Black Hellebore

by Maya Shepherd

  Tru raises an eyebrow. “We?”

  “If you don’t want to come with me, then I will just take Mike and Lindsay...” Lia answers curtly. She feels sorry that she is acting so dismissive towards Tru again, and so she adds; “but I would really love it if you would come with me.” Tru nods and holds back the smile that is coming from deep inside her in reaction to Lia’s words. Claudia looks back and forth between Tru and Lia. She is unsure whether she can trust them or not, because the succubus is the natural born enemy of the vampire, and Tru is a hunter of vampires. But what other option does she have to save Chasity’s life?

  She finally nods. “Come, I will bring you to Chasity.”

  Lia can not say whether it was a smart decision or not to invite a vampire along on the search for her mother, but Claudia is the last connection she has to Orlando. She is her only hope of ever seeing him again.

  - 29. Mike Chapman -

  The searing heat forms beads of sweat on his forehead, where his dark curly hair is sticking in a web-like pattern. At first he was very excited to escape the cold weather, but the closer they get to their Saudi Arabian destination, the more he regrets even agreeing to come on this trip. If they could at least have flown like Lia’s father suggested it wouldn’t be so bad, but that wasn’t possible with Lia’s new ‘friends’. They took the Eurotunnel from England and rode through France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran and now Saudi Arabia. It was pure torture. The quality standards of the trains had gradually gotten worse. He could already have written a lengthy novel in the time this trip has taken, and with that they are still nowhere near the end of their journey.

  It still confuses him why Lia felt the need to bring this mysterious Claudia woman and her terminally ill friend Chasity with them. Vampires are all pretty pale, but that would be a huge understatement for Chasity. She is gaunt, her skin is sunken and her hair is falling out in clumps. The sight of her gives him nightmares, and so he mostly stays away from her, which is good for Claudia, who just stares at him hungrily, as if he were a giant steak on legs. But they are the reason why he was sitting in a stuffy carriage plodding along at a snail’s pace for the past three days instead of having arrived into Jeddah two days ago on an air-conditioned flight. Sunlight may be deadly to vampires, but right now he wouldn’t complain if a good blast of wind swept away the heavy curtains and turned those two into ash.

  Chasity and Claudia are sharing one compartment, while Lia and Tru are in the second, and the third is where he and Lindsay had been put together, but she would much rather squeeze herself into Lia’s single bed than sleep in her own bed in his compartment. What is she actually thinking? Does she think he will attack her during the night? Women are all strange, nobody can understand what they are all about, and the worst thing: he happens to be stuck on this train with five of them, each one loopier than the next.

  With a sigh, he steps out onto the noisy passageway between carriages. The rattling of the rails is ringing in his ears, giving him a headache but out here there is at least a bit of a breeze. He inhales deeply and looks out the windows across the way. There is sand as far as the eye can see, and whether he is looking at houses or even the sky; everything is the same yellow sandy colour. He suddenly realises how dry his throat is again, and decides that it’s probably about time for another trip to the dining car, even though that in itself seems an arduous journey. It’s still a welcome change from the boring one-track ride. The train carriages rock back and forth stronger than any ship would and the individual carriages are connected to each other using a thin, flimsy looking iron bar, making it a better option to jump from one carriage to the other instead of trying to walk across. If a passenger fell off the train, nobody would notice, and nobody would care, because there are no proper safety precautions. The warning signs are all faded or covered in graffiti.

  The carriage they are in is almost luxurious compared to some of the others. The less fortunate passengers have to squeeze in close to each other in open carriages. The children are sitting on the laps of the older passengers, regardless of whether they know them or not. At night, they place mats on the floor and everyone finds a small corner to sleep in the overcrowded carriage.

  He hates having to walk through these carriages. It all smells like sweat, unwashed bodies and stale air.

  Leaning on the walls he finally makes his way through and reaches the dining car car. Worn wooden tables with green upholstered benches line both walls. The narrow space between them is not intended for anyone even slightly overweight, as the slightest rock of the carriage would land you in the plate of the nearest diner. The air in this carriage is stagnant as well, and the menue has woefully few choices to offer. There is tepid water, and a brown liquid they claim to be coffee. For food there are crisps and crushed biscuits, with packaging so old he doesn’t need to look at the expiry date to know they are no longer fit for consumption. He orders water in English and just as he wants to start making his way back, he spots Lindsay sitting at one of the tables holding a coffee cup. She looks over and very obviously looks him up and down before looking away. Embarassed, he looks down at his red polo shirt that has big sweat stains around his armpits, down to his beige shorts and then to his brown sandals. He knows that he is not the most stylish guy in the world, but what is he supposed to do? He is insanely hot, and even if he had a black suit to wear, his hair would still be sticking to his forehead and his face would be gleaming with sweat. He sinks down uncertainly onto the bench across from Lindsay. The green material is torn and yellow stuffing pokes out in places. As he sits, a quiek squeaking sound comes from the bench, which is drowned out by the sound of the rattling train. Lindsay wrinkles her nose.

  “Where did your leather pants and nice shirt go?!” he can hear the sarcasm in her voice.

  The corners of Mike’s mouth turn downwards at the thought of the school party.

  “In the bin. They brought me nothing but bad luck.”

  At first Lindsay scrutinises his face, but then she turns her head away to look out the windows at the dreary landscape. There is an uncomfortable silence between them as Mike nervously squeezes his water bottle with his clammy hands. He doesn’t expect Lindsay to answer him, but then she suddenly pipes up, keeping her head turned away.

  “I thought you had dressed that way for me. Pretty stupid huh?”

  She looks at him with hopeful eyes and he notices for the first time how long and beautiful her eyelashes are. Although he has just taken a sip of water, his throat feels very dry. He is hot and cold at the same time and his heart skips a beat.

  “For you? Why did you think that?” he croaks, causing him to cough self-consciously.

  “Well, I mean the gothic style was always more my thing that Lia’s.” Lindsay explains uncharictaristically shy. Now it’s Mike who hesitates. He doesn’t know what he should say. She’s right, why did he think that Lia would like him better like that? Or was it even about Lia at all?

  “Did you like it?” he forces out, and his voice squeaks on the last word. It wouldn’t surprise him if the water bottle burst any second now, as he is holding it as tightly as a person who is drowning would hold onto a piece of drift wood.

  Lindsay gives him a saucy grin. “Maybe for a costume party.”

  Her words are like a knife in his heart, but he knows that he doesn’t deserve any better. He acted like a real jerk to her, and it’s a miracle that she is talking to him at all. Still, he looks away in disappointment. Women just don’t like him it seems, even when he dresses up for them.

  “It wasn’t you.” Lindsay adds. When he looks back towards her, there is a hesitant smile on her face, and it’s a lot more caring than her cheeky smile. It’s the same smile she gave him the night they slept together. It’s the smile that makes his heart melt. It is the same smile that he thinks of last thing before falling asleep at night and the one that is still there first thing when he wakes up in the morning. It is her smile that he simply cannot forge
t.

  “I like you much better in your sandals.” She giggles, making him reply with a broad grin. He doesn’t deserve her kind words, but for a moment he forgets all about his headache and the heat. Lindsay’s eyes shine like the stars and the world around them seems to stand still. Life could be so much easier.

  “I was so stupid.”

  The words burst out of him, after they have burdened his heart and soul for so long, as he waited for the right moment to say them, and that moment never came.

  “Yes, you were.” Lindsay agrees with him and laughs her chime-like laugh. Mike self-consciously wipes his wet hair from his forehead, and Lindsay reaches over the table, grabs his glasses from his face and then cleans them on her black top and places them back on him. As she puts them on, her fingertips touch his ears, making them turn red momentarily. Goosebumps spread over his sweaty arms.

  “So you can actually see something.” She says lovingly. He has never seen this caring side of Lindsay, but he likes her all the more because of it.

  “I am really sorry” he says, and really means it.

  But Lindsay plays innocent. “You are sorry for what?”

  “Well you know...that night.” Mike says uncomfortably.

  “Oh, you mean that night! And what exactly about that night do you feel bad about?” she says playfully, but then her smile suddenly disappears and she looks at him sternly. “How you acted after it happened, or the fact that it happened?”

  Mike just wants to make everything better. He wishes that he could take back everything. He wants her to forgive him and so without any thought, the word just bursts out of his mouth before he can even think about what he should say.

  “Everything.”

  He would apologise for anything and everything, if she would just not be mad at him anymore, but it seems that his answer was not the one Lindsay was looking for. Her eyes narrow and he knows that that rarely means something good.

  She stands up abruptly. “Well if that’s how you feel, then I’d better leave. We wouldn’t want it to happen again so you can regret that too!” she shouts as she pushes herself away from the table and her half-full cup of coffee tips over, spilling all over the table and Mike’s clothes. He jumps up in shock and starts frantically wiping his clothes. When he looks up, he just catches sight of Lindsay as she storms angrily out of the carriage. What did he say this time?

  - 30. Mary Cromwell -

  After a few days’ journey with Nanuk and his Dolgans they reached Siorapuluk. Although Nanuk warmly welcomed them on the journey, his human Dolgans kept their distance, not trusting them. As they arrived in Siorapuluk, Mary fully expected there to be way more humans than vampires like she is used to, but here it is different. Vampires are following the voice of Cain, and coming from every corner of the world. The settlement is overcrowded, and the last remaining humans are being used as blood donors. This would have been a great feast for the old Mary, but that is all over now.

  The many little red wooden huts are being used by up to six vampires each but there is still not nearly enough room for them all. More and more igloos are being built on the harbour by the Arctic Ocean. There are bones of many different animals lying by the shore, and there is a row of firepits. It’s not the adventure that Mary had hoped for, but still she is making an effort to make the most out of it. After all, she can move around freely in the outdoors at any time of day here because the sun really doesn’t show itself for even a minute. It is a miracle.

  Cain has yet to show himself, and apparently he has taken up residence in a big cave on the inside of one of the mountains, to which entry has been forbidden til now. He doesn’t seem to be the kind of loving father who will greet every one of his children personally with a hug.

  Mary slinks past the wooden huts with silent footsteps, while the smell of fish hangs in her nose and wafts through her curls. The normally dormant settlement is thriving and she can hear snippets of several different conversations as she walks. A sudden quiet but terrified scream grabs her attention. It must be coming from inside one of the houses. She sneaks quietly around and tries to drown out all of the other noises around her. She hears a familiar, yet hate-filled laugh. It is self-assured, and is followed by a soft whimper. Mary hesitantly places one foot in front of the other, following the voice that seems soft, but at the same time malicious. The pain-filled whimpering gets louder and even though she can’t understand the language being spoken, she can clearly hear the terror in the voice.

  The door to one of the houses is cracked open, and one look inside makes her hold her breath and leaves her stunned. Five men including Victor are violating a young Innuit. Her throat is bloodstained and tears are streaming down her face. Her clothes are torn to shreds and there are bitemarks on her naked breasts. One of the men is just throwing her aside like a piece of dirt while he does up his trousers. A cold shiver shoots through Mary’s body and she feels like she has been transported to another time and another life when she was that woman. Admittedly, she was much younger, but that doesn’t make the pain any different. She had made each and every one of them pay with Orlando and Claudia’s help. She got her justice, and yet it didn’t make it hurt any less. Not even time has healed her wounds, but rather just helped her to forget them. The memory still deeply scars her soul.

  The woman is the picture of misery, but the men are still not done with her. The next one steps up to take her. She doesn’t even try to defend herself at this point; all she can do is sob and let it happen. The vampires are not moved by her tears.

  The door slams loudly into the wall and Mary enters the hut. The men turn around quickly in fright, but when they see that it’s just little Mary, all they do is smile at her menacingly.

  “Are you not ashamed of yourselves?!” She says with a trembling voice, while holding her chin up high.

  Victor shrugs his shoulders in disinterest. “For what?”

  “These humans are sharing their homes and food with us and this is how you repay them? It’s bad enough that you are taking their blood, but do you have to take their dignity too?”

  “They are only humans.” The man who had just finished with the woman says, unimpressed. It seems like they really have absolutely no conscience. The sad thing is that he is probably serious too. He has been a vampire too long and lost any bit of humanity that he might have had.

  “You are vampires; you don’t have to....” she looks at the woman with sympathy. “...do something like this. One charming word from any of you and she would have melted in your hands.”

  “Where would the fun be in that?” another one of the vampires grins at her as he wipes blood from his mouth. A shiver shoots down Mary’s spine.

  While the men are distracted, the woman seems to find some fight from deep inside herself as she frees herself and runs out of the hut, leaving a blood trail behind her. Alarmed, the men want to run after her, but Victor stops them with a single hand gesture.

  “There’s no rush, she won’t get very far.”

  “But she will talk!”

  “Even if she does, if anyone complains, then they will be first on the menu.” Victor replies smugly, and starts making his way towards the exit, followed by the others. He stops in front of Mary and looks her up and down.

  “I promise you that the next time I see that woman, I will release her from her pain.”

  His words sound kind, but Mary knows too well what he means. He will kill the woman in cold blood, without any compassion.

  Weak at the knees, Mary walks past the burning bins by the harbour. Several vampires have gathered together, including Nanuk and Orlando. He seems lost in thought as he carves a piece of white wood or stone with a knife. He hasn’t even noticed Mary standing there, but Nanuk waves kindly at her. His brown hands are raw and covered with calluses, which is quite unusual for a vampire, but they make him seem more friendly to Mary. He is wearing a red robe with black patterns on it and matching black boots. There is a bunch of various different herbs nex
t to him.

  “You seem shaken. Did you meet an evil ghost?” He asks with a smile, his black mustache moving with every word he says. Mary sighs.

  “I wish it had been ghosts; at least they can’t do you any harm.”

  Nanuk suddenly becomes more serious.

  “Don’t be mistaken my child; no matter whether living or dead, evil knows no bounds.”

  He binds some herbs together into a bunch.

  “All we can do is face evil head on, and pray to the gods for protection from it.”

  Mary looks at him in astonishment. She has never met a religious vampire. The existence of vampires alone goes against every religious belief. The dead should not roam the earth.

  “What gods do you believe in?”

  “I am a Dolgan Shaman and believe in the gods of fire, water and life. As long as we exist, one of them exists in each of us.”

  “But we are dead.” Mary replies indignantly.

  Nanuk laughs. “Well I for one feel anything but dead!” He winks at her. “Come and help me drive away the evil spirits. They like to hide under rocks where the fire can’t reach them.”

  They hold the herbs over the fire together and Nanuk whispers a saying in a foreign language, and then waves the burning boquet in the air like a fan. The humans and vampires around them bow their heads and join their hands in prayer. It is all local vampires, and yet their actions give Mary a sense of hope. Maybe there really is someone out there who can hear their prayers. Maybe the thought alone will help somehow.

  She does as they do, bowing her head and putting her hands together. The ritual is meant to ward off evil spirits, but Mary doesn’t pray for protection from ghosts, but rather prays for an end to the vampires. Victor showed her once again that many of them are nothing but monsters and they should not exist. She prays that this evil will be destroyed, but she also prays that the ghosts bring Orlando luck. She prays for a life of her own; a life spent in the light, and not in the dark.

  As if fulfilled by her dreams and wishes, she lifts her head and looks up at the bright light of the moon. It seems to be shining a green-ish colour; so strange yet captivating. Maybe this is the place where dreams take flight.