To Cure A Vampire (To Cure Series Book 1)

by Jade Farhill

“She is, but—”

  “But nothing. She’ll be fine,” Nina interrupted.

  “And besides,” added Harriet, “it’s not like this is powerful enough to cause another rock fall.”

  “If a vampire caused it, then a vampire can fix it,” Arthur argued. He turned pleading eyes on Abby. “I’d rather not get crushed before I see Sister again.”

  Abby also didn’t like the chances that the hunters wouldn’t collapse the cave on them. She sent Harriet an apologetic look. “I’ll do it.”

  “But you’re injured,” the little hunter said.

  “I’ve almost healed,” she told him, and it was true—she could feel her bones resetting.

  “We’ve been doing this for generations,” added Paddy. “Save your strength for the queen.”

  Abby let out a breath. “I barely survived the last attack. Sorry, Arthur.” Then she grabbed his wrist, pulling him close—Nina and her unit reached for their weapons, just in case Abby decided to harm her brother-in-law. “But if the roof crumbles, I’ll make sure you’re not crushed, okay?”

  Arthur pulled a face but accepted this.

  Harriet and her unit set up the demolitions while everyone else stepped back. The rocks blocking the entrance exploded into dust, and only a few, tiny pieces of ceiling fell on them. Abby swatted them away before they hit Arthur.

  “Oh, no,” he said sarcastically, “I could have been crushed. You’re my hero, Abster!”

  She rolled her eyes, but didn’t have time to retort anything, as a silhouette appeared in the cloud of dust. It moved closer and slowly came into focus.

  The queen—the crazy lady—The Horror—stood in the doorway, a self-assured look on her face.

  CHAPTER 35

  The queen wore a gas mask. Her red hair was pulled into its customary bun.

  Abby stepped in front of Arthur, taking up a defensive position and crouching low.

  It didn’t matter that her body shook—from terror of seeing the crazy lady again and from the power radiating off the queen. All that mattered was that a predator was threatening her family—again.

  And the predator wouldn’t win this time.

  “I see my interaction with you last night made you change your mind about returning what’s mine,” said the queen with appreciation. “Unorthodox, I suppose, but not unexpected. I’m very persuasive when I want to be.” Her gaze landed on the little hunter, Paddy and Scotty. “In light of this, I may be able to forgive you for stealing my property in the first place, if you’re very good. No one can ever say that I’m not merciful.”

  “Get behind me,” Abby muttered to the hunters. They ducked into place.

  “Tell me,” asked the queen, “what’s it like to drink from a dying hunter?”

  Abby gnashed her teeth.

  The queen smiled. “Or perhaps I should ask: what’s it like to drink a vampire’s blood for a change? Did you enjoy it?”

  The emaciated hunters stayed silent.

  “Oh,” the queen said, putting a hand over her heart as if hurt, “still not going to talk to me? None of you said a word to me for months. Don’t you know how rude that is? Well, don’t worry—I’ll make sure to teach you some manners when you’re mine again. Come to me.” She was compelling them.

  Abby even felt the desire to walk over there, but she bit her cheek, breaking herself out of the compulsion. Was that what mass compulsion felt like?

  No one moved, not even Arthur.

  The queen pouted. “Pity you’re all so stubborn, but that’s what makes you entertaining. I’ve always liked a challenge.”

  Abby shifted, hoping to draw attention away from the young hunters.

  It worked—the queen trained her cold gaze on Abby. “You were covered in mud last night, so I couldn’t see your face. But now I do, I notice something familiar about you. Where do I know you from? Tell me.”

  It was a command, something more powerful than a compulsion—even a mass compulsion. And it clearly didn’t work on the humans.

  Abby resisted the urge to answer, but the more she resisted, the more she shook. She bit her cheek—which only made her trembling worse.

  Arthur had alarmed eyes on her, as if he’d been anticipating this moment but not wanting to think about it.

  The hunters all around her took up defensive positions, as if waiting for her to turn on them.

  Could it be possible that an older vampire could do more than compulsion? What was this? It was so powerful that Abby had no idea how to stop herself from answering.

  The queen’s eyes were alight with excitement—she could see how Abby was struggling.

  Abby felt her mouth open, air forcing its way out of her lungs. She saw herself as if from above, a vampire obeying a queen absolutely, doing the very thing that went completely against her values.

  This had to stop.

  Her voice box began to vibrate. “I—”

  No! she thought, clenching her fists, nails drawing blood in her palms. I will not cow to her. I will not be her puppet!

  “Fuck you!” she spat, and the trembling stopped.

  The humans all around her released a collective breath.

  The queen narrowed her eyes. “I am your queen! And you will obey me!”

  The trembling started again—it was another command. But Abby knew what to do now, and she stood her ground. The shaking stopped. “No.”

  The queen’s jaw dropped. “What are you?” she demanded. “Only another queen can resist my commands, and you are not a queen!”

  So that’s what had happened. Queens had a completely different level of compulsion, one that went deep and caused physical distress until obeyed. One that couldn’t be broken. Abby wondered if this queenly compulsion only worked on vampires and turned to Arthur with questioning eyes.

  He mouthed back, You’re too human—it only works on vampires.

  “Oh, I see why I recognise you,” the queen said. “You escaped my trap years ago. You’re related to Sister, aren’t you?”

  Abby stayed silent.

  The queen smirked and called over her shoulder, “Come here, Sister!”

  There was a long pause as the sound of footsteps came ever closer.

  Abby went breathless in anticipation.

  Suddenly, Sharon appeared beside the queen, gas mask on.

  Abby couldn’t believe it. She was looking at her sister.

  But Sharon wasn’t looking at her—her gaze was focused anxiously on the queen.

  Was she scared of what the queen would command her to do?

  “And this is payback,” the queen continued, “for driving over me with your car all those years ago.” She turned to Sharon. “Kill her.”

  CHAPTER 36

  Sharon started trembling.

  “Don’t let her control you, Sis!” Arthur shouted.

  “Don’t waste your precious mortal breath, Arthur,” the queen commented lightly. “You and I both know she has to follow my commands. There’s no escaping it.”

  “Yes, there is!” Abby shouted. “And I’m proof!”

  “You’re a mutant, that’s what you are!” the queen snapped.

  Perhaps Abby was.

  Sharon collapsed on the ground now, convulsing.

  The queen sighed. “I have to admit, strong wills run in your family.”

  Abby took advantage of the queen’s distraction and turned to the little hunter, mouthing Sharon.

  He nodded, then raised his eyebrows, looking pointedly at her. Queen? He mouthed.

  Abby smiled slightly at him, then turned her attention back to the queen. Yes, the hunters would cure Sharon—even if it was hard to give them this task, since she’d wanted to do it herself—while she attacked the queen.

  Abby took one last look at Sharon, still on the ground, and then at her brother-in-law. She wanted to remember their faces—she might never see them again after this.

  But as long as they were free and human, that was all that mattered. She’d die for them.

  Abby
went into blood rage and threw herself at the queen, going for the gas mask.

  The queen flicked her wrists and stalagmites exploded up from the ground, trying to stab Abby and block her from moving forward.

  Great—the queen could control rocks too.

  Abby skipped around the rocks and continued her progress.

  The queen moved her arms upwards and swung them violently down. The ceiling caved in, blocking access to her.

  Abby punched her way through the rock fall, the rocks exploding into dust and mingling with the green gas in the air.

  The queen stretched her arms out wide, then spun on the spot, creating a mini hurricane.

  “Anchor yourselves!” shouted Harriet, and the hunters drove their daggers into the cave floor and held on for dear life.

  Abby followed suit, trying to stay in place.

  The wind ripped at her, some hunters and their knives pulled loose and went flying into the cave wall.

  There was a hiss to her left.

  Sharon leapt into the air and let the wind throw her at Abby, red eyes deadly and single-pointedly focused on Abby.

  Sharon was in a blood rage. That wasn’t good.

  Then Sharon blinked, and her eyes were blue again.

  But Abby didn’t get the chance to relax. Sharon was on her, slicing at her head and gas mask.

  Abby ripped her dagger out of the ground and the two sisters went flying at the hunters. Abby tried to grab hold of Sharon’s gas mask, but her sister was far more skilled at fighting, and blocked her easily.

  They landed on a pack of hunters—of all the units, they had to land on Nina’s. If Abby had had a moment to think, she’d have been amazed that neither of them had been stabbed by a silver blade.

  Abby kicked Sharon off her and tried to get up. The wind forced her back down and so she crawled towards Sharon.

  Nina and her hunters were on their feet and trying to use their chain whips to help Abby, but the wind was too strong—it threw them off balance and sent them careening through the cave.

  Sharon crawled towards Abby and they met halfway. Abby remembered the night she’d been Turned, how they’d both tried to save each other since then. She wouldn’t let her sister kill her before she’d been cured.

  Abby sliced her dagger at Sharon, who screamed in pain. Taking advantage of the few seconds this bought her, Abby jumped on her.

  But Sharon rolled on top of her and turned the dagger towards Abby’s heart, going into a blood rage once more.

  They struggled, the blade getting closer and closer to Abby’s heart. She bucked, trying to throw Sharon off, but her sister stayed where she was. “Sister,” Abby whispered, remembering how it had affected her the first time.

  Sharon froze, understanding of what was happening came into her eyes. Then she collapsed on top of Abby in a fit of convulsions.

  “Sister!” Abby said, sitting up. Was Sharon all right?

  But Sharon growled and swiped her blade across Abby’s throat. Pain burst in Abby’s neck. Her blood flew across the cave, landing on—and healing—a few hunters. They wiped the blood off them in disgust.

  Abby clutched at her throat, her fingers quivering.

  Sharon stood up, stalking towards her.

  I’m not human, Abby thought, already feeling her throat knit together. I won’t die from this. Abby dropped her hands and tackled Sharon, this time she had the upper hand. She grabbed the knife and threw it away.

  Sharon growled, grabbed out a second knife and stabbed Abby in the side. Abby screamed and Sharon punched at her gas mask.

  Tiny cracks appeared inside the visor. Abby held her breath, waiting to see if green gas would seep into her gas mask. As Arthur appeared over Sharon’s shoulder and threw her to the hunters, Abby breathed a sigh of relief—her gas mask was uncompromised.

  The little hunter, Paddy and Scotty were ready. They caught Sharon, using their daggers to inflict maximum pain with minimal damage. While they barraged her with silver, they forced her back.

  Back into Harriet’s waiting unit, who collectively went for Sharon’s gas mask.

  The moment the strap was cut, Abby leaned forwards and watched, almost as if in slow motion, as the gas mask slipped off Sharon’s face.

  Nothing else mattered. Abby’s attention was fixated on her sister, who convulsed and fell to the floor.

  A moment later, her heart started beating.

  Tears sprang to Abby’s eyes—she’d done it. Sharon was human again. All this time, all this effort, all this pain—everything had been worth it, just to hear Sharon’s heart beating again.

  But it wasn’t over yet.

  Arthur crouched down beside Abby and met her eyes, the wind ripping at his hair. “We still have the queen to deal with, Abster.”

  While Abby had been fighting Sharon, the majority of hunters had been attacking the queen. They’d gone upwind and were throwing silver darts at her and using their chain whips to maximum effect. But the queen was still holding her own.

  Abby nodded and crawled towards the queen. The wind ripped at her, almost lifting her off the ground. She shoved her dagger into the floor and heaved herself forward until she reached the powerful vampire.

  CHAPTER 37

  Abby swiped her legs under the queen, who tripped and fell. With her concentration broken, the wind died down and the hunters quickly advanced.

  The queen twisted into an upright position, grabbed Abby’s leg, heaved her straight up into the air and then slammed her down into the cave floor. It was all Abby could do to stop her gas mask from cracking further and slipping off.

  She kicked at the queen’s wrist, trying to stop her from doing that move again.

  The queen only clenched her hands tighter, breaking Abby’s ankle. Abby’s vision went dark for a moment, and when it cleared, she was back up in the air, heading towards the cave ground again.

  The queen laughed maniacally. “Are we having fun yet?”

  Abby felt a few ribs crack as she landed. Air and blood rushed out of her mouth and splattered the inside of her gas mask.

  “Don’t worry,” the queen said smoothly, “I won’t let you die just yet.”

  But Joan and her unit were sneaking up behind her.

  Abby knew what she had to do, she needed to keep the queen’s attention focused on her. She grunted and rolled to the left, twisting her shattered leg out of the queen’s grasp.

  Pain clouded her vision; lightning rods of agony arced across her body. She needed food—and soon.

  The queen leapt on top of Abby and pinned her to the ground with her legs. “And now,” the queen said, excitement in her eyes, “I can find out what sort of mutant you are.” Then she plunged her nails deep into Abby’s chest.

  Abby tried to scream, but she could only gargle, blood bubbling from her mouth.

  The queen sliced beneath Abby’s collar bones and down her sternum, as if about to perform an autopsy.

  Sharon’s heart is beating, Abby thought, and focused on the distant, panicked drum. That’s all that matters.

  Just then, Joan and her unit attacked the queen, their silver chain whips lashing and wrapping around her. But the queen just flicked her wrist, stalagmites exploding out of the earth and breaking the chains.

  Then she pulled out something from under her shirt, unwrapping it several times from around her neck. It was a long, heavy, silver-looking chain whip—very similar to the hunters’—with a diamond-shaped pendant the size of a fist at the end of it.

  But it couldn’t be silver, otherwise the queen wouldn’t be able to wield it. It had to be another sort of metal.

  With one swing of her arm, the heavy chain whip and pendant broke the rocks around her, sending the hunters flying away in all directions. Blood dripped off the pendant.

  Abby then realised the weapon was a chain mace, designed to maim and slay.

  No hunter would be able to get close enough to unmask the queen. They would all die.

  How many hunters had been sacrific
ed in the past, just so they could cure a queen? Hundreds? Thousands?

  Abby couldn’t let that happen here. The only thing she could do was to slam all of her weight into the queen, in a kind of body-tackle. But doing so, in this position, pinned by the queen, meant dislocating her elbows. Abby took a long, slow breath.

  Then threw her upper body at the queen, shoving her to the floor.

  Pain from Abby’s elbows and chest electrocuted her body. It hurt so much she thought she might puke. Abby clamped down on her nausea and waited for the pain to subside.

  But it didn’t; the queen only made it worse by sinking her nails into Abby’s shoulder. Abby focused on her sister’s heartbeat, knowing death was close.

  The little hunter dived forward and looped his heavy silver chain whip around the queen’s throat. Then Scotty and Paddy moved in and ripped off the queen’s mask.

  Abby relaxed and crumpled to the floor, the world spinning.

  She needed blood, but she couldn’t move.

  The little hunter knelt down beside her and opened a wound in his hand, allowing his blood to dribble into her shredded chest.

  Her body started healing, her bones knitting painfully together.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  She needed more blood.

  More!

  The moment she had the strength, she flipped on top of the little hunter, ready to tear into his flesh.

  Then she saw him, looking up at her with wide blue eyes. Red droplets staining the colourful scarf around his neck.

  And Abby grimaced and broke out of blood rage. “Be careful, Little Hunter,” she said and stood up. “You know what I am better than most—a monster.”

  The hunters around her—particularly Nina and her unit—quickly assumed defensive positions. Sharon and Arthur pushed their way through the crowd of deadly humans to form a protective ring around Abby.

  But did Abby really deserve that after what she’d just done to the little hunter? He was still on the ground, and she offered him a hand.

  He hesitated a moment. “I thought you didn’t want me to touch you.”

  “I’m sorry, Little Hunter, I really didn’t mean to do that.” She couldn’t meet his eyes.

  He put his hand in hers and pulled himself up.