Black Hellebore

by Maya Shepherd

“Or should I come and get you?!” Lia entices him more, while she playfully splashes the water in his direction. It seems to work, as Orlando starts getting undressed, starting with his shoes, and then taking off the rest. He follows her into the water and the cold doesn’t bother him one bit.

  Lia swims out a bit further and comes to a halt right in the middle of Staindale Lake. When she turns back, Orlando has disappeared. The forest around her lays in silence and only her own breath and the rustling of the reeds in the wind can be heard. Orlando suddenly pops up right in front of her, spraying water in her face. Lia snorts with laughter and hits back, but Orlando grabs her arms.

  “It would be better for you to not challenge me.” He says with a smile and pulls her towards him to continue his kiss. Lia lets him do it all too willingly. Rain falls lightly from the sky, gently touching on the surface of the water. His skin gently caresses hers, while his hands stroke her hair, her face and her body. She realises once again just how surprising life can be. One moment she felt more dead than alive, and now she is basking in pure joy. With Orlando at her side, she can find heaven in deepest darkness. His eyes meet hers; blue and green, like the colours of the lake.

  He goes very quiet and scans her face and damp blonde hair. He lovingly moves a strand of hair out of her face.

  “I am so thankful that you exist.” He whispers to her, although no one else is around.

  “You saved me”, she whispers back, afraid that speaking out loud would ruin the moment.

  “I was afraid that I had lost you forever my little hellebore.”

  Lia smiles.

  “You will never lose me.”

  “I love you, Liandra Green.”

  There it is; three words than can change the world. They float between them, bringing light into the dark night. It took over five hundred years for Orlando to find a person to touch his heart so much to deserve these words from him; even if that person is no longer really a person.

  It has only taken Lia seventeen years, but still the words couldn’t have been said more from her heart.

  “I love you too Orlando Adam Moundrell.”

  Their kiss becomes more passionate and urgent, while Orlando’s hands run quickly and eagerly over Lia’s body, so that she can feel him on every inch of her. She feels content, and yet it still isn’t enough. She wants to feel him, and fully melt into him. The world melts away around them, and any problems or worries they had before disappear with a single touch. Lia’s heart is beating hard and fast enough for the both of them. He doesn’t shy away when her teeth sink into his throat, but rather embraces it and lets out a pleasurable moan. It is not unusual for vampires to bite each other while making love. Besides, Lia needs the blood, and he would rather she get it from him than from some helpless human on the street. That way he can keep her under control.

  Lia eagerly sucks on Orlando’s neck, but it is not just his blood that she is taking from him. Even if she hasn’t noticed this, her insides start pulsing again and Orlando realises that she is drinking more than he can handle. He suddenly feels very weak and the world starts to get hazy.

  “Liandra!” he says in a panicked voice but she doesn’t react to him, and rather bites down harder.

  “Lia” he tries again and tries to push her away by her shoulders, but it’s like pushing against a brick wall; she doesn’t budge and inch. A horrible feeling spreads through his stomach and suddenly the image of how he had found her pops into his mind. He sees the wild creature that she had become, and now really feels like she is a monster. Panic starts to spread through him and extinguishes any passion he had felt before. When he grabs her for a second time, he is no longer careful and gentle with her. He pushes her away from him with all his strength, but Lia is stronger. She holds him tight and her nails dig into his skin. She sets her gaze on him while his blood drips from her lips. Her eyes are glowing a dangerous green. Her expression is blank and horrifying, making his stomach turn.

  “That’s enough!” he says aggressively without any reaction from her.

  “Kill him. He doesn’t deserve to live.”

  The voice hisses wickedly in Lia’s head.

  “He just uses you. He doesn’t love you. He is a hypocrite, but we are stronger than him.”

  “No!” Lia screams and tears herself away from Orlando. She places her hands over her ears in fear and violently shakes her head. She doesn’t want to hear it. She looks to Orlando who has a large bloody wound on his neck. A wound that she had given him! And the fear in his eyes is like a slap in the face for her.

  “Do you see how weak he is? You don’t need him!”

  “I didn’t mean to...” she forces the words out, before turning around and quickly swimming back to the pier. She is much faster than Orlando, and faster than any human. She notices it and it scares her. It would be best if she went far away on her own, but she can’t and won’t. Her fear of being alone is far too great.

  As Orlando steps out of the water, the wound on his neck is almost completely healed. He gets dressed in silence.

  He offers her his jacket like before, but Lia shakes her head, her eyes fixed on the floor. He falls to his knees in front of her.

  “It’s not your fault. I know it is difficult in the beginning.”

  Lia bites her lip and lifts her head.

  “If you knew that then why did you leave me on my own?”

  Orlando looks at her in irritation, but then he realises what she really means. The words are not easy for him to say, but she has to know the truth.

  “I wasn’t the one who turned you. It was Mary.”

  “He was going to let you die. You mean nothing to him” the voice sounds in her head again.

  She looks at him, hurt by his words and then stands up and wipes the sand from her knees. Orlando feels like he needs to defend himself.

  “Please understand that they captured me. I had no chance to escape, what could I have done? Please at least just let me help you now!” He looks at her pleadingly and takes her cold hand in his.

  “He can’t help you. You are not like them. You are special. You are my daughter.”

  “Then come away with me. Let’s go somewhere far away from here together and start over, just you and me!” Tears blur her vision as her whole body trembles. Orlando stands up with his head down.

  “That’s not going to work my little hellebore. At least not right away. I have to get back to Mary, because otherwise they will kill my little girl.”

  If she wasn’t so desperate, she might have better understood, and his words would have gotten through to her, but in this state, all she hears is his rejection. He will not run away with her. He will not help her, and he will leave her alone again.

  “Come to me!” Suddenly Lia feels comfort through all of the hatred that had been spreading through the voice in her head. She knows that it is right.

  “I don’t need your pity!” She says coldly to Orlando and pulls away from him. She angrily trudges back into Dalby Forest. Orlando is starting to get fed up too.

  “Does this mean nothing to you? I am here because of you. For all I know, Mary could be getting killed because of me, and I am here chasing after you. If you meant nothing to me, then I wouldn’t be here!”

  “Liar!”

  “Then go to your precious Mary. I don’t need you! Lia shouts back at him.

  “I will never leave you, I love you!”

  “And I hate you. Everything has been going wrong from the moment you stepped into my life. I wish I had never met you!”

  Orlando stares at her in shock and shakes his head.

  “You don’t know what you are saying.”

  “If I could, I would wipe out your entire filthy race down to the very last vampire” she spits hatefully at him, her eyes revealing nothing but scorn, rather than the love he saw not moments ago. An overwhelming hatred is growing inside her. She blames him for all her problems and is hurt by his rejection.

  An arrow suddenly shoots through the ai
r and hits Orlando in the shoulder. Horrified, he looks past Lia into the forest behind her, where Tru steps out, accompanied by Lindsay and Mike.

  “I can see you are doing very well, but not for long.”

  Another arrow heads for Orlando, but he manages to dodge it in time.

  “Keep your nose out of my personal affairs.” Orlando scolds her while he pulls the arrow out of his shoulder and throws it to the ground.

  “Well you shouldn’t have looked for your meals at my school then.”

  “She isn’t my meal, and besides, Liandra is a vampire now too, so are you going to kill her as well?”

  “If I were a vampire, I would kill myself.” Lia hisses with a voice that is far too full and deep to be her own. She looks at Orlando in disgust and does nothing to try and help him against Tru. The emeralds have returned to her eyes. Her insides feel unsettlingly empty. She can’t differentiate between joy and sorrow. Every feeling seems numbed.

  Tru drops her crossbow and runs at Orlando with a wooden stake in her hand. He effortlessly stops her in her tracks.

  “Just come to terms with it already. I am much older and stronger than you little half breed. You don’t stand a chance.”

  Another arrow grazes Orlando’s arm, but this time, Lindsay is the one who shoots it.

  “But this time she is not alone!”

  Tru grabs Orlando’s arms and pushes him down to the ground. She is struggling to hold him down, but just as he gets a chance to make any sort of movement, Mike is standing over him with the wooden spear in his hand. He promptly takes it and stabs Orlando in the stomach.

  “That’s for Lia!”

  He cries out in pain and wheezes, but as he looks towards Lia for help, she just stands there with a smile on her face. Her eyes narrow into slits and she silently whispers the word “die.”

  He doesn’t recognise her. There is nothing left of the innocence and love that she had for him. Orlando rips the spear out of the ground, relieved that there is no hawthorn on it, and throws it directly at Lindsay, hitting her arm. She drops the crossbow and falls to the ground crying. Mike immediately stumbles towards her. Tru’s wooden stake just barely misses his heart, and so he kicks her in the stomach, causing her to stumble backwards. He quickly runs away like a wounded animal, not even giving Lia a second glance. She is standing motionlessly and smiling in the clearing. Tru makes her way over to her, while holding her own stomach in pain.

  “Everything okay?”

  Lia turns towards her with a terrifying grin on her face. When she opens her mouth, she suddenly vomits up a thick black liquid before falling in tremors to the ground.

  - 25. Mary Cromwell -

  Considering the fact that this could be her final hour, Mary is surprisingly calm. The guards returned a few moments after Orlando had fled the dungeon, and upon seeing Mary standing beside his empty cell, it was clear to them what must have happened. Victor was trembling with rage and sent guards after Orlando, but after a few hours they returned empty-handed. Victor locked Mary in the cell in Orlando’s place. He claimed she would remain there only until Orlando returned, but Mary knows better than to believe a word he says. Even if that were the case, he would still sentence her to death for her betrayal. Orlando promised that he would be back in time, but Mary isn’t sure if she really believes that, or if she even wants that. It’s not like she has grown weary of her life, because there are still many things that she wants to experience and see, but she also knows that many of those things are out of her reach. How could she ever go to school during the day without bursting into flames? How will she ever have ‘true love’s first kiss’ when she will forever remain a child? Her life is just too hopeless.

  She knows that daylight cannot be far off; vampires can sense that kind of thing. She also feels that something strange is going on around her. Everyone seems skittish, and there is a change in the atmosphere.

  Mary rests her head on her knee and looks up at the small cell window. She lets the rain blow in on her face and quietly shuts her eyes in an attempt to get some rest. She doesn’t want to give them the satisfaction of screaming and crying, she would rather go to her death with dignity. If she couldn’t find any honor or acknowledgement in life, then she would at least die with pride.

  “Let me through at once, I am Cain’s speaker.” She hears an angry voice yelling from afar. The anger is very unusual to hear in that normally gentle voice. She turns her head and sees Vivienne storm into the dungeon. She is in a frenzy of sorts as she rushes towards Mary. Concerned, she reaches her hands through the bars and towards Mary.

  “Come to me!” she whispers, her voice trembling and her eyes filled with tears. Mary obeys and steps towards the bars. The woman immediately wraps her arms around the child, and the strong scent of violets shoots into Mary’s nose. She breathes in and inhales the sweet scent, which has always comforted her more than anyone or anything else ever could. Whenever Vivienne was around, she felt a bit safer and less alone. She is the mother that she always wished for, as her own mother had died giving birth to her.

  Vivienne gently strokes her blood-red curls and breathes a kiss onto her hair.

  “Why did you have to go and do that? Orlando is old enough. He can take care of himself.”

  A lump starts to form in Mary’s throat.

  “I wanted to make things better for him than they are for me. He is in love.”

  “He is in love with a different girl every week and for that he allows you to risk your life. If he comes back, I will behead him myself, you can count on that.”

  Mary smiles while quietly sobbing. Vivienne is not the funniest person Mary could think of, but she always knows exactly what to say in hopeless situations like this one.

  “Let her out!” Vivienne orders and the guards just raise their hands dismissively.

  “She can only come out when the sentence has been carried out; Victor’s orders.”

  “Nobody has the right to judge her as long as Chasity is unconscious. The sentence can only be passed by the queen.”

  “Chasity is history, I am the new king.” Victor claims as he enters the cellar.

  “You have no right to the throne. Even if Chasity were dead, Orlando would be next in line, as the last living Moundrell. And if you were to get rid of him, then Claudia would still have more of a claim to the throne as the oldest vampire. So how do you wish to back up your words?” Vivienne asks, bravely challenging him. Victor just shrugs his shoulders.

  “Ever heard of survival of the fittest?!”

  “I don’t think that would please Cain. It is his job to judge and not yours. He has ordered us to travel to Greenland and instead of carrying out his will, you would rather murder his children. You should be glad if he doesn’t sent you straight out into the sun when we reunite with him.”

  Victor grins.

  “What sun? Have you already forgotten? At this time of year there is not a single hour of sunlight in Greenland. He will just have to wait to pass his sentence. Besides, I think he will be quite pleased with me for getting rid of the traitors.”

  “If you are so certain about what Cain wants, then why does he speak through me and not through you?!”

  Mary has never seen such hatred in Vivienne’s eyes as she does right now. Her words are sharp and without fear, making Victor struggle to find a retort. He proudly lifts his chin and raises his right eyebrow.

  “Well, we will just have to hope that Orlando will show up on time, but that will have to be within the next...” He quickly looks at his goldeb wristwatch, “...5 minutes.”

  Vivienne swallows and grabs Mary’s hand again, and with Victor barely out of earshot, she says; “Beg for forgiveness. Tell them that you were forced to help Orlando because of your blood bond to him.”

  Mary is outraged. “You want me to lie right before my death?”

  “It will prevent your death!”

  “My entire vampire life, I have done nothing but lie and deceive to get at some blood, but no
more. I will tell the truth from today onwards, and if I deserve to die for that, then so be it”, she answers with a face of stone.

  “Don’t be so stubborn. You have a long life ahead of you, and there will be enough time for you to be honest, but today is the wrong day to start!”

  Mary pulls her hand away from Vivienne and throws her a distressed look.

  “I expected more, especially from you! For the first time I am doing the right thing and instead of supporting me, you want me to lie. Maybe it would be better if you just went back upstairs.”

  “I would never leave you at a time like this!” Vivienne calls out with worry, but her outstretched hand is spurned as Mary turns her back to her and looks out the window once again. The rain has stopped, and in its place, the morning dew has started to settle. The first rays of sunlight can be seen dancing on the frozen fields.

  Victor clicks his tongue. “Well, I think it’s about time.”

  The key rattles in the lock as he quickly turns it and tears open the cell door.

  “If I may?”

  He reaches his hand out towards her, as if he were asking her to dance, but Mary ignores the gesture and walks past him with her head held high. She should be trembling in fear, but instead she feels stronger than ever before. There is no trace of the uncontrollable bloodlust that she had always felt.

  The vampires have lined up on both sides of a path which leads to the large wooden door and out into the Moundrell Manor courtyard. Victor walks in front of her and as soon as she passes, the vampires fall in behind her. A lot of them look at her with compassion, but others look down at her, probably thinking that she deserves no better. Vivienne and Claudia are waiting for her in front of the wooden door. To her surprise, Vivienne seems calm and collected. She had expected some tears at least. Claudia also surpises her, having not expected any form of sympathy from her, but then she of all people bends down towards her and momentarily takes her in her arms.

  “I know that it wasn’t your fault. You were just too young for this life. Children should not become vampires.”

  Mary is not sure if she speaks out of kindness, or if it is just one last dig at her, but studying her aggrieved face, she decides that it is the former.