Ascension (Demon's Grail Book 1)

by Amy Cross

  “But everything is fine, isn't it?” I ask.

  He glances back at me. “Of course it is, just... Not in the way that most people would understand.”

  Once he's gone through to the kitchen to talk to my adoptive parents, I sit alone in the front room and look at my drawing of the palace from my dream. In the cold light of day, the whole thing feels ridiculous and embarrassing, like the fantasy of a dumb kid, but I know that when night comes and the dream returns, it'll feel so real again, more real than anything in the world around me. Doctor Keller was right, the palace does feel like home, and while that sensation is certainly welcome, it also scares me a little.

  What kind of monster would only feel at home in a nightmare?

  Jonathan

  Today

  “Did you dream of me?” she spits, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look up at her. “I can't believe you're so weak that you passed out after only forty minutes of punishment. I hope I was in your nightmares, though.” She leans closer, her eyes filled with hatred. “I hope you felt my venom in your heart.”

  Breathless and filled with pain, all I can manage is to stare back at her. I never thought that anyone could have eyes filled with such absolute fury, but as she tilts her head slightly and smiles, it's clear that she's not lying when she claims to be enjoying this. As if to prove that point, she grabs the back of my neck and pulls me closer until the ropes around my wrists start to pull hard, twisting against my already-torn flesh.

  I'm in some kind of dark chamber. I don't know how I got here, but I can only assume that I lost consciousness earlier and Emilia moved me. Pulling on the ropes, I let out a gasp of pain, and when I look up I see that the restraints have already started to wear through the flesh around my wrists.

  “That's how it always arrives,” she continues. “When I was a child, it was nightmares that first revealed to me the truth about my nature. Somehow, some kind of inner knowledge managed to rest deep within me, ready to burst through as soon as it found a route. Sometimes I think it was like a weed, winding its way up from the void at the bottom of my soul until finally it cracked the stones of my mind and I was forced to witness its blossoms.” She pauses, as if she's trying to work out how best to hurt me next. “You've already begun to experience the dreams, Jonathan. You told me about them, but I don't have time to wait for you to develop at your natural pace. I need to force things, which is why I have to deliver so much pain.”

  Reaching into her pocket, she takes out a small glass vial containing some kind of black liquid, and she holds it up so that the edge glints in the candlelight.

  “Do you know what this is?” she asks. “Go on, take a guess.”

  Barely able to remain conscious, I try to focus on the vial but instead my vision becomes blurred. I swallow hard, but all I taste is blood.

  “Stay with me!” she hisses, slapping the side of my face before opening the vial and pouring some of the liquid onto the palm of her hand. “It's venom,” she continues, her voice filled with anticipation. “My venom, actually. I diluted it for you, so that you won't die too soon. Usually I'd bite directly into my victims and deliver my venom that way, but I don't need to cause such an extreme level of damage in this case, at least not yet. You have that to look forward to. Right now, I just want you to understand what you're dealing with here.”

  Slowly, while fixing me with a determined stare, she reaches her hand out and places the sticky, black-smeared palm against my chest. I cry out as I feel the venom burning through my flesh, but she keeps her hand in place for several seconds before pulling it back again.

  “You need pain,” she says with a grin. “You need to suffer, and as a vampire, your body is capable of enduring vast amounts of agony and still recovering. Unfortunately for you, your mind is still mostly human, so there's something of a mismatch there but...” She licks some of the venom from her fingers, while still glaring at me and grinning. “I need you to wake up, Jonathan. I need the vampire side of your soul to come to the surface so I can get the information about Karakh from your mind, and then all of this will be over. Can you do that for me?” She taps the side of my head gently, as if she's teasing a child. “Wake up, little vampire! Burst through this human facade and show me what you're really made of.”

  She pauses, before forcing my mouth open and inspecting my teeth.

  “Nothing yet,” she mutters, as if she's disappointed. “My understanding is that you'll grow a nice, cute little pair of fangs when the change occurs. It's something of a miracle that all of this didn't happen of its own accord when you were in your teens, but I suppose you must have simply repressed your instincts. That, certainly, would be a very human approach to the problem.” She pauses, as the smile fades from her lips. “I can't imagine living like that. Pretending to be something I'm not, while denying my most basic instincts... When I became aware of my true nature, the sensation was incredible, it burned through me. How could you possibly have repressed it and lived a normal human life? You must either be very weak or very, very strong.”

  She runs her fingers against my chest, and for a moment she seems lost in thought.

  “I'm going to assume that you're strong,” she whispers, “which means I'm going to have to be even stronger in order to break you.”

  “Please,” I whisper, finally mustering the strength to speak again, “don't do this. Whatever you think, you're wrong, you have to be...” I pause as I feel a sharp pain rippling through my abdomen. Unable to look down at my ravaged body, I can't see all the damage that Emilia has already caused, but I can feel blood dribbling down my flesh, over my belly and onto my bare legs. “Why are you torturing me?” I ask. “Do you really enjoy it?”

  “I told you why,” she says firmly. “I need to know where to find Karakh.”

  “You're not like this,” I continue. “You can't be...”

  “Not like what?” she asks, before grabbing my chin again and forcing me to look at her, even though I can barely keep my eyes open. “What am I not like?”

  “A monster,” I whisper. “I can see it in your eyes. You're not the kind of person who could enjoy doing this to someone, you're not...” I take a deep breath, trying to stay calm. “You're not a monster.”

  She stares at me for a moment, with anger starting to build once again in her eyes. It's almost as if, for the first time, I've actually managed to surprise her.

  “You don't know what you're talking about,” she spits finally, tipping more of the black venom onto the palm of her hand, “but you'll learn. And if you think I'm not a monster...” She places her hand against the side of my face, pressing more searing venom into my flesh and causing me to cry out. “Face it,” she sneers, leaning closer to me, “we're both monsters. Don't worry, though, you'll get used to it. I did. A long, long time ago.”

  Emilia

  Ten years ago

  “It's sick really,” Leanne says with a laugh as we make our way through the forest at the edge of town. “I hate all those guys at school, they're just complete idiots. I told him to go to hell, but I can tell he's gonna try again. Why can't guys like Justin Roberts understand that I just don't want to date them?” She turns to me. “Don't you have the same problem?”

  At first, I'm not quite sure how to answer that question. “Not really,” I mutter finally, looking up at the tops of the trees as sunlight breaks through the branches.

  “But guys ask you out, right?” she continues. “I mean, they have to.”

  “Not really,” I tell her, smiling as I look down at the forest floor and kick a small rock. “Haven't you noticed? They just give me a weird look while they're talking to everyone else. It's like they sense something kind of off about me.”

  “That's crazy,” she replies. “How does a girl like Janine Nebbins get so many dates, when I get almost none and you... Well, you should be fighting them off, that's all.”

  Reaching a huge fallen tree, we both decide to climb over instead of walking around. Leanne struggles a little
, but I quickly clamber to the top and stop to look around at the beautifully still scene. Ever since I came to live in this dead-end town, I've always felt happiest when I come out here and get away from people. I just want to be alone, and Leanne has long been the only person I really like having around. As she reaches the top of the fallen tree and struggles for balance, I can't help but laugh. Reaching out, I take her hand and help her to get steady.

  “It's okay for you,” she mutters, still a little wobbly. “You're so good at balancing.”

  “It's a gift,” I reply, pausing for a moment, still holding her hand. Ever since Doctor Keller's visit the other day, his comments about people being monsters have been playing on my mind. Sure, I know he's right about most people, but I'm certain that Leanne is good and kind, and I honestly don't think she'd react badly to anything I told her. As we continue to stand on the trunk, I feel a faint twitch in my belly, almost as if the slit itself is egging me on and telling me I should trust Leanne with my secret.

  “You're looking at me funny,” Leanne says after a moment, still not quite steady as she tries to balance.

  “Do you wanna see something weird?” I ask, letting go of her hand.

  She frowns. “Like what?”

  “Do you remember how I was never allowed to do physical exercise at school?”

  “Your Mom got a doctor's note excusing you,” she replies. “Well, your fake Mom.”

  “But do you know why I had that note?”

  “Something about your heart?”

  I shake my head. “I have a birth defect.”

  “Where?”

  Reaching down, I put a hand on the front of my t-shirt, over my belly.

  “What kind of birth defect?” she asks.

  “A big one.” I take a deep breath as I realize I've passed the point of no return. Still, I know Leanne will be fine with what she sees. “I've been thinking about showing someone for a while,” I tell her, “and I think it should be you. I'm tired of hiding it.”

  She stares at my belly. “Okay,” she says after a moment. “Go on, then. How bad can it be?”

  “Pretty bad,” I reply. “Well, not bad but...” Taking hold of the bottom of the t-shirt, I swear I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. No matter how much I tell myself that I can trust Leanne, I've been trained over the years to think of my deformity as something shameful, something to be hidden away. Doctor Keller and the Vaughns are wrong, though, they have to be. Not all people are monsters.

  Slowly, I lift the t-shirt until the vertical slit on my belly is exposed.

  As Leanne stares in wide-eyed shock, I feel as if there are tears behind my eyes.

  “Is it...” She pauses. “Is it like a scar?”

  “No, it's deeper,” I reply, my throat suddenly feeling very dry. “It's not closed, either. It's open.”

  “Open... how?”

  “Like it goes all the way inside me. There's something dark at the bottom, but I haven't really seen it properly. That doctor who comes to visit me, he isn't really checking on my heart, he's checking on this. He hasn't told me what it's about yet, but he seems to know what he's doing so...” My voice trails off as I wait for her to say something, but she's just staring at the slit as if she's genuinely shocked. “You don't think it's disgusting, do you?” I ask finally, before swallowing hard.

  “Does it hurt?”

  I shake my head.

  “Does it...” She pauses. “Is it... I mean, it looks kinda rude.”

  “It's just a hole in my belly,” I reply, “leading to... whatever's inside. I mean, I know it seems pretty insane, but I'm still me. You can tell that, can't you?”

  She nods, but her eyes are still fixed firmly on the slit.

  “Do you want to see what's in there?” I ask, feeling a shiver in my chest.

  “Your guts?”

  “No, not my guts.”

  She pauses, before shaking her head.

  “It's not disgusting,” I tell her, “or... I mean, it's not that disgusting. I think it's kind of interesting.”

  “You shouldn't open it,” she replies. “It might get infected or something.”

  “I don't think so.” I pause again. “Do you want to touch it?”

  She stares at the slit, and for a moment I swear I see a hint of disgust in her eyes.

  “Leanne?” I continue. “Do you want to -”

  “No,” she replies firmly, interrupting me. “No thanks.”

  “It won't hurt.”

  “I'm okay.” She turns and looks out across the forest, before turning back to me. “You should cover it up. Someone else might come along at any moment.”

  I open my mouth to reply, before letting the t-shirt drop back down, covering my belly.

  “Does anyone else know?” she asks.

  “Just the Vaughns and my doctor. I've always been told to keep it hidden.” I pause. “That's why I finally felt like I had to show someone. I mean, it's not like I'm a monster, is it?” I wait for a reply. “Is it?”

  She shakes her head, but she still seems shocked. I don't know how I expected her to react, but I guess I was hoping she'd laugh and tell me it was nothing, maybe even poke her finger in there, while my worst fear was that she'd call me a freak and a monster; instead, she seems to be somewhere in-between, and I can tell that she's genuinely a little freaked out. I guess I shocked her.

  “So it's not actually a big issue,” I continue, trying to force a smile in the hope that she'll do the same. “I guess I was totally building it up too much, 'cause I mean, everyone has some kind of weird thing going on, right? Like, Elly Simmons at school has that lazy eye, and Bradley Baker has that pigeon chest thing, so...” I take a deep breath, but with every second that passes I'm starting to feel more and more as if showing Leanne my belly was a mistake. “It's just a fun little secret I thought I'd share,” I add, before turning and jumping down off the trunk. After taking a few steps forward, I turn and look up at her, and I can't shake the feeling that something has changed.

  She's looking at me in a different way now.

  “So let's go to the lake, yeah?” I continue, feeling as if I might cry at any moment. “That's still the plan, right? Let's go to the lake and swim.”

  Jonathan

  Today

  “This is your sister,” Emilia says as she holds a photo up for me to see. “Does she look familiar? Have you seen her face in your dreams?”

  Barely able to stay conscious after the latest round of torture, and with blood in my eyes, I have to squint to be able to see the image. The photo shows a girl who, although I don't remember seeing her before, immediately strikes me as someone I should know. Deep down, I can't deny that she looks like me.

  A lot like me.

  “Her name is Abigail,” Emilia continues. “I thought that after experiencing so much pain, you should enjoy a little history lesson. You and Abigail shared the same womb inside a woman named Sophie Hart, but once you emerged from that womb your lives were very different. Abigail became the great tortured vampire, forced to fight alongside your dying father and then thrust into a tumultuous life. You, on the other hand, were hidden away and forgotten. No-one knew about you, not your father, not your mother, not your sister, no-one. And do you know why?”

  Staring at the photo, I realize I can't deny what I'm seeing. After a moment, I realize that maybe I have seen her before, being picked up by the woman in my dreams and carried to Gothos. It's hard to be certain, but I think it might be the same girl...

  “She was born first,” Emilia tells me. “Only by a few minutes, but still, it was enough. By the time you popped out a short while later, all the attention had been focused on Abby. Think about it, though, if you'd just pushed your way past her in the womb and come out first, your lives would have been very different. You'd have been the one standing alongside your father in his final moment, and she'd be the sniveling, pathetic fool with no sense of her own lineage.”

  She waits as I continue to stare at the imag
e. Slowly, everything Emilia says is starting to make sense, but I still can't quite bring myself to believe it's true. I blink a couple of times, trying to get the blood out of my eyes.

  “You were abandoned,” she adds finally.

  “I had a good family,” I whisper. “I was adopted, I was -”

  “You were tossed away,” she sneers, interrupting me. “Abigail and your father went off, having their adventures, and they left you to rot.”

  “You said they didn't even know about me.”

  “But don't you think there should have been signs?” she asks. “Abby's your twin, how could she not have sensed your presence? I'll tell you... She, like your father, is so wrapped up in her own concerns, she doesn't care about anyone else. She's so pathetically absorbed in her own greatness, her own importance, that she forgot all about you. She was with you in your mother's womb, remember? You grew together, your minds sparked to life, you became conscious of one another... You probably reached out in there, your slowly forming fingers brushing against hers. What could be more intimate than that? Even if we accept that your father had an excuse, Abby should have remembered the absence by her side, but she didn't. She forgot all about you.”

  I open my mouth to argue with her, but something hold me back. A moment later, she sets the photo aside.

  “I know what it's like to be abandoned,” she continues. “I know what it's like to be left with humans as a child, and to grow up knowing that you don't belong.”

  After a moment, she pulls her dress down to reveal the slit in her belly.

  “In my case,” she adds, “the difference was something very physical. It was always there, though, always hideous, always reminding me that I'm something to be mocked and laughed at, at least in the human world.”

  There's pain in her voice now.