sun as well, meself,” he mused. “You light a fire and they’ll all gravitate towards it.”

  “Your room’s through here.”I stepped through the door he'd led me to and was pleasantly surprised. It was all still pretty minimalist and masculine in style, but it was modern and comfortable with a big bed piled with squashy cushions. I spied another door and ran to open it. I found, to my relief a big modern bathroom with all the facilities including a deep bath and a lovely shower, all done out with warm, rosy-brown, marble tiles.

  “Oh, thank heavens,” I muttered.

  Rodney laughed. “You was worried there wouldn’t be a little girl's room, wasn’t you, luv?”

  I blushed and nodded, it had crossed my mind. I mean they obviously still washed but they weren’t human after all.

  “Don’t you worry, there’s all mod cons ‘ere. Corvus has sent Amelia out to get you some grub an all.”

  “What? What sort of food is she likely to bring?”

  I prayed it wouldn’t be the vampire equivalent of Take-Away from the village.

  “Don’t fret lovely, everything is taken care of. There’s not much of a kitchen in the apartment, but you can make tea and coffee and anything else you need someone can get you from the big kitchen downstairs.”

  “Who someone?” I would rather bite off my own tongue than ask Amelia for anything.

  “Well, there’s a maid who comes to clean durin' the day, she’s been given instructions to look after you, and then there’s the guards.”

  “Guards?”

  “Oh yeah, guards. Well vampires are vulnerable during the day of course, so Corvus he’s got guards all around the perimeter of his land. He don’t want no one wakin’ him up early like.”

  “What sort of guards are they?”

  “Oh, well, they’re human during the day, at night he’s got his own vampires of course, they keep an eye on things.”

  “Human guards? Do they know?”

  Rodney shrugged. “Nah, they just think he’s a bit eccentric like, but they’re well paid to look the other way if needs be. I reckon the boss suspects, but he’s never said nuthin.”

  I sat down on the bed feeling suddenly very worn out.

  “You’re done in, ain'tcha?” he said, patting my shoulder in an avuncular fashion. “I’ll leave you be now, you get some rest, and don’t you worry. You won’t see Corvus again tonight and you’ll have a peaceful day tomorrow. We’ll search the area again for Tacitus tonight to make sure and as soon as it’s dark tomorrow, but I doubt he’ll be back.”

  He walked to the door and turned to smile at me.

  “Night, night, luv.”

  “Night, oh and Rodney.”

  He paused with his hand on the door, turning back to look at me. “Yes, luv.”

  “Thank you… for everything. I don’t think I could have got through today without you.”

  Ghouls obviously don’t blush, what with them being dead and all, but he shuffled about a bit and muttered something about it being a pleasure, and went off looking pleased with himself.

  I decided to make use of the big warm bathroom and ran myself a lovely hot bath. After today I needed a bit of TLC. I found some exotic smelling bubble bath in the cupboard and indulged myself with a long soak. I went to bed feeling relaxed and warm and then naturally spent the whole night tossing and turning and trying not to think about the fact that a very powerful vampire wanted me dead.

  Well, what else was new? At least the one who'd wanted me dead previously was now keeping me safe. Somehow that thought was just as disturbing.

  I awoke the next morning feeling tired, grumpy and very hungry. At least I was safe from vampires though, so I got dressed and went off in search of food. I fumbled about in the dark looking for a light switch and then went to open the shutters. It was a lovely sunny morning again and the view was stunning. I leant out of the open window to get a better look.

  The fields surrounding the Château were a vibrant yellow, studded with thousands of dandelions. It was incredible how something so ordinary could transform the countryside. In the woodland and along the edges of the fields, the trees were laced with delicate blossom in every shade of pink and white and blurred with the faint green haze of new leaves. I was just enjoying the beauty of the day, the sound of the birds singing and the cicadas waking up when my stomach gave a very un-poetic grumble and I resumed my hunt for breakfast.

  I soon discovered what just about passed as a kitchen in the corner of the big, open-plan living room. I guess vampires don’t have a need for such things, so I assumed Corvus must have put it in for the use of any guests. I wondered if he had many humans come to stay and felt an irrational stab of jealousy, I decided I’d be better off not thinking about it at all. Thankfully my attention was grabbed by a pile of fresh croissants and a lovely crusty baguette. Food can take my mind off most things, at least temporarily.

  I made some tea as best I could with the crappy French teabags and polished off an embarrassing amount of the bread smothered with apricot jam. I found I still had room left and stuffed down a croissant too. Apparently terror gives you an appetite. Feeling much better with a full stomach, I decided to take a look around.

  I made my way carefully down the stone steps. It was amazing the way they had been worn concave with the tread of so many feet over hundreds of years. My hands trailed over the cold stone of the walls. It was smooth and white and I noticed it was studded with tiny fossils of shells and little creatures.

  At the bottom of the stairs I turned left and came to a large panelled room where the sun was streaming through the windows. Tiny dust motes danced in the light and the polished wood floor shone a warm brown. I realised with a jolt that although Corvus may have owned this Château for centuries, this was something he would never have seen.

  I walked slowly through the sparsely decorated room, admiring an enormous table in the centre that looked like it could seat about fifty people. The other imposing feature was a grand, stone fireplace, massive and intricately sculpted with the figures of a man fighting various creatures. I walked over to have a look and on closer inspection I could see it was depicting scenes which seemed familiar. In one the man was fighting a lion, and in another a nine headed monster, a Hydra. I remembered now, this was Hercules. Gran had told me the story. Hercules was set ten tasks to perform by Mycenaean King Eurystheus. All were pretty much impossible for mortal men of course, and because Hercules had help wit
h some of them, Eurystheus, being something of a stickler for the rules, made him do two more. So that must be the Nemean Lion he was fighting, a lion which would turn into a beautiful woman and lay in a cave feigning injury. She would lure men into help her and as soon as they were close enough, would turn back into a lion, devour the man and give his bones to Hades - nice girl. Hercules of course, slew her. If I remembered right Hercules did a fair bit of slaying.

  I put my hand out to touch the lion and leapt back with a yelp as I was hit by what felt like a massive electric shock. My eyes watered and I rubbed my hand furiously to try and get rid of the stinging sensation. I looked and saw that the skin was already red and angry looking, but the sickly sweet smell that had risen around me was not the result of an electric shock. The fireplace was heavily warded. I had no idea what Corvus was protecting but he obviously didn’t want anyone poking about. Well, that was fine by me. I had absolutely no intention of finding out. A warning would have been nice though, so I walked away from the fireplace in disgust and instead headed into the next room. This seemed to be another dining room but smaller, a bit more intimate. There were doors leading off of it in three directions but there was one right beside me on the left so I plumped for that one first and tried the handle.

  The door opened into a small room which was obviously being used as a place of worship. There was an altar set up with small bronze figures arranged at the back. In front of them were terracotta bowls filled with what I thought were wine and oil and some dishes containing fruit and some sort of biscuits. There had been several candles burning, but these had now all gone out. I felt surprised that Corvus should still pray to his Roman gods after all this time, but I also had the feeling I was intruding on something very private, so I closed the door gently and headed outside to explore.

  The extensive gardens had been pretty much left to their own devices. There was a lovely formal garden to the front of the house with neat clipped hedging but, other than that the surrounding grounds were a riot of wild flowers. It was all very beautiful. It seemed right somehow, that it hadn’t been manicured and primped into lawns and flowerbeds but left to run wild. It suited the style of the place, not to mention the owner.

  I spent the rest of the morning exploring the garden. Thankfully lunch had appeared when I returned - once again driven by my stomach despite the size of the breakfast I’d eaten.

  The afternoon dragged on forever. I didn’t want to explore the house anymore, in case I stumbled on any other private stuff or got attacked by the fixtures and fittings again. So I mooched about in my room and texted Claudette to say I’d be away for a while and could she go and feed Gran’s chickens for me. Naturally she texted back and wanted to know where I was, so I tried to be evasive without actually lying to her. I hated being dishonest but I could hardly tell her the truth.

  Nerva finally turned up in the early evening and I pretended to be huffy with him for deserting me all morning, but he kept flying off and bringing me presents of bugs and little dead things so I gave in and ruffled him on top of his head. He closed his eyes happily and leaned against my hand.

  “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go and see if we can figure out the TV.”

  I’d given it a quick once over earlier but it looked like something from a sci-fi movie. I gave up after I’d spent about ten minutes just searching for the ‘on’ button and didn’t even bother looking at the stereo system which also looked terrifyingly expensive.

  I helped myself to a glass of wine from a bottle that had appeared in the kitchen and sat awkwardly on one of the sofas rummaging around in my bag for my book. I sighed and flicked to the right page. It was almost dark when I was disturbed by voices downstairs. I jumped and moved hesitantly towards the door just as Celeste glided through. I had no idea if she made habit of popping in and if she was welcome. I really didn't want to speak to her and I didn’t really know what to do since it wasn’t my house. In the end I forced a smile.

  “Hi.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of me and I didn’t think it was the happy kind. She’d obviously been expecting Corvus. Ignoring my greeting, she stalked past, imperious and obviously disgusted by the present company. The tips of her leathery wings almost brushed against me as she passed and I moved quickly away.

  “Where’s Corvus?” she demanded with no preamble.

  “Erm, I don’t know.” I tried not to be intimidated but failed miserably. “Sleeping?” I ventured, as the sun had only just set.

  “What are you doing here?” She looked at me like I was something she wanted to squash.

  “I have to stay for a couple of days. It ... wasn’t safe back at the cottage.” I added, and then wondered if I should have said that.

  She laughed, her expression hard and cold. “Yes of course,” she said with a sneer. “How convenient. I can see what you’re doing you know.”

  I frowned at her, my temper rising only too rapidly, while my brain tried to talk me down. Who knew what this creature was capable of. “What are you talking about?” I demanded, clenching my fists against the burning itch at my palms.

  She snorted and flicked her hair, looking down her nose at me. “I’m talking about your pathetic little attempts with Corvus!”

  I couldn’t help it, a laugh of surprise escaped me before I could stop it. She looked like a damn super model and she was jealous ... of me. It was too ridiculous. Unfortunately Celeste didn't seem to be in a jovial frame of mind and moved threateningly towards me, practically hissing with rage.

  “Don’t you dare laugh at me, you pathetic child. Corvus is mine and I will not compete with an ignorant little witch like you.”

  “I’m not remotely interested in Corvus!” I replied with force, trying hard to make myself believe it as well as her. It was her turn to laugh now and the cruel sound echoed around the room.

  “Don’t give me that, I’ve seen how he looks at you,” she said, and I actually saw a flash of something close to despair in her eyes. It was quickly gone, replaced by something far more deadly and accusing. “You must have done something to him. Tell me what was it, a spell or a charm?” She looked me up and down in disgust.”He wouldn’t look twice at you otherwise. You're far too ... young and innocent for his tastes.”

  I flushed, knowing what she meant about Corvus looking at me and I could well believe I wasn't his type. But his attentions were not because of the way I looked but who I looked like. I was damned if I was going to explain that to her though and unfortunately my temper got the better of good sense.

  “I've put no spell on him and what is between us is none of your business, you nosey cow. I'm sorry if he’s not interested in you, but that’s not my problem it's yours.” I swallowed and took a step back as I realised I should probably have kept my big mouth shut.

  She screeched an awful sound that made me squeeze my eyes shut and cover my ears. The empty wine glass on the table exploded sending tiny shards flying. Her fury was palpable, her voice dripping venom.

  “Let me put it clearly for you, chérie.” She stepped closer towards me and I shrank back. “If you carry on with this pathetic attempt to ensnare Corvus, I will stop you.” She poked me in the shoulder with one slender, finger. “ I don’t care if I have to prove how serious I am,” she continued and there was something in her eyes that made a ripple of ice cold dread run over my skin. “But if you continue, you will be sorry.”

  Her voice had lowered from a shriek to a soft murmur and I was genuinely scared but I was stubborn by nature and stood my ground, looking her in the eye as I replied.

  “I’m not going to be bullied by you,” I said, which would probably have been more convincing if my voice wasn't trembling. “I don’t care about Corvus in that way, and if you do, then you should tell him instead of trying to scare me.”

  Celeste smiled, her beautiful face distorted by the hate in her eyes. “Then I suppose we’ll just have to see if you respond to actions, rather than words.”

 
I remained frozen against the wall as she left the house, slamming the door behind her.

  I eventually calmed down by spending a lot of time clearing up all the tiny pieces of broken glass and tried to settle back down read my book again, though after half an hour I realised that I wasn’t really taking in any of the words on the page but just staring vacantly at the black ink squirming around on the paper. I jumped as I heard the door open and looked up, actually a little relieved to see Corvus and Rodney walk in.

  “Hi.” I fiddled with the book cover, smiling at Rodney as Corvus walked past me without so much as a word or a glance.

  Rodney shot Corvus a nervous look before he came and sat with me. I rubbed my arms against the stinging nettle sensation I was becoming accustomed to and watched the glowering vampire who was pouring himself a generous serving of some clear liquid from a glass bottle. The label had writing in a weird language on it I’d never seen, and I suspected that the contents weren’t exactly what you’d find in the average off-license. Rodney looked worried about something, and he kept looking over at Corvus, who’d now sat down in one of the chairs.

  “What’s wrong?” I whispered.

  Rodney made a face, shaking his head.

  “What?” I mouthed again.

  Rodney cleared his throat and fiddled with the a silver skull ring, twisting it round and round his finger while the little jet eyes twinkled at me with each turn. “Corvus is a bit, erm… well I said somethin’ and he didn’t really agree wiv it.” He looked increasingly uncomfortable as Corvus' eyes flicked in his direction.

  I just couldn’t help but ask again. “What did you say?”

  “I don’t want you to bring it up again, Rodney, ever.”

  I jumped at the sound of his voice, ice cold and furious and turned to watch as Corvus scowled into his glass. I frowned at him and turned back to Rodney.

  “What on earth did you say?” I’d whispered this, completely forgetting about the efficiency of vampire hearing.

  Corvus turned and glared at me, the power around him making my skin sting now and I flinched, but he didn’t seem to notice. He walked over to us and stood still, towering over me. I knew he did it deliberately to make me feel small and pathetic. Sadly it was working.

  “Didn’t I just instruct Rodney not to bring the subject up again?” he demanded.

  I quailed a little under the intensity of that blue gaze. “Yes, but…”

  “It is none of your business!” he said, his voice clipped and angry. “So you will not pursue the matter any further. Is that clear?”

  “Well to be fair mate, it is her business if it's likely to get her killed.” Rodney piped up. He cowered a little as the vampire turned his head very slightly to stare at him, but stubbornly refused to stop talking and turned back to me.

  “All I said was that there is a slight possibility that you could be Jéhnina, you know… come back like.” He risked a glance at Corvus, who was practically vibrating with rage.

  “Reincarnated?” I said, feeling a bleak, heavy feeling settle in my stomach.

  “That’s it,” he said, nodding. “Reincarnated. Yeah well, Tacitus thought you was her an’ all and he’s an evil bastard but he ain't stupid.”

  “Quiet!” Corvus snarled.

  “That’s not possible,” I said quietly, feeling cold and shivery and totally freaked out. I was Jéhenne. I'd had a hard enough time coming to terms with who that might be, I wasn't about to add some long dead woman into the equation. “I'm not her,” I whispered.

  “I am in no doubt of that.You are not her. “ His voice was implacable, icy with disgust and there was something in his eyes that was utterly dead. “You never could be. She was ...” He stopped and even though his face was a blank I knew he was remembering her. “You wear her face, but you have none of her spirit, her passion, her ...” His words were full of rage and he stopped himself from saying more for which I was glad. It was only too clear what he thought of me. I stood under the weight of his stare, judging me like I was worthless, like he would grind me under his foot if only he could be bothered.

  “You don't know me, you know nothing of what I'm like,” I replied, my voice thick. It wasn't that I wanted him to believe I was her but I wouldn't be dismissed like I was nothing either.

  He made a noise of disgust. “I don't need to, I can see it in your eyes. You're nothing but a frightened little girl who's spent her life running from the truth.”

  My eyes prickled, a lump growing in my throat but I wasn't about to cry in front of him. That he should twist what I'd told him off my past was unbearably hurtful and I stared back in defiance but his eyes were filled with such derision that I couldn’t bear to be there in his house any longer. I turned and ran to the door and wrenched it open, flying down the stairs as fast as I could but barely made it down the first flight before powerful hands grasped my arms and then wrapped around my waist, hauling me back towards the apartment. I shrieked in protest at the feeling of his hands on me, his fingers bruising my skin, but I could do nothing about it. I couldn't bear for him to touch me when he hated me so and tried to fight back. I raked my fingernails over his bare skin but the welts healed over in a matter of seconds. I was carried back into the living room where he flung me with some force, on to the sofa. I lay there, quivering and sobbing now, too unhappy to stop myself with my face buried in a cushion. His voice bore down on me like a cloak, smothering me and refusing to let me ignore him.

  “What were you thinking, you little fool? Why do you think you’re even here?” he demanded in fury. “There’s a vampire outside looking for you and the whole point of you being in this house is so we can protect you! Do you seriously think I'd endure your presence for any other reason?”

  I looked up as my temper over came any other emotion. “I don’t want you to protect me!” I raged and I didn’t care how childish and ungrateful that sounded.

  Rodney stepped towards Corvus and put a hand on his shoulder. “I reckon you better let me handle things now mate, you ‘aint gonna get anywhere wiv her in this state, now are you?” His voice was harder than I'd heard it before and I was surprised to hear him stand up to Corvus like that. I waited for the cold hearted bastard to turn on Rodney but he said nothing, just staring down at me, his expression one of such sorrow that my heart ached despite everything he'd said. My face was streaked with tears and I knew he was imagining I was her. It was too much, too cruel for us both. I buried my face against the soft material to stop him from looking at me, and the next thing I knew the door had slammed and he’d gone.

  I shivered, and felt Rodney put a comforting hand on my shoulder, though he didn’t say anything, for which I was grateful.

  I sat up, wiping the remains of the tears from my face with a trembling hand and I glanced down at my arms to see dark bruises already visible from where Corvus had grabbed me and pulled me back into the apartment. Rodney cursed under his breath. Combined with my burnt hand I was beginning to feel sore all over.

  I got up to find I was trembling and walked over to the drinks cabinet to find something to steady my nerves. Gran's eau de vie had never been more appealing. There was a variety to choose from including a black bottle with a red wax seal and an apple symbol embossed on the glass. Instead I went for the open bottle that Corvus had been drinking earlier and poured a small measure. Rodney jumped up, stretching his hand out in protest.

  “I really wouldn’t try that one, luv, it’s really potent stuff for …”

  I took a sip and his words became hazy as my head began to spin. I swayed and put the glass down in a hurry but it was too late. I felt myself crumple to the floor and had the fleeting thought that I really had to stop doing this, and blacked out.