Black Hellebore

by Maya Shepherd

  Mike rolls his eyes.

  “The succubus is a demon that thrives in the night time. It feeds on the life-force of its victim, which it takes from their blood or during love making. According to Jewish and Christian mythology, the succubus is a child of Lilith, Adam’s first wife.” Mike scans through his printouts. “Lilith supposedly gave Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, her blood to drink after he was banished by Adam for killing his brother Abel.”

  Mike lowers the sheets of paper, and looks up.

  “At least that’s what it says in the book of NOD, which is basically the opposite of the bible. So Cain was like the first vampire, and Lilith is the mother of the succubi, the opposite of vampires. A succubus is created whenever Lilith mates with a human man.”

  All eyes turn to Lia, whose mother disappeared shortly after she was born.

  “Oh come on, you can’t be serious! Next thing I know there will be unicorns and fairies in the mix. Where did you even find that?”

  “You can thank Wikipedia!” Lindsay gives her a cheeky grin.

  Lia looks helplessly at Tru, who just shrugs her shoulders.

  “The vampires worship Cain as their father. Lilith however, is hardly ever mentioned in their folklore. But there is a prophesy which says that when Lilith is awoken it shall be the end of the vampires.”

  Lia sighs. Maybe she should just finally admit to herself that her life is not normal, nor is it ever going to be normal.

  “I think my father owes me some kind of explanation.”

  - 27. Orlando Moundrell -

  The crunching of the broken sheets of ice on the water has become their constant friend in the past few days. Whenever the ship finds a clear path through the narrow icy channels, it crackles like the sound of a roaring bonfire. They have all swapped their regular clothes for thick furs; otherwise they would all probably have frozen solid by now. They have dressed themselves from head to toe in polar bear, seal and reindeer fur, making themselves immune to the sunlight. Orlando is wearing a pair of aviators on his face, which are protecting him from snow blindness and the sunlight alike. All of this clothing has a purpose; they can move freely during the day as the sun can’t get through the thick layers. But the closer they get to the most northerly point on earth, the fewer hours the sun is shining. At first it shone for about five hours a day, but now it’s down to just two. Even though they can move freely in the sunlight, most of the vampires on the ship avoid it like the plague as the bright light still burns their eyes.

  Mary has not spoken a word with him since they boarded the ship. She is silent, barely speaking with anyone else either. She spends most of her time peering at the ocean from her cabin. It hurts Orlando to see her like this, especially now that Liandra has tossed him aside as well. The memory hits him like a dagger to the heart every time he thinks about it so he tries to avoid thinking about her as much as he can. He can’t understand why, but the whole world seems to have turned against him all of a sudden. In spite of everything, he tries again. After all, Mary can’t hate him forever.

  As usual, she is standing in the doorway to their shared cabin and looks out at the deck with curious eyes. As soon as she sees Orlando heading her way, she stubbornly stares past him as if he weren’t there.

  He pulls a glasses case out of his pocket and holds it up to her.

  “Here, this is for you! You can go out on the deck too!”

  Mary shakes her head. “No thanks!”

  “Oh come on, you haven’t even looked at them.” He opens the case revealing a pair of ruby red sunglasses that sparkle in the sun. “Do you like them?”

  Mary continues to be dismissive.

  “I will not accept any more gifts from you.”

  Orlando sighs. “Fine then, would you like to buy them off me then or swap me something for them?”

  Mary looks at him irritated. “What exactly could I pay you with?”

  “A little smile would be enough for me.”

  Mary rolls her eyes in frustration.

  “Okay, that is probably too much to ask for right now” Orlando admits. “How about we have a little chat?”

  “Are you that desperate?!” Mary snaps at him. “Why don’t you go and speak to your new best friend Victor? You seem to be getting on so well with him lately!”

  “Oh I see, so that’s what this is all about. You must have known yourself that Chasity was unfit for this journey. Nobody forced Claudia to stay with her.”

  “What should she have done? Left Chasity completely alone? She might as well just have killed her in that case.”

  “If that’s what you think, then why are you even here? You abandoned them just as much as the rest of us did!”

  Mary lowers her head. “It’s because of Vivienne. Before she died she told me to start living my life, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I have never been to Greenland and so I thought it would be a good start.”

  Orlando nods and holds out the sunglasses to Mary again.

  “Don’t you think you would see a lot more of Greenland if you actually went up on deck?!”

  Mary hesitantly grabs the glasses and puts them on while Orlando smiles happily.

  “Come on, the sun is already starting to set!” he says to her, reaching his seal-skin glove-clad hand hopefully out towards her. To his surprise, she puts her little artic fox fur-covered hand in his, accepting his invitation and following him carefully up onto the ice-covered deck. It has been centuries since either of them has been able to walk in the sun. Even though the warm rays don’t get through their clothes to touch their skin, it is a liberating feeling. They have escaped from their prison of darkness.

  The human captain’s sudden cry catches their attention; “Blue whale! Blue whale!”

  They run quickly to the railing and see a colossal beast jumping up from the water about a hundred feet in the air at the front of the ship, followed by its giant tailfin suddenly rising up behind it. The splash it makes sends a towering wave their way and wafts the scent of the blue whale’s foul breath in their direction.

  The creature disappears a moment later, leaving nothing but a trail of unsettled water where it had been swimming. It’s the first time they have ever laid eyes on the world’s largest animal. The blue whale is a rare endangered species, even more so than vampires amongst humans, but Orlando seems oddly connected to the animal. The humans have always feared the unknown and have tried to fight it, regardless of whether it was a blue whale or a vampire. They have a lack of basic understanding for other living beings, as friendly as they may be. The blue whale is not a carnivore, but maybe that is his biggest downfall; he meets his fate without putting up a fight.

  As if asking her to dance, Orlando bows down to Mary and twirls her around by her hand. A quiet giggle escapes her, and she firmly presses her lips together to silence it.

  “Did you know that your gloves protect against evil spirits?”

  Mary looks questioningly at him and strokes the white fur.

  “The inuits believed that the colour white provides protection from the supernatural.” Orlando explains, only getting a scolding look in return.

  “If you ask me, we are the only evil spirits here, and I highly doubt that they will protect me against myself.”

  Orlando thoughtfully looks out over the railing with Mary onto the broad open icy water. Everything is white, and there is neither a mountain nor a village as far as the eye can see. They are in an icy desert of immeasurable enormity. The sky is getting dark and the first stars begin to appear. Not even their breath leaves a trace in the ice cold air which is as low as minus twenty degrees celsius.

  “Should we go and have a little drink?” Orlando asks with his usual charm

  “I’m not hungry.” Mary replies curtly. It’s very unusual for her, as she would normally grab at any opportunity to drink some blood.

  “I haven’t seen you drink anything since we started our journey.”

  “I don’t need blood anymore.”

&
nbsp; Orlando looks at her in amazement. “We have a couple of containers of blood below deck, and you are passing it all up.”

  “You are forgetting that they are human ‘containers’. Those poor humans probably didn’t volunteer to be your blood donors.” She looks at Orlando critically.

  “They won’t even remember any of it.”

  “How can someone remember anything when they are dead and lying at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean?”

  There is nothing Orlando can say to change her mind, and so he decides to hold his tongue. The fact that blood bags would freeze at such low temperatures would probably not offer her any comfort. It still impresses him that she has managed to last this long without any blood.

  As they head back inside the ship, Mary takes off her thick green woollen scarf. She is wearing Vivienne’s gold necklace.

  “Mary I am so sorry.” Orlando says. “I was too late and Vivienne had to die because of me. But still I am glad that she did it, because I couldn’t have handled losing you. I know I don’t always show it very clearly, but you really are extremely important to me.”

  She stares up at him with her big red eyes and swallows.

  “And what about your Liandra?”

  Orlando shrugs his shoulders

  “I don’t know. She has changed and seems to have forgotten everything that has happened between us.

  “Do I hear a little trouble in paradise?” Mary nudges him.

  Orlando feels his throat closing and lets his head sink.

  “She didn’t even try to help when the vampire hunter was trying to kill me.”

  Mary looks at him in disgust.

  “I thought she loved you.”

  “That was just your wishful thinking. It was such a nice thought.” He says with a sad smile. “Maybe it is better that we are gone now.” He adds in resignation.

  “If it is true love, then you will see each other again, no matter how many miles stand between you.” Mary says hopefully.

  After a few hours, they reach their destination, bringing their sea voyage to an end. Brightly coloured houses shine on the harbour under the Northern Lights. Victor is the first one to leave the ship and touch down on the snow-covered ground. There is a line of tents which are almost as big as small houses on top of sleds waiting for them on the harbour. They are being led by eight reindeer and a wrapped up man appears out of one of the tents. His skin is dark and his eyes narrow. When he smiles, he reveals a set of fangs that sparkle in the moonlight.

  “Welcome, I am Nanuk; your tour guide. Although we don’t have very far to go, the journey will be tough. Please make yourselves at home with my fellow Dolgans.” He points towards the tents and the people curiously peeking out from them. “More of us are arriving every day. Cain awaits us all in the Siorapulak village; the most Northerly settlement on Earth.”

  - 28. Lia Green -

  The two girls walk the way they have walked so many times before together, from Lindsay’s modest semi-detached house to Lia’s estate on the affluent Manor Road. But something feels different this time; everything has changed more than they could ever have thought possible. Even so, Lia is happy that one thing has stayed the same; she can always count on Lindsay to be there for her, and now more than ever. Amidst all the madness that is going on in her life at the moment, Lia wouldn’t have blamed Lindsay for running as fast and far away from it all as she could, but exactly the opposite had happened; they are now closer than they have ever been. They have no secrets anymore that could come between them and the whole Mike thing seems to have finally settled down a bit as well.

  Lindsay nudges Lia playfully with her elbow.

  “So what exactly is going on between you and Tru?”

  Lia’s cheeks burn red. The fact that she is a succubus does not exactly help the matter.

  “Nothing!”

  “Oh come on, why else would she be so worried about you?”

  Lia rolls her eyes. “Yeah right worried...all she cared about was Orlando, because he is number one on her kill list.”

  Lindsay shrugs her shoulders.

  “Well it’s weird that she let him get away then to take care of you instead.”

  Her words hit Lia and make her think. It really doesn’t fit into the picture that Lia had been painting for herself about Tru for the past few days. It is easier to stay away from her than to deal with her conflicting feelings about her.

  Lindsay doesn’t think it necessary to talk any more about it, and so she changes to subject to Lia’s second favourite topic; Orlando.

  “Well are you at least going to tell me what happened between you and Orlando then? I have to admit, he is really hot!” she smiles cunningly.

  Lia sighs in defeat. “I messed up again. I am just not myself sometimes and I guess I must have said something awful in one of my trances.”

  Not just anything; she knows exactly all of the horrible things she said to him. The thought alone hurts her, and she wishes that she could just crawl into her bed and pull the blanket up over her head. The only thing she doesn’t know is what part of the horrible things she said hurt him the most. Was it when she called him a liar, or when she told him she wanted to eradicate his entire race? The term ‘race’ alone is terrible, especially for her to say when she herself is a succubus. Why did she have to let the cruel voice in her head control her?

  Lindsay pauses, but then she continues with the subject.

  “Or maybe you did something wrong.”

  Lia looks at her completely taken aback. She has done many bad things to people in her life, and Orlando is probably no exception.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Well, I mean when we came across you two in the forest, Tru just naturally assumed that Orlando was trying to hurt you. We attacked him and you just stood there doing nothing. I think I would have been hurt if I were him.”

  Lia looks at Lindsay in horror.

  “I don’t remember any of that.” She knows that the new her can be horrible, but she had hoped that she could maintain some kind of control over herself.

  Lindsay just folds her arms. “That’s nothing new really. I used to think that you just pretended not to remember all of the embarrassing stuff you did because you didn’t want to deal with it, but now I am starting to believe that you really don’t.”

  Lia looks away, cut by Lindsay's words. It hurts to find out what your best friend really thinks of you. “You think it’s easy for me.”

  Lindsay quickly shakes her head. “No, no, that was before. I mean hello? You are a succubus! Nobody could have seen that coming. Now I see it as a sort of disease that you can’t really control.”

  “It’s a disease that there is no cure for.” Lia says while the voice in her head quietly whispers to her; “I am a blessing!”

  “Who knows, maybe there is.” Lindsay smiles cheekily and adds with a giggle; “I don’t have much experience with this sort of thing.”

  Whether Lia wants to or not, she can’t help but smile too. Lindsay has the unique gift to make people laugh, even in the worst situations. It’s one of the many reasons why Lia loves her so much.

  They have arrived at the house, and Lia hesitantly places one foot in front of the other.

  “His car is parked in front of the house....” she murmers more to herself than to Lindsay. It should be an easy task to head inside and ask her father the questions she has for him, but it wouldn’t be the first time if he refused to give her an answer. She swallows.

  “Be brave!” Lindsay says and firmly squeezes her shoulder in encouragement. Just then, the large double door swings open as if on its own, and her father who usually cares so much about his appearance stands in the doorway in a jogging pants, a dirty white t-shirt, greasy unkempt hair and bare feet.

  “Liandra?” he calls with a faltering, tearful voice and rushes over the white gravel driveway towards her. His expression makes her breath momentarily catch in her throat and her father reaches his arms out to her and runs i
nto her. He hugs her so tightly that she can barely breathe as he sobs into her hair. His tear-stained cheek presses against her and an unwashed smell mixed with a wave of alcohol hits her, but even amidst all of that, she can smell a hint of his aftershave. Lia rarely noticed in her childhood as well as today that the smell of sandalwood and tobacco made her think of family and security. She is powerless against the tears building inside her, and for the first time ever, she lets herself sink into her father’s strong, protective embrace. His stubble scratches her skin as he kisses her cheek and forehead and says her name over and over again.

  “My girl,” he whispers as he strokes her hair and then gently pulls her away to look at her. “Are you alright?”

  Lia nods.

  “Where have you been hiding?”

  The corners of Lia’s mouth pull downwards in sadness. She wants to tell him the truth, but she is afraid that he won’t understand. He kisses her forehead again.

  “Come on, let’s go inside and you can tell me everything. I promise you that I will listen to you this time.”

  She swallows the lump in her throat at looks towards Lindsay, but she just shakes her head with tear-filled eyes.

  “You go, I will wait out here.”

  Inside the house there are half empty bottles and left over food containers in every corner. The expensive Chinese porcelain vase that was standing at the bottom of the staircase is lying on the floor in shards. Embarrassed by the mess, her father starts to pick up some bits and pieces. “I will call Maria immediately and tell her to come by. She will be happy to hear that you have come back.”

  Lia stands in the hall unsettled by everything, not knowing what she should say or do.

  “She stayed with me over the entire Christmas holiday, just so I wouldn’t be alone. I was going crazy worrying about you.” He explains as he picks up the empty food containers from the floor. Alarmed, Mr. Green stands up straight and turns back to Lia.

  “I am a terrible father, right?”

  Lia tries to smile. “When you are around you are actually okay.”

  He laughs a melancholy laugh. “Exactly; when I am here.” With his head lowered, he slinks into the living room, followed by Lia’s silent footsteps. The plastic covers are still on the furniture that was delivered to the house a few weeks ago, because until now nobody had the urge to sit in there. The room seems lifeless, deserted and sterile like a hospital, and as Lia’s father sits down, the cover rustles under him. Lia sits down beside him and shyly places her hands between her thighs. Her father can’t control his emotions; his feelings of guilt just too strong.