Two Halves Box Set

by Marta Szemik

  “Where’s here?” I asked.

  “We’re under Yellowstone National Park.”

  Now my trip with the demons made sense. I should have recognized the heavy odour of sulphur. We must have travelled in a time vortex, going almost back to Pinedale.

  “Before my time, when vampires and demons lived in harmony, Aseret was a good warlock taught by their leader, Castall,” my neighbour continued. “Aseret decided to strike out on his own. He wanted power and knew how to get it. When he became a demon, he upset the balance in the underworld, a balance that has not been altered for thousands of years. Aseret recruited frail warlocks and created an army. The weak-minded warlocks who couldn’t manage spells too well turned vicious. Aseret promised powers beyond their imagination, and they followed him. He wants to overcome the vampires; if he succeeds, overpowering other creatures will be easy.” I heard another crack in his neck as he lowered his head.

  “But good warlocks still exist. They can help.” I tried to revive the vampire’s spirit.

  “Yes, some remained good, like Castall, serving Earth the way they were meant to.” He drew a deep breath.

  I liked this vampire. And the human virtues I heard in his story.

  “Castall gave me the love of my life in exchange for a promise,” he continued. “We fought alongside the keepers without realizing they had a grander plan for us.”

  The story sounded familiar and intriguing. It was striking a nerve inside my heart. My focus on the vampires’ connection to Castall broke as a strange feeling developed that I was slowly becoming involved in the tale. I imagined the vampire sitting beside me.

  “Go on,” I encouraged my neighbour.

  “We decided to split up. I’d run, making sure the seekers only followed me. I easily misled them—the young ones are not too smart. My wife went to a safe place, where she gave birth to our daughter. She . . . died. Her name was Saraphine. My name is Ekim.”

  Chapter 16

  “Ekim,” I repeated. A hush spread through the cell, so profound it bounced off the walls and came back to my ears. Shivers passed over my skin, then deepened to trembling. When I tried to speak again, I couldn’t. My lips felt glued together. The sound built up in my throat, increasing in pressure but unable to escape. My heart raced; I feared I’d faint. The tiny cell seemed to shrink, the walls closing in.

  When the first wave of shock wore off, I was overwhelmed with happiness, not only relieved that I wasn’t alone, but that I had a better ally here than I’d thought. My breathing quickened, running wild until my lips finally parted to let out some air, releasing the mounting pressure.

  My chest tightened, and my eyes welled up. Until now, I’d thought my heart was only composed of the two halves; mine and William’s. But now there was a third part. How I wished William was as close as my father was; how I wished I could share this moment with him.

  I wanted to say the first words to my father that I’d practiced so many times, but before I could, I saw a flash of bright beams centered between two figures standing at opposite ends of a large hall, their arms outstretched. Streams of light flowed from their palms, one fiery red, the other cold blue; their exerted power met in the center of the hall in a dazzling flash of energy, a beautiful but dangerous display of power. The energy fed me more information from the vision.

  The flame-red palms shook as their owner, Aseret, shrieked in happiness. The other hands were steady, despite the frail appearance of the man. He was tall and thin, with long, silvery-gray hair and pale, wrinkled skin. The vision turned both men around, and now I saw eyes full of wisdom, concentration, and peace. There was no fierceness in the old man’s expression as in Aseret’s, only composure and certainty. He looked more like a warlock than a demon. Castall.

  “Run, now!” he yelled—and I was back in my small and gloomy cell.

  Unable to gather the pieces of this future, I concentrated on the present. I managed to release some words from the back of my throat. “Are you . . . my . . .” I hesitated; saying “father” felt foreign. I decided not to ask, but to say it, hoping it would be true. “You are my father.”

  I held my breath, praying no one was pulling a prank or casting a spell.

  “Yes, Sarah.” Ekim’s voice was soft, though louder and happier than before. “I am. I was hoping we would meet one day, but under more pleasant circumstances,” he added ruefully.

  “Why are they holding you here?” I’d thought my first words to my father would include something like “I missed you” or “I’m sorry I judged you,” but although he was biologically my father, he was still a stranger in my world. No, he was new in my life.

  “I’m here as bait. Aseret wants power, and the only way for him to get it is through you and William.”

  “You know William?” I already knew the answer, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to say his name out loud.

  “I do.”

  “We were supposed to rescue you,” I said, dejected.

  “Good job. Did William come up with that brilliant plan?”

  I chuckled, then covered my mouth for a second to regain my composure. “We both did.”

  “You shouldn’t be here, Sarah.” His voice sounded muffled, and I imagined him placing his head in his palms.

  “It was the only way to find you, and William’s parents.” I leaned my elbows on my knees.

  “It’s too dangerous for you to be here.” Ekim’s frail voice fell by an octave.

  “Aseret seems to think I’m useless.” I lowered my head.

  “He lied. If he thought you were useless, he would not have allowed you to live.”

  “How are we supposed to help the underworld if we’re not here?” My hands flew up in the air.

  “Is that what Castall told you? That you have to be here to save the underworld?”

  “Not in those exact words.”

  “I see.”

  “Are you mocking me?” I tilted my head to the side.

  “Do you want me to mock you?”

  Our bickering seemed so natural. Has he really been gone all my life?

  “I’m sorry,” we said at the same time.

  “I just wish you were back on Earth.” His words were heartfelt and sad. His love was clear in every syllable. “You’re in danger here.”

  I sighed. “I have so many questions. I don’t know where to start.”

  “Let me explain,” he offered.

  I nodded. “Please.”

  A pause, then after a long exhale he continued. “Your life must have been confusing and lonely. I’m sorry for that, but it was for your protection. We did everything to make sure Aseret couldn’t get his hands on you and William. The day I met your mother, there were spells and curses already cast that would change our fates forever.” I heard defeat and loss in his voice. “I remember 1856 as if it were yesterday. William’s father and I were not yet best friends when we saw two beauties out in the field picking flowers. We were merely hunting companions and, at that time, happy two victims had strolled by instead of one. Otherwise we would have fought over who’d get the kill.”

  My skin crawled at the word “kill.” Before I accepted my other half, that was the side of vampire’s nature I feared most.

  “We stood at the edge of the forest, hearing the thump of two young, strong hearts. The warm blood flowing through their veins sounded like a stream of fresh water that would quench our week-long thirst.”

  I’d felt the kind of thirst he spoke of—but never for humans. It made my stomach grumble again, and I wondered how long it had been since Ekim fed.

  “Before we could strike, a rainbow of colourful lights flowed toward us. The impact of the stream sent us flying back into the bushes.” He laughed. “When we stood up, all we could smell was . . . serenity.”

  Castall’s spell, I remembered.

  “The women came to our aid thinking we were hurt. Our thirst wasn’t gone, but . . . we couldn’t. Their beauty overpowered our hunger, and the scent of their s
kin woke up urges we’d long forgotten. We wanted to protect them, to know them, to be with them in every way possible—we’d instantly fallen in love with the two humans.” He paused. “The change was more than falling in love; we had transformed. Our perception of this world cleared. We were no longer the monsters people thought us to be.” I heard his smile that the memory conjured in his voice.

  “You became more mortal than many humans I’d met,” I said. My father’s passion and devotion for his new life wrapped around me like a hand-woven blanket.

  “The four of us lived undercover but at peace with humans—we became vampires with human virtues. We had another chance at the life we’d lost so long ago.”

  I heard a thump and imagined him straighten his curled legs onto the floor as he probably recalled the life he’d lost. My father’s sacrifice and devotion to protect me had cost him his life.

  “You’re a good vampire,” I said quietly.

  “Yes, you could say that, but I wasn’t always that way. I hurt and killed many people. I could see how it frightened you when you found out about me being a vampire.” His voice fell to a shameful whisper. Ekim’s pain for what he had done would never go away. He would forever be filled with guilt over what he had done before the spell, haunted by unforgiving memories. I knew that pain too well.

  Could I change the way he feels about himself? Will he ever forgive himself?

  “I understand now.” I spoke like a mother to a child whose wrong doing was justified.

  The cells quieted, and I felt warmed by my father’s story and the chance I had to relive my parents’ lives through him.

  After a while, Ekim resumed his story. “We stayed at a cabin in the Amazon, trying to remain off Aseret’s radar, working on the serums. We learned how to survive on animal blood, how to contain the burning in our throats. Our wives helped us realize there was nothing wrong with being immortal. Differences are unique, essential for the world to function. If everyone were the same, there would be no inventions, no art, and no music. Life would not evolve, societies would not progress.”

  “I blamed you for making me different when all you wanted to do was protect me, for our family to survive.” I lowered my head.

  “You didn’t know the truth, and I’m sorry for that,” he answered modestly. I wanted to say it wasn’t his fault, but he continued, “The war in the underworld continued. Saraphine, your mother and Willow, William’s mother wanted families. So did Atram and I, but conception was impossible for vampires. We worked on the serums, but our dead cells were incompatible with human ones until we found the blue orchid.” My father must have stood up as I’d heard him shuffle his feet from one end of the cell to the other.

  “Its potency gave life to the dead cells,” I realized. Human and vampire cells compromised, and two became one.

  “You’ve done your homework.” I pictured him grin. “We thought the serums controlled our appetite, not the spells, until Castall, a good warlock chosen to bring a prophecy to fruition, came to see us to explain we would help to restore the balance and bring peace to the underworld. He told us we had a mission to help save the human beings and the vampires from the demons. We felt obligated to help. If it hadn’t been for him and the keepers, we’d never get a chance at love.” I heard him swallow.

  I swelled with pride. My father was braver than I could have imagined, even for a vampire.

  “If you met in 1856, how did our mothers live so long?” I asked.

  “The spell altered more than me and Atram; it slowed Saraphine’s and Willow’s aging process as well. That’s why you seem so young as well, don’t you.”

  “Yes,” I whispered, mesmerised by my father’s story and his hoarse voice. William and I are a part of this prophecy?” I asked to confirm what I knew and felt inside.

  “Yes.”

  The scrambled words suddenly shifted on the sheer green force field.

  “Why doesn’t Aseret just kill us?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  I sighed. “Everything is so complicated.”

  “It will all work out.” I pictured him smiling. “You’re more important than you think.”

  “I wish I had you in my life. All my life,” I admitted.

  “I’m sorry you didn’t. I wanted to come back to raise you so you wouldn’t have doubts. I wanted your life to be easier.” His voice sounded so sorrowful. I envisioned him hunched on the cold floor, hugging his knees tightly, grieving for the years he’d been without his family. “When you were still an infant would have been a perfect time to come back” He sighed. “I went to a warlock stronghold I thought was still under Castall’s control to ensure I wouldn’t interfere with the prophecy. I wanted to ask if it was safe for me to come home, but Aseret turned out to be my welcoming party. The seekers captured me.”

  I covered my mouth with my hand at the thought of the seeker’s scorching palms on my father’s shoulders.

  “I’m surprised your watchers couldn’t keep you safe, as they promised,” Ekim said, his voice carrying an undercurrent of disapproval.

  “Mira and Xander?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “It’s not their fault. We fled too quickly. I didn’t even know we were leaving Pinedale until we were doing so.”

  “Still, it was their job. How did the seekers find you?”

  “I reduced my serum so my heartbeat gave me away. William came just in time. We thought we had escaped, but I accidentally left a photo of the cabin at work. That’s how they found out where we’d gone—and here I am.”

  The disc in his neck cracked again when his head came up. “Seekers found the cabin? After you escaped?” He sounded anxious.

  “Yes.” I lowered my head.

  “Why didn’t you run again?”

  “We didn’t want to hide. We’d made preparations to follow them to the underworld to find you, and William’s parents.”

  “You knew they were coming?”

  My gaze instinctively roved around my cell. I dropped my voice. “I have visions. They seem to come and go when I’m either relaxed or frightened. We thought we could outsmart them.”

  I explained William’s and my gifts and what it meant for us, as well as our connection. Ekim didn’t speak, but I could feel his smile in the newfound energy radiating from his cell.

  “You’re in love?” he asked.

  I jerked back, then exhaled. If I had enough blood in my body, I would have blushed. “Yes . . . but we can’t be together.”

  “Have faith that it will work out,” he assured me. “Things happen for a reason. Perhaps it will make you stronger. Maybe it’s for the best—for now.”

  “For now,” I repeated. It was easy to speak about William to my father—a father I’d just met, but who had so much wisdom and understanding. How could I have judged him so poorly, before I even knew him?

  “That’s how I know William will find me,” I continued. “When he does, he’ll get us out and we’ll find his parents.”

  “That may not be easy,” he warned. “William’s parents are in the other two cells. The spell keeping them locked sealed our communication. Aseret must be slipping. He didn’t cast the same spell for your cell. I believe his energy has weakened with you here.” He paused and added thoughtfully, “Or maybe he wants us to think he’s slipping.”

  “I had another vision.” I explained my latest one to him.

  “Castall . . . He’ll face off against Aseret.” My father’s voice vibrated. “Things are going to get a lot more dangerous than I thought,” my father finished in a grim tone.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Castall has been trying to bring Aseret down for over a hundred years. Both are strong. Those beams you saw were raw energy; if anyone crosses them, they’ll disintegrate. If the two streams remain connected too long, Castall and Aseret will be overpowered. Everyone close by will die.” His voice quavered, and he drew a breath to calm it. “Whoever gives up first will die. If neither gives up
, they’ll both die.”

  “I will not let my family die!” I growled, feeling the contours of my face tighten to a vampire’s. When my fangs ejected, I was ready and my lip did not bleed.

  “I know you won’t. You’re as strong as your mother and so Aseret fears you.”

  At that moment, I wished I knew what our prophecy had in store for us. I rested my head against the stone wall again, feeling oddly comfortable. Like I belonged here, like it was my calling to be here, with William at my side.

  Where is he?

  Chapter 17

  Night crept in. A grey cloud of smoke continued to drift from the cabin. William sat on the remains of the front porch steps. The crackling of the smouldering fire had died down, leaving ash, charred wood, and a blackened beam outline of the scorched cabin. The first wave of the tropical storm had passed.

  The sound of footsteps approaching instantly alerted him.

  William had hoped the siblings would find him and Sarah after they’d returned from the underworld—together. That was not to be the case.

  “I was wondering when you’d get here,” he called toward the forest in a low voice.

  “Where’s Sarah?” Xander snapped, stopping inches from William’s face.

  “They got her,” he whispered, his voice heavy as failure tore through his body in ripples.

  “You said you would protect her! That you’d let us know if there was danger!” Mira visibly struggled to be rational. Her anger surfaced, and muscles tensed, stiffening all joints.

  “I did. I thought we’d be safe. We took precautions. Didn’t you get my messages?” He quickly recapped the events of the past few weeks, and that he and Sarah wanted to save his captured parents.

  “We left as soon as we discovered you were gone. The seekers were right behind you until the airport and then lost your trail. We had to rely on Harlow to find you,” she explained.