Black Hellebore

by Maya Shepherd

  “You are much stronger than you think.” He says instead.

  Lia waits for him to continue, but when he looks away from her to look at the sky again; she assumes that this was just a phrase that people say without really meaning it.

  “If I asked you to bite me, then would I become like you?”

  A cheeky smile appears on his face and he starts laughing, giving her an evil look.

  “Well there is a bit more to it than that. If every human we ever bit turned into a vampire from just the one bite, there would probably be more vampires than humans now.”

  Lia folds her arms in front of her. She is annoyed, because Orlando isn’t taking her seriously.

  “But you could change me if you wanted to?”

  “To do that, you would have to drink my blood after I had bitten you. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

  Lia raises her eyebrows in astonishment.

  “Why not? You are strong and free, you take shit from nobody and nobody. You can do and say what you want, and you don’t have to feel guilty about any of it.”

  “It’s not quite like that; even vampires have to follow certain rules. I am breaking at least two of those rules by just telling you all of this.”

  She looks at him with a sense of urgency, a kind of hope shimmering in her eyes.

  “If you could go back and change it, would you choose the life of a vampire again?”

  “Most vampires didn’t have a choice, but I bet that most of them, if they were given the choice, would not choose this life.”

  “Why not? You are immortal...”

  “But not invincible.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Are you thinking about how you could kill me?”

  “Could I?”

  “You would just have to convince me to take a stroll in the sunlight.”

  There is no sympathy in Lia’s face, but just pure interested curiosity.

  “Holy water?”

  “I could drink it if I wanted to, but I prefer blood.” He tries to be funny, but Lia is not in any mood for jokes.

  “Silver?”

  “The only kind of metal, yes.”

  “Have I forgotten something?”

  “Hawthorn.”

  “Why Hawthorn of all things? Why not oak or beech?”

  “The crown of thorns that was placed on Jesus’ head was supposedly made from hawthorn.”

  “Does it have to be a stab through the heart?”

  “Now you want to know the specifics, should I be getting worried?” He asks playfully and reaches for Lia’s hand. He longs so much to hear her laugh again. All of her questions are just making him nervous. Every human reacts very differently to the discovery that vampires really exist. There is no guarantee that they are not there to kill them, but that is never his intention.

  Suddenly she places her hand on his chest and starts scanning it. He knows exactly what she is looking for, but it remains silent.

  “You don’t have a heartbeat!” She says, stunned.

  He sadly shakes his head. “I am dead Liandra!”

  “How can you be dead when you are sitting in front of me, talking to me?”

  “There is no heaven for me.”

  Lia hesitates and starts twisting her black pearl earring between her fingers. A blond strand of hair falls into Lia’s face. Orlando instinctively reaches for it and slides it behind her ear, stroking her cheek as he does it. She looks up at him.

  “If you turned me into a vampire, then nobody could ever hurt me again and we could be together forever...” Her forehead creases and she stares down at the ground, her cheeks blushing. “...If that is something that you would even want.”

  Orlando kisses her hand.

  “I couldn’t imagine anything better.”

  - 18. Lia Green -

  Her heart is racing and she just can’t get any sleep. The sheet feels wet with sweat under her, while her body is shaking with the cold. One moment she is hot and the next she is freezing cold. She has pulled her blanket up to her neck, while the the icy night-time air blows in her window. Snowflakes dance in behind her thin curtains.

  Her digital alarm clock shows 01:13 am. It is the 24th of December, Christmas Eve, and her father is still away on his business trip. He had promised to be back by this evening at the latest, but it wouldn’t surprise Lia if he didn’t keep his word. She has spent many Christmas mornings by herself, and every time Maria would come and take her along to her big Spanish family, who lived in a small country house outside of Scarborough. He must pay her a fortune to watch his daughter on Christmas day, but in all honesty, Lia prefers spending her Christmas with Maria’s family than with her father. Her family is kind and loving. The Spanish celebrate their Christmas on the 24th. They call it the holy night; “Noche Buena”. There are also always leftovers from their delicious Christmas dinner when they wake up on the morning of the 25th. Lia loves the traditional ‘turron’, which is made of roasted Almonds, sugar, honey and eggs. Even when she doesn’t spend Christmas with Maria, her housekeeper always saves her a piece of the sweet delight.

  Her phone’s vibrations break the dead silence in her room. Who could be calling her at this hour?

  She pulls the white blanket away from herself and rushes barefoot towards her jeans, which are lying on the bottom of her closet. Trembling, she reaches down and grabs her phone, rushes over to close the window and then heads straight back to bed. It’s still warm from her body heat and feels lovely. Only then does she touch the screen on her phone. Ten missed calls! And all from Lindsay.

  Lia throws her hand over her mouth in horror. Of course, the poor thing must be worried sick! She went to get help and when she came back, Lia had disappeared. Her last call came in about a half hour ago.

  The next thing she sees is her text messages. Five new ones.

  Lindsay, 21.42: “Where are you? Is everything ok?”

  Lindsay, 22.13: “Call me! I called the police. Bradley has disappeared too!”

  Lindsay, 23.08: “Lia, I am really worried here, please call me back!!”

  Lindsay, 00.17: “Call me, no matter how late it is. Please!”

  The last short message is from an unknown number; “Meet me in the Dalby Forest. I need to see you. O.”

  O for Orlando? He has a mobile? Dalby Forest at this time of night? Did something happen?!

  She presses the green call button and dials the number that sent her the text message, but it goes straight to a voice, saying; “The person you are trying to call can not be reached at this time. Please try again later.”

  Her heart is beating a mile a minute. Should she go? It’s not that far away, as the forest starts right behind the Italian Gardens, which is just at the end of her street. It would take ten minutes to walk and less than five to drive.

  What if it isn’t Orlando? But who else could it be, Tru? But why would she sign her message with O?

  Lia is going back and forth in her mind, but what she does know for certain, is that she won’t get one wink of sleep as long as she doesn’t know who sent this mysterious text, and why.

  She climbs out of her warm bed again and quickly pulls on a pair of comfy jogging pants, grey trainers and an oversized sweater. It will be better to walk, because the car might attract unwanted attention.

  Snowflakes land like sparkling crystals on her hood, which is sticking to her hair, already heavily damp. Manor Road is completely deserted, the only thing helping her find her way is the flickering street lights. The entrance to the Italian Gardens is brightly lit with colourful lanterns, but the park itself lies in darkness. Lia is beginning to feel just how weird this all is. Why does Orlando want to meet in the Dalby Forest of all places, and not just in the gardens? He lives in Moundrell Manor after all, which is right in the middle of them.

  She paces indecisively back and forth in front of the entrance. She pulls her phone out again and sees that the battery symbol is flashing. She tries to call the number again.

 
; “The person you are trying to call can not be reached at this time. Please try again later.”

  Damn it! She thinks about Lindsay. Should she tell her what’s going on? Her friend is already worried; she doesn’t need to tell her that she is going into a dark forest on her own in the middle of the night to meet a vampire. It would probably just make things worse. It will be better for her to tell her everything later, when she is safely back in her bed. The meeting with Orlando probably won’t take very long.

  Before she can change her mind about it, Lia quickly rushes into the dark park. Amongst the snow, there are not many sounds to be heard. No birdsong, no wind in the trees, no leaves, branches or twigs making a sound. Nothing. It is deadly silent. The only sound that Lia can hear is her own breath and her heartbeat.

  Her eyes are burning as she peers through the flurry of snow for Orlando. She can barely see a thing. After a while her sweater is soaked through as well and the cold is getting through to her. She begins to think that this was all a stupid idea, really naive and dumb, like her father would say. What was she even thinking? Nobody is here! The best thing for her would be to turn around and see that she gets home safely.

  Stop! Are those lights? They glow like candles in the distance. Is there some kind of party happening? Maybe it is the Christmas celebrations of their foreign neighbours, or some other religion? Maybe Italian? She carefully heads towards the flames, which are heavily flickering in the open air. The fire makes her heart warm up, but as Lia gets closer, she sees that the flames are standing still. There is no music, no voices and no colourful Christmas decorations. Only when she is standing a few feet in front of them, she realises that it is a group of people holding torches. They are stood there like living statues, and all of them have their red glowing eyes on her. Their expressions are cold and calculating. Her throat closes in fear. “Stay away from Orlando or they will kill you.” Tru’s words ring in her ears. Suddenly her words make sense. The other vampires.

  They break apart and form a circle around her. Their steps are so quiet that Lia wouldn’t hear them if she closed her eyes. Their bodies block her way back and she can only continue further into the forest.

  “What do you want from me?” She asks in a panicked and trembling voice. She doesn’t expect them to answer her, but hopes that this isn’t all as bad as it seems. The silence remains unbroken. Their eyes remain fixed on her, as she turns back on herself, desperately trying to find a way out of. If there were at leastjust one face with a hint of sympathy... Nothing.

  Like a gunshot, one of the vampires launches himself towards her, breaking the spell and she turns and runs for her life.

  She races through the darkness as fast as her legs will carry her, although hey seem to have turned into a rubbery mass she can barely feel. Nothing in her life could have prepared her for the fear that now encircles her heart. Her lungs are on fire, and she has a metallic taste on her tongue. Twigs and branches tear at her face as she races through the trees, but she can’t think about the pain. She can’t stay still, she must keep running, if she only knew where she was going! She can’t go home. If her father is there she would be putting him in danger too. And that is wherer the vampires would look for her first, if she even managed to get out of the woods. What was she even thinking when she went out with Orlando? She knew what he was, and did she really think that it would be like in ‘Twilight’, and she would become a part of their vegetarian family instead of being on the menu herself?! Did she even think at all? Maybe she just didn’t really believe that he is a vampire, and that he was just some crazy guy who drinks blood. That still wouldn’t be the best thing in the world, but as she saw him standing in the alleyway like a damned prince on his white steed, she knew that she would follow him anywhere. He saved her from Bradley and his minions, and right now that was all that mattered. She was so grateful to him, more grateful than she had ever felt in her whole life. He was all she had ever wanted and more. She opened up her heart to him and let him see deeper inside her soul than was probably good for her. She poured out her heart to him and he just sat and listened to her, not judging her for any of it. He was so close to her and for the first time in her life she actually felt safe and assured. She couldn’t even have been that honest with Tru, that’s how much shame she felt.

  Her legs slip away from under her and she falls to the ground. She sticks her arms out to cushion the fall. A sharp pain shoots through her knee, but she has no time to feel sorry for herself or rest. Even though the only sound she can hear is that of her panicked heartbeat and the whistling of the wind, she knows they are still pursuing her. She can sense it. She gets back to her feet, wiping her bloodied hands on her pant legs and continues on, further into the dark woods. She can’t hope to find any help, because even if she weren’t running through the woods in the middle of the night, she couldn’t imaine anyone taking her seriously if she told them that she is running from a hungry horde of vampires. They would think her completely insane. And how would they even help her against these powerful beings? There are so many of them, all with glowing eyes and sharp fangs, straight out of a bad horror film. It would be so lovely if she could just wake up and find out that this was all just a dream; just a horrible nightmare.

  Hands grab at her like claws, tearing at her clothes and her hair. She would never just give up; she will fight til her last breath. She doesn’t care how much of her hair they tear out, as long as she can escape with her life. In theory, she realises that this is probably a hopeless situation, but as long as her hope doesn’t die, neither will she. Give up, and you have already lost. She wants to be strong for once in her life, because this could be her last chance.

  She hits the ground hard and fast. Her teeth crash against each other and blood shoots into her mouth and out of her nose. She chokes and is unable to breathe. Leaves, rocks and twigs stick to her hot face, chafing on her glowing red cheeks.

  She is turned over onto her back with a single tug. She feels so tiny, but wishes at the same time that she could make herself even smaller, invisible somehow. The hungry eyes stare eagerly towards her. Is there something she could say to make this any better? Does she have any chance of getting away? This simply can’t be the end. Why? She didn’t do anything to anyone. She wants to scream but she stays quiet, her lips pressed firmly together. The only thing she can’t control is the tears streaming from her eyes like waterfalls. Why? Why? Why?

  A dark haired woman wearing a sparking black crown bends down over her, blocking her view of the sea of leaves and the starry night behind her. There is a hint of something similar to sympathy in her eyes. While Lia’s whole body trembles and her teeth chatter from the cold and her fear, she strokes her cheek almost tenderly.

  “Don’t be afraid, it won’t hurt for long and then it will be over. No one will hurt you anymore. Sleep still, my child.”

  Her words feel like salt being rubbed in a wound, and as she sinks her sharp white fangs into Lia’s neck, the seeming sympathy disappears, and is replaced with a cold hunger without solace. Lia screams louder than she ever has before, she screams and screams and screams her heart out. The moon and the stars are her only witnesses, silent in the night time. How tragic it sees that they look the same as they would any other night. They aren’t paying any heed to what is happening to Lia right now, or any other unimportant person for that matter.

  But Lia is not the only one who is screaming. Chasity lets out a shrill scream as she doubles over in pain, crying and screeching. Her crown falls on the snow-covered ground. Mud splashes the black gems of her crown, dulling their fire. The queen vomits in front of all her subjects. It is a mass of disgusting black liquid. Chasity grabs her throat as if she is suffocating and Lia can only let out a gargle as blood escapes from her mouth and throat. But nobody cares about her anymore. It is Chasity who everyone is focused on. Everyone seems to look afraid yet disgusted, and only Claudia steps forward, rushing to her side, grabbing her arms and forcing Chasity to look at her. Her fac
e is a mix of panic and worry.

  “What’s wrong with you? What happened?” She yells at her in desperation.

  Chasity is unable to speak. She gasps for air, all the while more black liquid escapes her mouth, running down her dress and over her skin. It sticks to her like tar, making the others retreat.

  “It’s her blood!” Victor says with a disgusted look that leaves Chasity and rests on Lia.

  His words hit Claudia like a smack in the face. Mary warned them that Orlando couldn’t drink her blood. They didn’t believe her, like they so often don’t. Mary does nothing but lie to them, but on this one very unlucky occasion, she was telling the truth. Chasity cries bloody tears while her body shakes uncontrollably. Her fingernails dig into Claudia’s arms, piercing her white vampire skin. Claudia doesn’t hesitate for a second and bites into her right hand, holding the open wound up to Chasity’s lips. The other vampires look on in horror. How can Claudia humiliate herself like this? Vampires do not share their blood, that’s what they have humans for. But Claudia doesn’t care what they think or how it makes her look; Chasity’s life is all that matters to her. The vampires turn away in disgust, having already written off their queen. She sucks feebly on her most loyal friend’s arm and her body relaxes as the trembling subsides.

  “Help me! She needs to get back right away!” Claudia’s loud and authoritative voice echoes through the night.

  The other vampires stand hesitant, not sure what to do. Claudia’s eyes narrow and her voice turns to a hiss.

  “She is still your queen, or have you forgotten that?”

  It’s not much, but it is enough to get the guards to pick up Chasity, one of which points at Lia with his foot.

  “What about the human?”

  “Nothing, just leave her; the animals will finish her off.” Claudia responds coldly, silently suggesting that they will tear her into a thousand little pieces.

  The pain subsides and everything goes cold. Lia can’t feel the blood spilling out of her throat or the cold ground beneath her. The voices go quiet, and Lia doesn’t have the strength to open her eyes. It is nearly over, but there is no light at the end of the tunnel, just a veil of darkness. Will it always be like this now? Is this hell? What she would give to just feel something again. What she would give for one last kiss. Orlando’s face appears in front of her, his dark hair framing his face, while his winter-blue eyes look lovingly towards her reminding her of happier days in the snow full of ice-skating and warm tea. His full, perfect lips gently press against hers.