by Chloe Adler
"Silentium," Aurelia said and threw her hand toward me. My chair screeched back in, with me still in it. "Do not move, girls, and this won't be too painful."
Pinned in place, Iphi and I exchanged terrified looks.
With my teeth clenched, I sucked in my breath and threw daggers at my mother with my eyes. "What's going on?"
"I'm doing this for your own protection," said Aurelia. "Both of you, heads down on the table, now."
Iphi shrugged her shoulders and placed her head on top of her hands, face down on the table.
"You too, Chrysothemis. This instant!" shouted Aurelia. "I knew I should have done this when you were all born," she mumbled.
Holding the hot poker in her hand, Aurelia stalked closer. Looking at the bright red tip, I almost passed out. It was a symbol, old and ancient. One I'd never seen before. I couldn't stop staring at it, my mouth agape.
Aurelia walked behind me, almost gently pushing the hair off my neck. Then she slammed my head down on the table with a thud.
"No!" I screamed and fought her, using all my force. I was actually succeeding, my head held high, my body rising from the chair, when the icy grip of her fury took over. My mother was the reigning puppet master and we were her puppets. Controlling my body like she'd done all my life, she slammed my head back down on the table without ever even touching me. My arms, as though pulled by her invisible strings, jerked up and brushed my hair aside, holding it out of the way of her savage branding. I couldn't even scream. She'd spelled my mouth shut. I willed my body to shut down an instant too late.
The burning steel seared hotly into my flesh. The smell of sizzling meat and burnt hair filled the room, and then I blacked out.
A nightmarish scream pricked my consciousness. My head jolted upright and the first thing that registered was excruciating pain. I reached my hand up to the back of my neck but Aurelia swatted it away.
"Let me add some salve and the pain will lessen," she said as she walked out of the room.
I looked over at Iphi, who was paler than the moonlight and sobbing.
"Why?" I asked her.
She shook her head, not bothering to wipe at her tears. "I'm sure . . . Mom . . . has a good reason," she choked out, sniffling.
Aurelia walked back into the kitchen, holding a glass jar filled with something green. She stood behind me first.
"This may hurt a little, but as soon as it's applied, the pain will lessen. Significantly."
She twisted off the top. The scent of grass and sunlight wafted through the air, masking the lingering scent of burnt flesh. Leaning my head forward, I pulled my hair to one side. Some of it stuck to the burn, then tore free when I yanked it. The pain seared through my system and I almost leapt from my chair. I had to reach down and hold onto the table with both hands to keep myself from bolting.
The coolness of the salve was instant, sweet relief. It didn't hurt when she patted it on, careful not to smear it.
"Do Iphi," I said to her. "I'm fine now."
Aurelia walked over to my sister and applied it to her burn as well. No, not a burn, I reminded myself. A brand. And one we would sport forever now, thanks to our mother.
"Don't let your hair touch it," said Aurelia, moving to grab some gauze from the counter.
There was a deep ache as she placed it over the spot, securing it with medical tape.
"What--? Why--?" I started but wasn't sure what else to say.
"Protection," she answered matter-of-factly, her tone betraying nothing.
"But we have our amulets for that," I said before realizing my mistake.
"Had," corrected Aurelia. "And what's to say you altruists won't give them away again? Or worse, that some creature like the Scrim won't rip them off your neck? Or your own father, like Sadie's."
She had a point. Iphi and I exchanged sympathetic glances.
"This way," continued our mother, "no one can kill you. Unless of course they get creative, like ripping your heads off."
"Mom," Iphi said, her voice still nasally from crying.
"I'm just being practical and telling you girls like it is."
"And we love you for it," I replied.
Aurelia walked over to me and held out her arms. I stood up and let her hug me. Stiffly. Aurelia only offered stiff, A-frame hugs, our bodies never touching. Still, it was better than nothing.
Iphi stood up for her hug too.
"Now you girls can prepare your amulets," she said.
"But how?" I asked.
"Iphigenia can do what she did for your poultice. It worked, didn't it?"
I nodded. "Most of the time. When I had it on me. Unless I got exceptionally angry."
"Good enough." She turned to Iphi. "You know what herbs to use and how to cast the spell?"
"I do," said Iphi.
"Do it then," ordered Aurelia. "I was up all night. I'm going back to bed. If you mess up, start over and fix it. Don't ask me to help."
We sat there, dumbfounded.
"What should I put in my amulet?" asked Iphi, her voice soft, her tone placating.
"I'll talk to you about that later," Aurelia said to her. She cast a furtive glance at me. "Privately."
Chapter Thirteen
The docks were in full bloom and I was starting to think they always looked this way. The scent of jasmine hung in the air, and a cool breeze danced off the water. Pots of herbs and small fruit trees decorated the sides of the walkways.
In some ways, the docks were prettier than the land. I'd always been told they were falling apart, mostly by Aurelia, and that only destitute Signum and humans lived here. What I witnessed on Langton Dock couldn't be farther from that rumor. The breeze picked up, ruffling my ponytail. Aurelia. What a mess. Kicked out of Casa Mañana and unable to stomach my own mother for any length of time, I gently rocked in place, stretching my calves. Could I make things right by helping Carter's brother, Julian? I wasn't deluding myself regarding family dynamics. Helpful, not pushy, I reminded myself. I'd spent a few hours researching curses but had come up empty. Still, I couldn't help wanting to try. Maybe if I could see him, I could gather more information.
Poised in front of number nineteen, Carter's houseboat, I was about to knock when the door opened. The sunlight hit him just right, bouncing off his eyes and casting long shadows on one side of his face. His dark hair was tousled as if he'd just woken up. He was adorned in his usual black T, jeans and leather jacket. How many of those Ts and pairs of jeans did he own? His entire closet must be full of them.
"I'm glad you came," he said as he leaned down and kissed me. I blushed but his lips barely registered, almost skimming over me in haste.
He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, which looked darker than I remembered them, almost brooding. I briefly wondered if he needed to eat and inwardly cursed myself for not learning more from Burgundy about vampires.
"Welcome." He bit his lip as his eyes darted past me. Was that a brief flash of fear?"
Couldn't be. Following him in, I walked down a long hallway toward the back of the house.
"Is your brother here?"
A spiral, floating metal staircase headed down on the left and he motioned toward it, nodding. "He's downstairs."
I looked at him as he shrugged half-heartedly. Something in the way he looked at me was worrisome. He wasn't smiling but his mouth was set in a very thin line, and those dark eyes refused to meet mine.
What the heck? I waited there instead, unmoving.
"I'll go first." He forced a smile and I stepped out of the way to let him pass.
I was just being paranoid. Why would Carter do anything to hurt me? I followed him down, and at the bottom of the staircase, he turned on an overhead light, revealing a long and narrow hallway with several doors on either side.
"Where is he?" I asked.
Carter pointed to the last door on the left. "That's his room." He walked to the door and removed a key from his pocket.
"He's locked inside?" I didn't know whether to ru
n, scream or punch Carter in the face.
"It's for his own safety," he said, unlocking it and slowly turning the handle. The door opened into darkness. Was Julian sleeping? And then I heard his voice from within.
"Carter. It hurts so much. Please make it stop," came the pleading voice of a child.
My heart spasmed in my chest with the weight of this boy's anguish. I rushed forward without thinking. Carter was still in front of me, at the doorway. He swiveled toward me, grabbed me and lifted me up off the floor. He winced and slammed his eyes shut, not making eye contact with me. In the next instant he pulled me close to his mouth and I struggled, thinking he was going to bite me.
"I'm so sorry, Chrys. Please forgive me," he whispered into my ear.
Before I could process what he was asking me to forgive him for, he threw me into the dark room and slammed the door behind me. Then the lock clicked audibly into place.
The smell of rot and decay accosted my senses. Scrambling to my feet, I felt around the small space for a light switch. There was nothing. Not even a window.
"Carter," I called out, feeling my way along the walls to the door and banging on it. "Let me out."
"Hullo?" came a small voice from the far side of the room.
I reeled around to face the voice, even though I couldn't see the speaker.
"Julian?" I asked.
"Yes," he responded.
"Why is it so dark?"
"No lights. It makes me feel safe."
"What's going on?" I asked him, trying to keep an even tone.
"Carter said I should feed on you. Your blood can heal me, remove the curse."
"I don't think so," I said as I backed away from his voice.
He emitted a thin laugh too evil for a child. "I'm sorry but it's better than the alternative."
"The alternative?" I asked, my heart racing.
"Forcing you or another witch to gorge on vampire blood first. That would mean the death of a vampire and probably your death as well."
"So this is one of the other supposed methods?" There was an undeniable squeak in my voice.
"Yes, and less risky for everyone, including you." Now his voice was the one that wavered.
A hollow laugh bubbled out of me. "You're kidding, right? This is better for me?"
"There's a chance . . ." He sighed almost dramatically. "There's a chance that the curse will be lifted before I kill you."
"I'd rather not take that chance. Does Carter know all of this?" But I already knew the answer, a tightening in my stomach reminded me.
"It was his idea," Julian said, making a strange mewling sound. "You were an easy target."
"What?" In that instant my anger overrode my fear.
"I'm sorry," said Julian, sounding genuinely so.
"He could have asked me. He did ask. I offered to help."
"What if he'd told you the only way to help was to give your life's blood to me? Would you have agreed to that?"
My breathing quickened. I couldn't let myself panic. I sat down and placed my head in my hands, trying to think. Julian shuffled toward me.
"I'll make it quick," he said.
"You'll do no such thing," I responded, my timbre deep as I huffed like a bull ready to fight.
A hand grabbed my arm, and I jumped, shuffling backward again, like a crab.
"Get away from me," I screamed into the darkness.
"It'll be less painful if you don't fight," said Julian as he shuffled toward me again.
Fight. That's what I had to do. I'd been trying to figure a way out logically but this was anything but logical. I wrapped my hand around my brand new amulet and pulled. Hard. It dropped to the floor with a ping.
"What was that?" asked Julian
"Your worst nightmare," I responded, letting my anger flare.
The room lit up and Julian stood in front of me, hands poised to grab. He quickly covered his eyes and ran to a corner, turning his back to me.
A searing light was emanating from my palms. We were in a small square room with a bare mattress in the corner. The windows were boarded up from the inside, maybe the outside as well. There was no furniture and no lights. No books. No TV. Nothing but that mattress with no covers. Why? The walls were bare too, with dried brown stains that must have been blood. And then I could smell it, the coppery odor and something else. The same foul scent I'd noticed when I first arrived. It came from Julian.
"Is this where you sleep?" I asked him, trying to distract him and humanize myself. I remembered some documentary about murderers Sadie had made me watch. If you get them to see you as a person, it's more difficult for them to kill you. Who knew if that would work with a vampire, but I had to try.
"Yes." His voice rose in pitch, like air being squeezed from the neck of a very small balloon. Fear? "What are you going to do to me?"
I shook my head. "I'm just trying to survive here, like you."
He turned around to face me, shielding his eyes. I almost gasped. He looked horrible. Completely emaciated. Sick and gaunt, like a skeleton. He was wearing a pair of striped pajama bottoms that hung loosely off his frame. The skin I could see was decomposing while he was still alive. No wonder he was in so much pain.
"What happened to you? Carter said it was an anti-aging spell."
Julian stood there shaking. "I don't know what it is. It started out as that but each day I get sicker and weaker. Blood does nothing to stop it and the pain . . . It's become unbearable. I just want to die." He slumped down on his mattress.
Damn it, I did not want to feel sorry for him. But he was just a kid.
"Julian," I said as I took one step toward him. "There has to be some way . . ."
He looked up at me, baring his fangs, and hissed, "Don't you think we've tried everything? It's been two years."
"Carter said it happened a year ago."
"Yeah, well, he's wrong. Alistair didn't tell him for a year. Tried to fix me himself."
"Have you drunk from a witch before?" I asked him.
He shook his head. "Can't get a witch to come here. Can't leave."
"Well, I'm here." The light from my hands was starting to fade. "And I'm willing to try and help you but you're not allowed to kill me."
Julian looked up at me, a small glimmer of hope in those dark, sunken eyes. Then he looked down again, breaking eye contact. "It won't work."
"How do you know?"
"Alistair said there was only one way," he said, looking at me again.
"Alistair doesn't know everything," I responded and offered him a smile.
Tentatively he tried to smile back but it was more of a gruesome smirk. "I've lost hope."
"I can see that," I said, my heart hurting for him. "I'm a witch. I really want to help you. I'll do whatever I can to find a way, but . . ."
"Anything," he said, those little hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.
"You can't kill me, right? There are safeguards built into your species. I was taught that vampires couldn't kill anyone from blood letting."
"That's true," his voice wavered, "but with this curse, I just don't know. I've accidentally killed animals."
My laugh was hollow. "This would be the part where I tell you that if you accidentally kill me, you will die too."
"If I accidentally kill you, I'll want to die. I'm not a murderer. I don't want to be a murderer." His voice was even smaller and tighter than before.
"First I will cast a spell to bind our spirit bodies to one another."
"What does that mean?"
"It's commonly done between lovers," I snorted. As if. "And when two people are bound, if one dies, so will the other." A ridiculous practice, really. Even though it definitely wasn't appropriate to guffaw at that particular moment, finding myself in this situation, what else could I do?
"Our kind have bindings too," Julian said meekly. "If you save a vampire's life, you can call on them whenever you need help."
"Like I'd ever need a vampire's help," I sneered, and Juli
an visibly flinched. Crap.
"Argh. Forget it. This was a stupid idea. I don't want to hurt you." He backed against the wall. "I'm not willing to take a chance."
Without responding to him, I closed my eyes, breathed in heavily, turned to face north and held my hands up. "Guardians, watchtowers of the north, Earth, I call you." I turned to the East. "Guardians, watchtowers of the east, spirits of air, I call you."
"What are you doing?" he squeaked.
Ignoring him, I turned to the south and repeated the call to fire and then to the west, where I called in water, casting the circle.
The lights in my hands went out and we were shrouded in darkness. I could hear Julian shuffle toward me, but he soon yelped--he must have hit the circle's threshold--and the sound of him falling backward reverberated against the walls.
I stood perfectly still within the circle I'd cast and thought about how angry I was. Angry at myself for even being in this situation. Angry for being taken advantage of because I had been willing to help someone I didn't know. For trusting someone I thought I knew. For being gullible and lied to. For not being able to help this young boy who I was starting to like. And for even caring, after all this deceit.
"Alligant autem spiritus Chrysothemis Holt et Julian Rees." I called out the binding spell with as much force as I could, my voice solid and unbreakable. A bright light flared above our heads like a small fireworks display and then . . . nothing. It had worked.
"Now, Julian, if you kill me, you will die too."
Surprisingly, he didn't lunge at me. There was a deep, long silence and then the sound of his breathing.
"Tell me what to do," he whimpered.
I held out my arm and he sniffed in response. "Grab my arm."
Boney fingers clung tightly to the flesh of my forearm.
"You pierce my vein and start drinking but when I tell you to stop, you stop."
Another long silence ensued, followed by the sound of his breath, shallow and wet.
"Julian. I can't see anything so you have to verbally agree."
"Okay, yes. I'll try. But what if I can't stop?"
"Look, neither of us has much of an option right now." I was trying to reason with a monster. "This is an impossible situation. I want nothing more than to help you." But not at the expense of my own life. "And I'm locked in a room with you from which there is no way out."
