Black Hellebore

by Maya Shepherd

  She carefully climbs the stairs, one after the other until the room comes into view, from which the light source is shining. The door is only half open, so Lia can’t see inside, but there are shadows to suggest that someone is in there.

  “Tru?” she tries again, cursing her voice for being so shaky and timid, revealing her fear.

  When she doesn’t get an answer, she steps closer. The muffled sound of rock music can be heard, giving the first sign that this dirty, run down house could be where Tru lives. Lia inhales and pushes the bedroom door open.

  Just like the rest of the house, this room is messy and chaotic, but Tru is actually standing with her back to Lia, wearing big headphones. No wonder she couldn’t hear her calling.

  Lia smiles. As disgusting as this place is, she is nevertheless relieved to be in the right house, and not in some crazy animal murderer’s place. There is probably a good explanation for all of the mess. Maybe Tru was going to clean up, but she couldn’t have known that Lia would be early. Feeling more comfortable, Lia taps Tru on the shoulder, to which she turns around towards Lia at a dizzying speed, the glass in her hand spilling red liquid on Lia’s blue jumper, while Tru’s fist misses Lia’s face by a hair’s width.

  Lia stumbles backwards away from Tru, her eyes wide open in terror. The red liquid on Tru’s lips is sticking on her hands and is giving off an unpleasant coppery smell; it’s blood.

  Tru tears the earphones off her head in a blind panic and lets them fall to the floor. Looking worried, she steps towards Lia.

  “That’s animal blood!”

  Lia tries to calm herself, but she can do nothing but look back and forth between Tru’s lips and her fingers. She has gone white as a sheet.

  “Do you think that makes it better?” She replies in a voice no louder than a mouse’s.

  “Let me explain...” Tru says calmly, but Lia interrupts her with a surprisingly strong voice.

  “What is there to explain? Your lips say more than a thousand words ever could!”

  Tru quickly wipes her mouth.

  “It’s not what you think...”

  “The whole time you have been warning me about Orlando acting like he is some kind of monster, when really it’s you who takes other people’s pets and tears them apart at your dinner table so you can drink their blood! Don’t you think that’s a bit weird?!”

  Uninhibited rage sounds in Lia’s voice and every word hits Tru like a punch in the face. Her words hang in the air, making Tru gasp uneasily. She tries to compose herself before continuing.

  “I know Orlando because he is like me. But instead of feeding on the blood of animals, he prefers human blood.”

  “You’re lying!” Lia spits at her without any hesitation. As confused as she was by the video, she didn’t see Orlando trying to drink her blood. She doesn’t even want to accept the possibility of there being any truth behind Tru’s words; the thought is just too horrible.

  “Is his skin not ice cold?” Tru says, who is hurt by Lia’s reaction, but is also used to it by now. Deep inside, she had hoped that Lia would be different, but really she knew that nobody could like her once they find out what she really is.

  “That is because his heart has stopped beating!”

  Lia’s shocked hesitation is acceptance enough for Tru. One look at her blood-soaked fingers and Lia’s legs suddenly give out. Before she can even reach for the door handle, Tru is by her side and supporting her weight. Far too quick for a human. Lia angrily pushes her away. Nobody needs to tell her what Tru is, or Orlando for that matter; everyone knows ‘Dracula’ or the more teen-friendly ‘Twilight’. But nobody experiences it in real life, well, nobody but Lia. Why can’t anything in her life just be normal? Why does she have to fall in love with a vampire and not only that, but also become best friends with a vampire? She is weird enough on her own without the addition of some blood-sucking friends. Her thoughts about Orlando remind her about why she came here in the first place; she can’t remember anything that happened last night. Like a walking cliché, she feels her neck only to find that there are no bitemarks, but who knows which of the many stories are true and which ones aren’t?

  “How do I know if a vampire has bitten me?” Lia’s words are rushed and panicked.

  Tru tries to answer her in the calmest way possible, knowing how hard it must be to process all of this.

  “You either don’t realise it, because you never wake up, or you wake up in unbearable pain, almost as if you are burning from the inside out.”

  Lia stares at her, her mouth wide open. She was in pain, but was it really that bad? Feels like fire? Lia remembers the scars on Tru’s hands and back. Did a vampire do that to her?

  “Don’t worry, he didn’t bite you.” Tru tries to assure her as if she had been there.

  Lia quickly purses her lips, as they start to tremble and tears start rolling down her cheeks. Things like this don’t happen. Things like this CAN’T happen. Tru places her hand reassuringly on Lia’s shaking arm.

  “I don’t understand how I could misjudge someone so much.” Lia blurts out with a shaky voice and an accusing look. She means Tru just as much as Orlando with that, as she is the one who ruined all of her hopes in one foul swoop with her stupid glass of blood. She knew that Tru wasn’t normal, but she could never have imagined this to be the case. Neither Tru nor Orlando were the people she thought they were. They aren’t even people, and with that Lia knows she is truly alone. What will become of her? What will happen if Orlando did bite her? Tru can’t know for sure if he did or not, she wasn’t even there, was she? She would love to just forget all of this and pretend she never came here.

  Feeling hurt, Tru grabs Lia’s hand back

  “I won’t apologise for something I have no control over. I chose my parents just as much as you chose yours!”

  The disappointment can now clearly be heard in her voice. As Lia slowly lifts her head, she sees Tru standing with her arms folded in front of her.

  “Whether you believe it or not, I like you, and that is why I want to help you. But I will not force it and nor will I beg for it!”

  Lia is encountered with bitter coldness where there is usually warmth and compassion. Why does she suddenly feel like she has done something wrong? Tru is the one who drinks blood. Tru is the vampire, not her, but maybe she could have a bit more understanding if she knew the whole story. If she only knew how Tru became a vampire or where she got all of those scars.

  “Those burns...did Orlando do that to you?”

  Tru turns her back defensively. “I don’t want to talk about that.” She says dismissively as her lips disappear into a thin line.

  If Tru isn’t going to be honest, then why should Lia? This whole thing just makes no sense, so Lia stands up in resignation and walks to the door. Her hand is already on the door handle when Tru appears beside her and holds the door shut.

  “Stay away from Orlando or they will kill you.”

  Lia doesn’t even care anymore who they are, she just wants to get away; away from Tru, away from Orlando and away from Scarborough.

  “Are you going to let me leave or are you going to kill me like that little rabbit on the kitchen table?!”

  - 15. Claudia le Boursier -

  Victor strokes Claudia’s bare arms. Although both of them have ice-cold skin, it feels warm when they touch each other, because one is always colder than the other. He gently kisses her neck, and is met with a depressed sigh.

  “My beauty, I bet you didn’t sleep all day again.”

  His hands glide as if automatically towards her neck and start gently, yet firmly massaging her.

  “You just think way too much about things that you can’t change anyway, or rather things that you don’t want to change.”

  Claudia would love nothing more than to just melt into his hands, but his words make her perk up.

  “Of course I would change it if I could, but Chasity is just too stubborn.”

  “That is exactly the point. It
doesn’t work with Chasity anymore; she is too soft and blind to things right in front of her when it comes to her family. If it weren’t for you, the others would have taken care of her a long time ago, but they just tolerate her out of respect for you.”

  Claudia laughs

  “They don’t respect me, they fear me!”

  “Even so, Fear is stronger than good will could ever be. I strongly doubt that she will let her beloved cousin be killed today.”

  “She is disgusted by what he did. She would also never have thought him capable of something like that.”

  “He will manage to talk his way out of it somehow, like he has done every other time.”

  “But this time she saw it with her own eyes” Claudia insists, keeping her unshakeable faith in Chasity.

  “You saw him so many times before and she never believed you. I just can’t understand why you still defend her. If she was no longer around, then that would be the last of the Moundrells, or do you actually think that a junkie like Mary would ever sit on the throne?! Never!”

  This is not the first time that she has had a conversation like this with the Head of the estate guards and her lover, and every time they do it ends in an argument. This time is no exception, as Claudia wriggles out of his arms and turns to face him.

  “As long as Chasity is alive, I will stand by her side. I have known her my entire life and could never stand against her.”

  “If she wasn’t around, you would be elected queen. You know that would be best for all of us.”

  “Not for Chasity, and so not for me, because then she would be dead and that would break my heart.”

  1465 AD., England: The soft hair glided like black silk through Claudia’s fingers. She brought the ivory brush through her mistress’ hair once more, releasing the scent of a fresh summer rain.

  Chasity Moundrell was an exotic beauty, but ever since her marriage to Gustav Slawinikand and the sudden death of her uncle Richard, she was not quite the same. Her heart was burdened with so much that it left a veil of sorrow shrouded on her pretty face. Five years before that, her heart stopped beating, and since then, Claudia has acted as her cup. Her blood nourished her and offered her solace. At first Claudia was afraid of her mistress, but she quickly saw through to her deep sorrow that sat heavy in her heart. She couldn’t stand to see her like this. She was close to tears and deeply frightened every morning when she had to share a bed with her husband. Gustav Slawinik was not only a gruesome ruler, but also a tyrannical husband; he didn’t allow Chasity one bit of joy. He took away all of her splendour.

  One morning she just couldn’t take seeing her mistress so desperately unhappy, so she took her by the handand said

  “Let me help you, my lady Moundrell!”

  Chasity’s looked patronisingly yet with an air of hopelessness at her servant

  “How exactly do you want to help me, little human?!”

  “Fortune and love favour the brave.”

  Lady Moundrell’s seemed to brighten in an instant and the old spark returned to her lifeless eyes. She began sparkling with excitement like a black diamond.

  “You’re reciting Ovid!”

  “You loved all of his works and knew them all off by heart. It was such a joy to hear you reading them.”

  “My beloved husband had every single one of them burned.” Chasity replied, subdued, the sparkle disappeared and the joy went from her face.

  “The pages may be destroyed, but he can’t take away your memory of them.” Claudia encouraged her before she continued. “Make me like you, and you will never be alone. It would be my honor to be able to stand by your side for eternity. Your husband won’t pose any problem for you anymore then my lady.”

  Chasity understood what her servant meant with these words and her face immediately fell into a look of cold calculation. She wouldn’t stand for his humiliation much longer. She would rather face death by sunlight than to have to spend another night in bed with him. Her father is the one who put her in this hell, as he made her take this monster for her husband. He sold her like livestock. She would never be able to forgive him.

  “Then let him write his own death sentence.”

  She took a little vial out of the drawer on her dressing table, filled with liquid that was black as night.

  “Drink my precious.”

  Her mistress’ words disappointed her, as Claudia thought that Lady Moundrell would change her herself, but still, Gustav Slawinik would do it just as well. She would do anything for Chasity, and if that meant dying, then so be it, and with that the deadly poison disappeared in one sip down her throat.

  She slipped into Gustav Slawinik’s bedroom, disguised in her mistress’s clothing, and laid in the bed beside him as if she were his wife. Drunk on wine, he didn’t notice a difference, and climbed on her like he would Chasity every other night, thinking she were his woman. He bit her and drank her blood, and Claudia found the pain unbearable. She wanted to scream and cry, but she didn’t because she knew that she would only have to endure this once, and soon she would be able to take her revenge on him.

  It didn’t take long for him to ease off, and then he rolled off her to the other side of the bed. Chasity meant nothing to him. She was his only way to get at the Moundrell fortune.

  The effects of the poison started to kick in, and the world went black.

  Sweet grape juice dripped on her lips and Claudia quickly opened her eyes. She saw a blue infinity more beautiful than any starry night. Chasity’s eyes were full of love and goodness and they shone with immeasurable relief. Blood was dripping from her hands into Claudia’s open mouth and her mistress indulgently licked her fingers.

  “It is done, my loyal friend.” She joyfully exclaimed.

  Claudia looked next to her and saw him. Gustav Slawinik’s face was an ash grey colour and frozen like a stone statue. There was a large gaping wound in his chest, while Chasity crushed his heart in her hand.

  Victor narrows his eyes.

  “The way you speak of her, it seems like you desire her.”

  His words hit her like corrosive bile. It is also not the first time he has brought up this point to her in their countless arguments.

  “Even if that were the case, you know I don’t owe you anything. I am not your property. We are not even in a relationship!”

  Victor’s attitude changes in an instant. His anger turns to empathy as he takes Claudia by the hand.

  “You know how much I would like that to change. I don’t understand why you have to keep it a secret. As far as I know, you don’t have anyone else and I could also never have anyone other than you. We are both free, so why can’t we just officially be together? What is stopping us?”

  Claudia angrily pulls her hand away from his.

  “I don’t want to; it’s as simple as that.”

  His empathy turns again to wounded pride.

  “And why not?”

  “Do you hear yourself when you speak? You sound like a spotty teenager. I thought we had grown out of all that.” Claudia barks at him as she paces back and forth in her room. Where are the guards with Orlando?

  She is taken aback when Victor suddenly squares himself up in front of her. There is a dangerous twinkle in his grey eyes, and his mouth is twisted into a mischievous smile.

  “You make me crazy when you get so dismissive. I wish we could turn the night to day so I could get you between the sheets!”

  As shameless as his words are, they bring a smile to Claudia’s face. His audacity and good looks are the only reason why she ever let him close to her. No woman would be able to resist his huge, but well deserved ego and his Adonis-like body. She was an easy target anyway, having been alone for so many centuries without any human contact. Her body longed for tenderness and affection.

  She doesn’t push him away when he puts his big hands around her waist and pulls her into him, firmly pressing his lips on hers. His lips are soft but demanding.

  “I hope I am not interrupting an
ything!” an angry voice suddenly sounds, and Claudia doesn’t even need to turn around with lightning speed to know who it is that has seen them. This voice is more familiar to her than her own; she would recognise it in a crowd of millions. Chasity. She watches arrogantly as her most trusted friend and her main guard stand nestled closely together.

  It doesn’t happen often, but Claudia is lost for words. She looks apologetically and guiltily towards Chasity. She was the last person who should have seen her with Victor. She wants to disappear in the floorboards with shame.

  Victor on the other hand grins at her and places his hand back on Claudia’s hip.

  “Well, I would say...surprise!”

  Claudia angrily jabs her elbow with full force into his stomach, but as he anticipates her reaction, he just tenses his muscles to cushion the blow.

  “What? It’ll be better for everyone to finally know.” He defends himself, playing innocent.

  “Finally? How long has this been going on?” Chasity wants to know, trembling with rage.

  “Not long...” Claudia immediately replies, but Victor shrugs his shoulders.

  “We are centuries old, ‘not long’ is quite relative. I mean, for us years seem like nothing.”

  Outraged by this, Chasity gasps for air. Claudia lowers her head in embarrassment. But did she see a flash of jealousy in Chasity’s eyes?

  Just then, the guards storm into the room. Victor had given them instructions to find Orlando in the name of the queen, so that Chasity could sentence him for his betrayal, but Orlando is nowhere to be found.

  “He is not here, we have searched everywhere for him.” One of the guards blurts out.

  “He has fled” Victor immediately suggests, looking alarmed, and turns to look at Chasity, waiting for her reaction.

  “Why should he flee? He didn’t even know that he was going to be punished.”

  Victor’s forehead creases in concern as he looks mistrustingly at his queen.

  “Maybe someone warned him.”

  Chasity clearly hears the accusation in his voice, but before she can retort, Claudia interjects.