“Based on what grounds?!” Juliet yelled.
“Look at me, Juliet!” her mother shouted. “Are you oblivious to the changes happening right before your eyes?”
“You appear to be fine,” Juliet replied.
Lady Capulet flew out of her chair, leaping at Juliet. “I will not repeat myself again, Juliet. Look at me.”
Juliet’s hands trembled as she studied her mother. When she observed Lady Capulet this closely, she did notice some oddities. There were visible cracks in the skin on her face. The red glow of her eyes was dimmer than it had been the day before.
“So it is true,” Juliet murmured as she touched one of the wrinkles on Lady Capulet’s cheek. “Human blood is what gives vampires their power. But does this mean you are going to—”
“Die? No, we still have our immortality. But we are weaker and less able to protect all that is rightfully ours—this castle, the land, our riches, everything that we treasure. Which is why we need to put an end to this peace treaty,” her mother insisted.
“I still don’t understand how my marriage to Count Paris will help.”
Lady Capulet sighed in frustration. “We suspect that Count Paris is turning women as a means of getting human blood. Once he drinks his fill from them, and they are given a taste of his own blood, they are transformed into vampires. And the more vampires there are, the more competition there is. Not for just food, but for status, power, and dominion over Transylvania.”
Juliet’s eyes flickered with recognition. She was right—her parents were out to preserve their empire, not just fighting for their physical survival. How selfish could they be?
“Your father believes that the count might change his ways if he settles down with a wife,” Lady Capulet continued. “Then perhaps he will be more motivated to pressure Prince Radu to overturn the treaty. Now do you see how important your role is in all this?”
“But the fan—you conjured it here without any difficulty. Your powers can’t be waning too badly. Maybe there’s some other explanation, or maybe there is a way to stop your strength from deteriorating,” Juliet said, her voice wavering.
“It would not be wise for you to pin your hopes on a parlor trick.” Lady Capulet pushed Juliet’s hand away with disdain. “The prosperity of the Capulets rests on your shoulders, Juliet. I will not allow you to turn your back on us.”
“Perhaps there is something else the count wants.” Juliet tried to negotiate. “Like money or jewels or property. I would give everything I have to him—just not my heart, or my life.”
Lady Capulet responded to her daughter’s pleas by floating out the door without another word.
Juliet breathed in deeply, trying to swallow the huge lump in her throat, and gripped one of the bedposts with both hands. She racked her brain for a way to stop her life from spiraling out of control any further, and nothing came to her.
Truly, there was no hope. No hope whatsoever.
“Are you decent, my lady?” came a voice from across the room.
Juliet glanced at the door, which was opened just a crack. The round pink face of her nurse peeked through.
“Decent? Hardly. But you may come in anyway,” she answered solemnly.
The nurse came in carrying a large metal box with a long coiled handle made out of thick wire. She set it down on the desk opposite Juliet’s bed and wiped off her hands with the bottom of her apron.
“What is that?” Juliet inquired.
The nurse’s brow wrinkled as she cleared her throat. “Your father told me to give this to you for your initiation tonight. I do not know what is inside.”
Juliet was so distraught she could not bear to look at the contents herself. “Open it, will you?”
The nurse lifted the lid and peered inside, then bowed her head in dismay.
“Weapons, my child. Of all sorts,” the nurse mumbled.
Another surge of rage bolted through Juliet. She charged toward the nurse—practically knocking the woman over—and slammed the box shut with a terrifying animalistic growl that was quite similar to her father’s. Then she flopped down on the gray wool rug, her breath coming in short spurts.
“They want me to kill Romeo.” Juliet held back tears as the nurse sat down next to her. “Please, good Nurse, I need your counsel more than ever.”
The nurse stroked Juliet’s hair with her fingertips. “Try not to worry, Juliet. If Romeo has any sense, he has hidden himself far from anyone’s reach. Even you would be unable to find him.”
“But that’s not the point,” Juliet said, pushing the nurse’s hand away. “Regardless of who I take as my first kill tonight, tomorrow my parents will force me to marry Count Paris. There is just no end to their cruelty.”
“Madam, I think your passion is clouding your judgment,” the nurse said, her voice calm and soothing. “If you look at this situation with a clear mind and an unaffected heart, you’ll see that Romeo has nothing to offer you, especially now that he is exiled. Count Paris is not perfect, but he can provide for you and help your parents protect your family. Please, take his hand, child. Spare yourself any more torment and choose security in the long run over happiness in the now.”
“Do you speak from your heart?” Juliet whimpered.
“And my soul, too. Or else curse them both.”
Juliet turned and looked directly at the nurse. She realized, then and there, that she could no longer go to this woman for help or even sympathy. Though still caring and nurturing, the nurse was on the side of Lord and Lady Capulet, and nothing could be done about it. That meant there was only one person left who Juliet could trust. She must go to him—now—and see if he could assist her. If not, then she would have to face her fate alone.
“Well, then, you have convinced me,” Juliet said with a suddenly amiable spirit.
The nurse seemed quite baffled. “What?”
“I have found such comfort in your wisdom, friend,” Juliet explained as she slid the metal box out from under her bed. “I will venture into the forest and practice my hunting skills. Would you go into town and buy the finest wedding dresses you can find? I’ll want to choose one later.”
“Yes, of course.” The nurse cracked a smile. “I am most happy to.”
“Speak nothing of it, though. I want my mother to be surprised when I tell her I’ve reconsidered,” she added.
As soon as the nurse left the room, Juliet reopened the box and marveled at the killing tools inside. She ran her thumb along the blade of a short sword, hoping she would have the will to use it on herself if her last grasp at good fortune failed her.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Later that evening, Juliet was at the front door of the monastery once again, hunched over in more pain. She had recalled how anxious she had been right before her marriage to Romeo, but the dread and suffering she felt right at this moment was infinitely worse. With one hand on her belly, she knocked at the door. Moments later, it opened a crack, and she saw the friendly eyes of Friar Laurence, peeking out from behind it.
He recognized Juliet at once and welcomed her into the monastery, leading her to his private cell. Juliet bowed her head as she floated down the hallway.
“Friar, I am desperate for your help,” she said.
“Of course, child. What can I do for you?” the friar asked, placing a warm hand on her pale cheek.
“That is the trouble. I am not a child anymore,” Juliet said, lifting her gaze toward him. “Yesterday, I became Romeo’s wife, and today, I am a vampire. In the next few hours, my life will be beyond repair.”
“Do not lose hope just yet. I might be able to help you.”
Juliet floated away from the friar and toward an oval-shaped stained-glass window. She peered through the tinted glass at purple trees and a yellow sky.
“You know that the Capulets are born human and transition into vampires on the day they turn sixteen.”
“Yes, that is common knowledge to practically everyone in Transylvania,” Friar Laurence replied.
“Well, no one outside of the vampire world is aware of the initiation rite that must be performed by midnight of every Capulet’s sixteenth birthday,” Juliet went on.
“You are right, I don’t know what you are talking about,” the friar said.
“What I am going to tell you must remain a secret. Promise me you will not repeat any of this to a living soul,” Juliet demanded.
“I promise.”
Juliet traced the outline of Romeo’s name on the window with her pointy fingernails. “In order to achieve immortality and full admission into the vampire race, one must leave the castle alone and hunt down a human.”
She put a hand on her chest in an attempt to quiet her racing heart.
“Then what?” Friar Laurence asked.
“He or she must kill the person and drink the victim’s blood,” Juliet said.
The friar barely reacted. “You are a vampire, Juliet, and a Capulet, so this news is hardly surprising.”
“True, but this goes against every principle and value that I hold dear, and if I do not perform this act today, I will be dead by morning,” she said, her voice cracking. “Before I met Romeo, I was willing to sacrifice my life for what I believed in. But now I cherish every waking moment I share with him and cannot even begin to think of leaving him behind—in life or death.”
The friar remained silent, clearly contemplating what Juliet had just confided in him.
“Within me, there is a raging hunger for human blood that the normal girl I was before had promised herself she would never submit to. Lord and Lady Capulet are forcing me to use Romeo as my initiation kill and avenge my cousin Tybalt’s death. They are also making me marry another vampire tomorrow. How can I even think of betraying my love like that?” Juliet broke into tears, pounding her fist on the window in agony. “This is why I came to see you.”
Without hesitating, the friar approached her and took hold of her hand. “Your story is most woeful, my lady. No one would deny that. What does Romeo think you should do?”
A tear dribbled down the side of Juliet’s somber face. “He does not know about the initiation rite, or my arranged engagement to Count Paris.”
The friar sighed and gave a disapproving look.
“I tried to tell him this morning, Friar, but we ran out of time,” Juliet explained. “And now I have no idea where he is, so I cannot possibly tell him.”
Friar Laurence took her hand in his. “If you had made your confession to him, I am sure he would understand, being that he, too, has been forced to take a life.”
“It is not the same thing. He and his friend were being attacked.” Juliet pulled away gently. “I would have to hurt someone who has done nothing against me. Or as my family sees it, strike down the only man I will ever love.”
“Well, my lady, I have been worried about your future with Romeo since I married you two,” the friar said. “Not that I doubt your feelings for each other, but because you come from such different worlds, you were bound to run into trouble. I believe I have found a solution, though.”
Juliet’s eyes widened with surprise. “You have?”
“Please, come with me to the library. I will explain everything there.”
Juliet felt another brutal twinge inside her stomach, causing her to lurch forward. She was willing to do anything to free herself from these chains. “Yes, of course.”
The library was on the top floor of the monastery, a large, airy room with two windows on either side. A painting of the Last Supper was hung on the left wall. On the right were numerous shelves, cabinets, and such, stacked with volumes of books.
The friar wandered over to a waist-high bookcase. He crouched down and ran his finger along the leather spines, looking carefully at each title until he found one with gold-stitched lettering: The Revival of Virtue. He pulled the book from the top shelf and flipped through it, whipping through the yellowed pages with great speed.
All of a sudden the friar stopped and pointed to a lengthy paragraph in the center column. “Here, Juliet. Look at this.”
Friar Laurence handed Juliet the bulky volume, which somehow felt light as a feather in her grasp. She set her flaming red eyes on the paragraph and read:
For centuries, many theologians have believed that the road to salvation for the undead rests in scripture, especially Matthew 5:13–16.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its flavor be restored?”
Based on this passage, missionaries have made numerous attempts to help members of the Underworld become human again by drinking blood from a vampire corpse, which has been purified with salt. Most of these trials failed, but there is rumored to be one successful case—when the body had gone through rigor mortis (roughly thirty-six hours after death) and the blood was purified using a combination of three salts of the earth—pink, black, and sea. After this blood was properly cleansed and ingested by the hellion, he returned to the human state he was in prior to his vampirism.
Juliet couldn’t believe what she was reading. There was a way for her to remain human, just like her husband! She was so excited by this new hope that her lips turned up into a wide smile. But when she came to the end of the paragraph, her eyes became misty with tears.
However, this process is rarely carried out because of the difficulty of procuring the three different salts, which originate from remote areas of the world.
Juliet slammed the book shut, her bottom lip trembling. “Is this some kind of cruel trick?”
The friar’s brow wrinkled with confusion. “What? I’m only trying to help you.”
“But it’s written here in plain English—the salts that are needed for the purification process are scattered all around the globe,” Juliet said, sniffling. “It will be too difficult to attempt it.”
“Difficult but not impossible.” Friar Laurence rubbed his hands together and smiled. “I know a shaman who lives in seclusion in Moldova. He might have all of the salts.”
Juliet raised her eyebrows. “Really?”
“Yes,” the friar reassured her. “But to be honest, the more difficult task will be finding a vampire corpse. Unless…”
“What, Friar? Tell me,” Juliet said.
Friar Laurence took a deep breath and finished his thought. “Unless I ask the Montagues for Tybalt’s body.”
Juliet felt a faint spell coming over her, but fortunately, she was able to resist it. The thought of drinking Tybalt’s blood made her feel guilty and nauseated. Yet it was the only way that she could turn back the hands of time and give her and Romeo a real chance. Perhaps then Tybalt’s death would not totally be in vain.
“Let it be done, Friar, and quickly,” Juliet said, clutching at her stomach, which growled again with insatiable hunger. “I want nothing more than to live a normal, human life with my dear Romeo.”
“I want that for you, too. But first we have to make sure that time stands still,” the friar added as he walked over to a mahogany desk. “I need at least a day to get the salts and the body, and we must halt the progression of your condition so you will live past midnight and beyond, without ever having to kill.”
The friar pulled a skeleton key out of his robe pocket and held it up in the air for a brief inspection. Then he inserted it into one of the desk drawers, unlocking it with a loud click.
“Besides, it seems clear that the Capulets’ and Montagues’ hatred for each other will never cease. They might do anything to keep you and Romeo apart. The only way to ensure they will not interfere is for you to convince them you are no longer alive.”
Juliet looked on with awe as Friar Laurence placed a small lead box on top of the desk. He opened the box carefully and took out a tiny glass vial filled with a blue liquid.
“This potion will put you into a trancelike state and slow down all your bodily functions for twenty-four hours. You will be able to hear and see, but you will not be able to move or speak. And to everyone, you will appear to be truly dead—no
t undead,” the friar explained. “By the time the potion wears off, you will most likely be lying inside your family’s crypt. Your parents will have held a funeral for you and buried you there.”
“What then, Friar? How will Romeo know what has happened?” Juliet said, jumping to the final piece of the puzzle.
“I must admit, I know Romeo’s whereabouts.”
Juliet blinked in disbelief. “You do?”
“Yes, but I was told not to share it with anyone, including you. For your own protection, of course,” the friar said.
Although Juliet was desperate to know where her husband was, she nodded in affirmation. After all that he had done for her and Romeo, she trusted the friar completely.
“Drink this no less than an hour before midnight.” Friar Laurence put the vial in Juliet’s quaking hand. “I will send two of my friars as messengers. One to go to the shaman and the other to Romeo to alert him of the plan. Romeo will come to rescue you from the crypt and bring you back to my cell for the purification ceremony. Then you both will be free to go anywhere in the world to live in peace.”
“Thank you, dear Friar,” Juliet said, and kissed the man on the cheek. “If I survive this, I will make sure we name our firstborn son after you.”
The friar’s cheeks flushed a shade of red similar to Juliet’s glowing eyes. “What an honor that would be.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Just outside the Moldovan border, Romeo cowered in the corner of a dilapidated wooden shack, blowing onto his hands in order to keep them warm. Once the sun had set a couple of hours ago, the temperature had dropped substantially, forcing him to battle the evening chill. As the sky continued to darken, he reminded himself that this abandoned shanty was only a temporary lodging, until Friar Laurence could find someone to provide him with what he hoped would be a less dilapidated sanctuary. Hopefully in a day or two, he would be settled and rested enough to return to Transylvania, like he’d promised Juliet.
Romeo & Juliet & Vampires Page 12
