The Violet Line

by Bilinda Ni Siodacain

  Sitting in behind my desk, I kept my head low as my boss passed. Not one word had been said to me; so far, it seemed I was safe. For now at least, I thought, glancing up at the open office door. I’d been here now for over an hour and files had been placed on my desk just as normal. Catherine had asked where I had been and I had given her my story on the food poisoning; she did not seem convinced, but had chosen to say nothing to me on the matter. I typed as quickly as I could, my fingers flying over the keyboard, easily catching up with the work I was given; I really was the fastest typist.

  As I sat there, I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. It wasn’t painful, more a subtle type of uncomfortable. I shifted in my seat trying to get comfortable so I could continue typing, but as I moved my vision became slightly blurred and a buzzing erupted in my ears. Suddenly, a vision of Sam chained up against a cold dank wall invaded my head. Blood poured from his face and he seemed to be having difficulty in keeping his head upright. I watched as a small blonde child came into view, her fingers leaving deep scores across his abdomen. My vision cleared but the pain in my stomach had worsened. I sat clutching my stomach as blood began to drip from my nose onto the desk. I gasped, my shaking hand pressed against my face as I stood up from the table. One hand still clutched the pain in my stomach while I held the other one pressed against my face. I stumbled into the bathroom and into an empty stall. Frantically, I pulled the jacket off and lifted my blouse. Deep scratches lined my skin; blood ran from some but they didn’t look as deep as Sam’s had. I pushed some tissue against them, cleaning them as best as I could, and then tended to the blood that dribbled slowly from my nose. I hadn’t had a nosebleed in years and I really couldn’t explain what had happened in the office; it was too strange for words. Dreams I could understand, but actually getting visions while I was awake was new and it wasn’t something I really wanted to be getting used to.

  Another spasm of pain tore through my body I tried to muffle my howl of pain with the tissue I had pressed against my face, but it ripped through me again and the blood poured more heavily from my nose; it felt like I was dying. An image of Sam danced before my eyes again, the small child torturing him. Her high pitched giggling sent chills down my spine and the pain of her assault on Sam’s body caused me to cry out again and again. My breathing became more laboured as I felt all that Sam endured. Through it all, Sam did not utter a sound; he simply grimaced with each lash of her whip or the dreadful wounds she dealt him with her nails. I wasn’t as strong as Sam and as each spasm rocked me. I cried harder. She stopped and Sam looked straight at me; his face became anguished.

  “Oh God, Jade, please. No!” His cry was all I heard before he shut me out. I awoke lying on the cold tiles of the bathroom. Catherine crouched down over my body as she shook me, trying to wake me.

  “Oh god, Jade, what happened? You’re bleeding; I didn’t believe you really were sick, but now look at you. You shouldn’t have come in.” She prattled on as she helped me to my feet. I touched my face; my nose had stopped bleeding but I could feel the blood dried onto my skin. My stomach and back felt tender but I ignored it all as I tried to get a grip on my bearings.

  “Jade, I think you should go home or see your doctor; you’re as white as a sheet,” she told me sternly, standing over me as I splashed the cold soothing water from the tap onto my face. I finished cleaning myself up. I had to agree with her; I was in no fit state to work after this. All I could see dancing through my head was images of Sam and that little brat hurting him. But now I knew he was alive; the voice in my head kept shouting it out over and over again, ‘He’s Alive, He’s Alive!’ I flinched as I walked back out of the bathroom, following Catherine to my desk. She grabbed my bag and keys and handed them to me.

  “Go home, Jade. It’s alright; I’ll explain everything.”

  I smiled; maybe she wasn’t so bad after all. I had always pegged her for the back-stabbing kind, but she seemed genuinely concerned with what had happened to me; I couldn’t fault her kindness. The boss, Kevin, sat in his office and watched me leave through narrowed eyes. Catherine’s story would need to be very good for me to be forgiven this indiscretion, but I was beyond caring at this point. My body ached all over and I had the beginnings of a killer migraine. At this point, all I really wanted was go home and crawl into bed and try and recover. Settling in behind the wheel of my little Corsa, I began the trek home.

  Pulling up outside the flats, I killed the engine and rested my head on the steering wheel. My head was thumping. Maybe the visions had caused it or just simply the beating I had taken had caused it; whichever was the cause, I just wanted it to go away. Lifting my head, the world swam in sickening circles but I dragged my heavy bones out of the car and locked it. The sky was overcast and even the grey hurt my eyes, but I hurried as fast as my legs would carry me to the front door. I noticed the note stuck to the door and the red rose lying on the ground. Picking it up, it all clicked into place and I ripped the note from the door and hastily read over it. The same neat handwriting covered this page and I knew instantly without having to read the name that it was Graham.

  “My Dear, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was for me to find you. Meet me tomorrow at eleven at the quay. I know you were there the other day and I’m so sorry to have missed you, but I’ll be expecting you then for our little chat. Eternally yours, Graham, The Chemist xxx”

  I glanced around but I could see nobody nearby. Slipping my keys into the lock, I hurried in the door and shut it behind me. I dashed up the stairs. The movement caused my migraine to worsen, but I didn’t care; Graham was going to meet me and finally I was getting somewhere! I fell in the door of my apartment and flopped down onto my sofa, re-reading the note. After the sixth time of scanning its contents, I stopped. The fact that he had found me concerned me a little, but not enough to deter me from going to meet him tomorrow. Standing up, the room once more swam in vicious circles; I was going to have to go to bed. Grabbing two paracetamol from the kitchen, I dragged my trousers off and climbed into my bed. Pulling the covers up under my nose, I thought about the happenings of the day. My closed eyes flew open; I hadn’t checked the mirror or the window! Once more, I dragged myself free of the bed and stumbled to the mirror. The writing appeared the same and the candle had burned down in its little holder. I approached the window only to find disappointment when I could see nothing there. I got back into the bed and settled down. My eyes grew heavy as I lay there thinking of Sam and Lorcan and my aunt and why all this had to happen in the first place; I just wished they could have left Sam and me to be happy together. Someone always felt the need to interfere and it was really beginning to piss me off. My last thoughts as I fell asleep were of Sam as he blocked me out from the vision that day.

  Chapter Twenty

  Everything around me was dark. I could smell the mould on the walls and the cold and eeriness of the whole place made me shiver. It didn’t feel like a real dream and yet I knew it had to be; I felt as though I was sleeping, but it still felt real. The sound of breathing in the darkness startled me. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from but I tried to follow it as best I could. The person was suffering; I could hear it in the laboured breaths they continued to drag in through their mouth. Sam came into view. He was still chained up against the wall but he was alone. Picking up the long skirt of my dress, I ran towards him. I was just so happy to see him; tears coursed down my cheeks as I touched his face. He flinched and didn’t open his eyes. I cupped his face in my hands and held his face close to mine.

  “Sam; Sam, love, open your eyes. It’s me; it’s Jade. I have you.”

  His eyes opened slowly. I could see the purple swelling over his right eye where someone had hit him. It takes an awful lot to leave physical marks on a vampire and the amount that littered his body indicated that he had been severely tortured. He opened his eyes as wide as they would go; they looked glazed with pain.

  “Jade?” He sounded unsure as he looked at me; I could see the uncertai
nty flicker through his eyes.

  “Shh, it’s ok. I’m here with you now; I thought I’d never find you. I thought you were… dead.” The word left my lips in a hushed whisper; I didn’t want him to worry about me. He needed help and I wasn’t sure how I could help him; maybe I could heal him like the last time but I wasn’t sure how I had even done it back then. I also didn’t know if I could do it through a dream.

  “How did you get here, Jade? I thought I locked you out earlier. I’m so sorry; I didn’t mean to drag you into that, I just didn’t know what else to do. It hurt so much and I wanted to see you so badly and then there you were. I could see you, hurting, feeling the pain they inflicted on my body. I didn’t mean it; if I could, I’d always try to spare you any pain. I can’t bear to think of them getting their hands on you; I’ll kill them all first. But I don’t understand; how you can be here?”He winced as he talked over the split on his lip. I witnessed the desperation in his eyes as he tried to assure me he hadn’t meant to drag me into their little torture scenario.

  “Sam, it’s ok, really. Look at me; I’m fine. I’m worried about you. How much more of this can you take? You don’t look to be in good shape; you need help or they are going to kill you.”I held his face in my hands as I spoke to him, looking into his eyes. He was too weak to have any power behind them and that worried me more than any wounds. The spark that I knew to always be in his eyes had waned until it was now almost completely disappeared.

  “Sam.” I shook him slightly to get him to focus. “I want to try and heal you, like the last time.” He looked bewildered for a second before his eyes came back into focus.

  “Jade, you can’t; it’s too much. You need all your strength in case they break me and come looking for you.” He tried to shrug out of my grip but I held him firmly and looked at him intently.

  “Sam Frances, I don’t care what you think on the matter; if I can heal you, then I will.” I wrapped my arms around his battered shoulders in a fierce hug and held him close. Closing my eyes, I could feel the tears squeeze out under my lashes. I thought of his wounds healing, the long deep gouges along his shoulders, back and abdomen healing and closing over; his bruises fading and his strength returning. I remembered him as the Sam I had met first, perfect with not a mark on his body and no pain marring his deep green eyes; just the happy, loving, caring man I had fallen for all those years ago. The tiredness crept over me as I held him and opening my eyes, I saw his eyes gazing back into mine. His green fire was back and it burned with love. He was perfect once more; no marks covered his ice cold skin. I tried to take a step back and almost stumbled.

  “Hmm, must have given more than I thought.” I felt as though I hadn’t slept in a week and had run a marathon. Concern weighed heavily in Sam’s gaze.

  “Jade, I told you not to do that; it’s too dangerous for you. They are just waiting for the opportunity to make you weak so they can take you. Jade, look at me.” His words snapped my head upwards.

  “Sam, I’m listening.”

  “You foolish girl, don’t you realise I’m expendable? But you; Jade, you’re special, to me and to everyone who knows and loves you and I can’t think that you healed me and then they catch up to you. Don’t you understand?”

  I watched him as he spoke and my heart swelled with love. “Sam, I know what you’re saying and I know that you believe what you’re saying too, but you are not expendable. You’re important to me; you matter to me and I can’t bear to lose you. I thought I had once and I won’t go through that again. I can’t; it would break me. If you die then I may as well, too. So if you love me, you’ll survive. You’ll fight and not give up because I haven’t given up on you and I won’t give up on us either. I will find you and when I do, we’ll never be apart again.” The words started to become jumbled and blackness ate at the edges of my vision.

  “Jade, are you alright; Jade?” His voice rose in panic as I collapsed in front of him.

  “I love you, Sam.” I couldn’t speak anymore; but I knew I had to leave this dream. If I didn’t, well I wasn’t sure what the consequences might be but I had a feeling they wouldn’t be good. The blackness felt comforting so I simply let it take me wherever it was going. The last thing I heard Sam say before everything disappeared was, “I love you.” The world descended into blackness that wrapped itself around my weary body and stopped all my thoughts. It felt as though I had died, this nothingness, and when even the knowledge of this nothingness disappeared, I remembered no more.

  The warm feel of sunlight caressed my face, causing me to open my eyes. I peered around the room groggily. I wasn’t sure where I was for a few minutes and then it all flooded back to me; the dream of Sam and the day in the office and my meeting with Graham. Grabbing my phone off the locker, I glanced at the time; nine forty-five. I had slept through the day and the night. I never slept that long but I remembered the tiredness I had felt after healing Sam and it made sense. I pulled my body towards the edge of the bed and let my legs drop over the edge; they felt like lead weights. Standing up I stretched, letting all my joints pop, and I groaned; I felt old. I tottered to the bathroom to have a shower. I let the warm water cascade down over my skin, soothing and smoothing out all the knots I had developed.

  Walking back into the room, I rummaged through my wardrobe to find something suitable to wear. What did one wear to a meeting with a vampire? I wasn’t really sure; I’d never done this before. It was all new territory for me but it didn’t feel like a dressing up meeting, so I pulled on my comfy blue jeans and a cream t-shirt over which I threw a heavy woollen cardigan. It looked sunny but it was October and I never trusted this weather; it always looked too good to be true. I looked in my mirror as I applied some powder and lip balm. Something bugged me about its surface but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be remembering; it seemed clean enough no smudges and stains. I ignored the nagging feeling in the back of my mind and stumbled out to the kitchen. While making tea, I ate some cereal; I was starving. Since Sam had disappeared, I hadn’t been eating properly at all and I needed to rectify that as soon as possible. His words came back to ring in my ears. He was right; I did need to keep my strength up but not for the reason he thought. I needed my strength so I could find him; I was no good to him if I became sick. It hit me then, I had written a note to my aunt on the mirror and now it was gone. Dropping the bowl on the table, I ran back into the bedroom and looked again at the mirror before scrambling over the bed to the window. It was quite faint in the sunlight but I could just make out the delicate cobwebby handwriting.

  “Jade, I’m so glad you contacted me. I can see you talked to your mother. I would like to meet you but for reasons I feel best not to discuss with you through this medium. Perhaps if I send Lorcan over to meet you, this morning he could escort you to where I live?”

  I rushed back to the mirror and hastily scrawled a reply explaining that this morning wasn’t suitable because I had a meeting with someone that couldn’t be avoided. My writing faded and her reply reappeared almost instantly on the window pane.

  “No problem, child. I will send him to meet you this evening. How does five-thirty suit?” Once again I repeated the process of sending my reply, five-thirty seemed perfect, and finally her message came through.

  “Very well. I look forward to our meeting; we have so much to catch up on. I have much to tell you. Love and light, Aunt Emily xxx”

  I considered sending a similar message back but decided against it; I didn’t know this woman and she had a lot of explaining to do before I could accept her back into the family.

  Rushing out of the bedroom, I grabbed my coat and keys; if I didn’t hurry, I’d miss my appointment with Graham – or the Chemist, as he liked to be known. I couldn’t afford to miss this meeting, I thought as I dashed out of the flat to the car park. Hastily scrambling into the car, I started the engine and drove in the direction of the quays. I pressed the car as much as I could in the morning traffic, trying desperately to avoid all the usual deadloc
ked areas that I knew of. Eventually, I pulled into the gravelled area near the quay warehouses. Ten to Eleven showed as the time on the dashboard clock. I wasn’t sure what I should expect from my meeting with Graham; I knew what he looked like but I didn’t know how trustworthy he was, if at all.

  Stepping out of the car, a chill stole over my skin. I was nervous. Mentally shaking myself, I began to walk towards the building where I had found the vials the last time I was here. My stomach did nervous back flips the closer I came to the structure. Standing at the door, I stole a look around. There was nobody else here that I could see, which I found strange. The whole area seemed desolate; no workers could be seen in any direction. Maybe because it was a Saturday morning no one was working here.

  I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling as I pushed the door open and stepped inside. My eyes gradually began to adjust to the gloom of the room. I could see dust clouds dancing in the grey light but the back of the room was completely invisible, hidden completely in a black blanket. I assumed it was simply the fall of the light. As I stepped further inside, I heard a shuffling noise towards the dark area of the room and I decided to be brave.