Black Hellebore

by Maya Shepherd

  “And still she gave you her blood of her own free will? Why?”

  “I take it she has a good heart. You can be proud of your daughter. She doesn’t discriminate between humans, vampires or succubi.”

  “Your words are not necessary to awaken my pride for her. She is the one who broke the curse.”

  “Beg your pardon queen and creator, but which curse do you speak of?” Claudia involves herself in the conversation, but opposed to Chasity who is submitting herself completely to Lilith, Claudia proudly raises her head to her. There is no reason for her to be ashamed of her race, when she didn’t choose to be a part of it.

  Lilith’s laugh is high-pitched and jovial like the sound of chimes.

  “Cain knows all about the spell, and yet he deems it unnecessary to let his many subjects in on it. He has probably overestimated himself yet again.”

  The warmth and compassion in her eyes turns to cold rage at the thought of Cain.

  “My blood turned him into the first of your kind, but instead of thanking me, he tossed me aside as if I were nothing. I could have destroyed him and all of his whores on the spot, but when one is immortal such as we are, time is not an issue. He was to destroy himself, and so I placed a curse upon him and his entire race. Should any of them be so stupid as to give one of my children their blood, even just the tiniest drop, then that action would awaken all my warriors at once. My children are stronger than any other life form. Neither the light nor the darkness can weaken them. I have waited for thousands of years, and all that waiting has paid off. Through Lia, all of the living and dead succubi have been awakened in one foul swoop. Your blood led her to me, and my blood transformed her. The succubi will be the downfall of the vampires.”

  Claudia’s hands ball into fists at the thought that Mary is responsible for the mess that they now find themselves in. If that damned little wretch had not saved Lia... but that thought leads her to think of the one who actually started it all; Orlando. Why did the pretty boy have to fall in love with Lia of all people? Could he not have chosen anyone else? Lia would have been better off without him too. And now that she knows the girl, she can no longer wish for her death.

  Lilith can sense how people feel and the vibes they give off, so she immediately recognises Claudia’s anger.

  “Cain knew about the curse and yet he never thought it necessary to warn his children. I am just asking myself why...”

  She misjudges Claudia’s rage and tries to turn her against her father and creator with her words. But Chasity saw Cain’s true feelings in her dreams, or at least how strongly he felt for Lilith all those thousands of years ago. Such strong feelings never die.

  “Honourable queen, I think Cain refrained from saying anything so that one day it would come to this.”

  Wrinkles appear in Lilith’s smooth and immaculate forehead.

  “That makes no sense. If he wanted to wipe himself out then he could have just watched a sunrise. Besides, he loves his pathetic meaningless life too much for that.”

  “A life without love is worthless. Thousands of years spent alone without a soulmate by his side can be very lonely. He desires you still.”

  Lilith stares daggers at Chasity. Her whole body is trembling with hatred.

  “Does he whisper these lies into your ear?!” Her voice is loud and shrill. It is painful to listen to and could probably break glass.

  Chasity quickly shakes her head.

  “No, as I was close to death I dreamt his dreams. They were all about you, oh great creator.”

  “His entire life, all he did was betray me with one whore after the other. He doesn’t know the meaning of loneliness.”

  Her rage subsides just as quickly as it had flared, leaving behind her wounded pride and envy.

  “It was a never ending procession of women, but there was no woman, alive or dead who could ever compare to you and Cain had to accept that. He is full of regret my queen, and his heart longs for yours.” Chasity argues firmly, but her words fall on deaf ears with Lilith. The pain of Cain’s deceit cut her far too deep. She has heard enough and with a raised hand, she signals for Chasity to stop.

  “That’s enough! I believe that you have good intentions. In our battle on Table Mountain, I would like to have you at my side. What could be more debilitating than to see your own family fighting against you?! Get some rest tonight, as we shall set forth in the morning. You will have to change your very being if you want to serve me. My children are bound to neither the light nor the dark.”

  Lilith is right. The longer they spend with Lia and the others, the more their internal clocks shift. The daytime was when they slept, but in the last few weeks, they used the day to travel and the night to sleep. Even if Claudia and Chasity could get used to these circumstances, they could never get used to the searing sunlight. They may not turn to ash and dust under the many layers of clothes they are wearing, but every movement hurts. Their skin burns and feels tight to the point of tearing.

  Lilith feels their pain and is amazingly kind and gracious. She leads the two vampires through the winding system of rocky tunnels into her private quarters. A shimmering red curtain hangs down in front of a cavern and behind it there is a flowing hot stream. The water is bubbling and splashing. There are burned down white candles placed around the pool of water, their flames flickering with every tiny gust of air. There is a carafe and two embellished crystal glasses on a small golden table. Lilith tears open the palm of her hand with one of her long nails and balling her hand into a fist, she squeezes several drops of blood into each glass. The cut heals immediately. She offers the glasses to Chasity and Claudia

  “Know that I am a mother. Like every mother, I have love inside of me. My love is gracious and pure and not full of greed and lust like that of your father. If you are loyal to me, then I will protect you like my own blood. Now bathe and drink, it will make you stronger!”

  Lilith’s fluttering gown gently strokes Chasity’s cheek as she passes her to leave the cavern. The gentle scent of roses hangs in the air. The vampires are moved by the tenderness Lilith has shown them after her cold and curt introduction. Neither of them would ever have treated their enemies like that. The thought of an enemy becoming a friend is still new to them.

  Chasity pulls the black robe up over her head in relief. It feels good to finally feel the fresh air on her skin and to feel her hair blowing in the breeze. She doesn’t think twice about being naked in front of Claudia, as she has seen her naked more times than anyone else has before. She has not only shared her blood with her, but also her entire life, both as humans and as vampires. There is no reason for her to be shy. Chasity quickly steps into the hot water and lets the warmth engulf her. When she turns back towards Claudia, she sees that she has removed the black material from her head, and her long black hair falls down in waves over her shoulders. She seems to have turned to stone as she stands and watches Chasity.

  “You have changed!”

  She says it in such a matter-of-fact way, that Chasity doesn’t know what to make of how Claudia feels about the changes. She lifts the glass filled with Lilith’s blood towards her.

  “Come into the water and drink with me!”

  There is a hesitation in Claudia’s face that is completely new to Chasity. Claudia has never acted cool or reserved towards her, and even though she accepts the offer and climbs into the water with her, she sits across from her at the other end of the pool, instead of moving in close as she usually would.

  Chasity raises her glass to her again. “To us!”

  But Claudia ignores the toast and looks sceptically at Chasity’s face.

  “I barely recognise you at all sometimes!”

  Chasity gives up trying to change the subject and just shrugs her shoulders instead.

  “After all these years I have finally realised what is really important in life.

  “And what is that exactly?” There is a clear tone of disapproval in her question.

  “Your name is n
ow worthless to you, just like your pride and honour. Everything that was once important to you and everything you fought for now means nothing.”

  “Neither power, nor riches or reputation can make anyone truly happy. The values for which all the wars of this world are fought are much more important: love, friendship, and life itself.”

  Claudia pauses. Her eyes rest on Chasity for what seems like a long time without really looking at her. It is clear to see that her words are going around in her head as she tries to make sense of them. Finally, she raises her glass towards her friend.

  “I swear to you out of love, that I will protect you for as long as I live.”

  This time it is Chasity who rejects the toast. She just shakes her head with a smile and places both hands around Claudia’s outstretched one.

  “No, this time it will be the other way around. You have protected me my entire life and now it is your turn. I am no longer a queen. I am just a vampire, just like you. I am no better nor am I any less.”

  Claudia places the glass down on the edge of the pool and grabs Chasity’s hands in hers.

  “You are still a Moundrell”, she reminds her friend enthusiastically.

  “What’s in a name?! Names don’t say anything about their owners. Names are unimportant. The only thing that means anything to me is you.”

  Claudia’s eyes widen in shock. She has been waiting for so long to hear these words that it almost seems like a dream for it to finally happen.

  “I have loved you for a thousand years but I was just too stupid and proud to recognise it. But I will love you for another thousand years to make it up to you, if you will just let me.”

  Claudia realises that Chasity, the queen of the vampires is actually pleading for her permission to love her. She can also see the fear of rejection in her eyes. She could never push Chasity away; she is everything that she lives for. Their lips touch in a passionate frenzy. After a thousand years, this first kiss seals their eternal love once and for all.

  - 40. Cain -

  Darkness lies like a veil over the vampires’ eyes, hiding them from each other and reaching cold claws of fear out towards them. Not even the light from a match can break through the blank nothingness of the never-ending tunnel. They have lost any sense of time, and none of them can say whether they have been underground for an hour, a day or a week. Their throats are dry as sandpaper and every step makes their bones ache.

  Cain dug the tunnel with his own hands. His blood sweat and tears cling to the narrow walls. It took him thousands of years, but time is unimportant for an immortal. Her face was there in his mind every hour, every minute, every second. When he snubbed her all those thousands of years ago, she swore to have her revenge on him. He didn’t take her seriously for the first few hundred years, scoffing at her while claiming he was invincible. He spent the next few hundred years searching for her without ever even coming close to her. He grew tired of waiting and didn’t want to keep delaying the inevitable. He wanted Lilith to beg for her life, swear her loyalty to him and plead for forgiveness. When he couldn’t find her, he gave up the search and tried to convince himself that she had died of thirst in the desert. Over centuries, he slept with more women than there are stars in the sky. Their bodies were meant to get Lilith’s face out of his thoughts, because his dreams were haunted by her as if by an evil ghost. No matter how beautiful the women were, he saw Lilith before him every night. She really had cursed him, but not in the way she had meant to. Nothing could let him forget her, not any woman, or alcohol or drugs. He desperately prayed to all the known and unknown Gods to bring her back to him. He wanted to throw himself into the dirt before her and beg for her forgiveness. He wanted to kiss her feet. But nothing happened. He hid himself away from the world and crawled back into the cave where Lilith had saved him all those years ago. His life meant nothing without her; it was completely without meaning.

  He waited a thousand years for her, feeding on the mice and rats that got lost in the cave. Then he began to dig the tunnel. He dug it half way around the world and when he arrived in the Arctic, where it was so cold that his own breath froze, he finally heard her voice again. The words that she said in his head were full of hatred, and yet full of life.

  “Vengeance is mine.”

  He could see her in front of him, her hands balled into fists and her entire body trembling with rage. Her hair was as red as a fire that could turn the whole world to ash and dust. Her rage woke new hope in him. She would get her revenge. She would destroy all of the life he had created. She would flatten entire cities, but in the end there would be nothing left but the two of them. Lilith couldn’t destroy him, just as much as he could never destroy her. There would be nothing that could stand in their way. They would be together again, whether she liked it or not. Their lives were bound together like the earth and the sky.

  A warm gust of wind blows over his cheek and through his hair. He sticks his nose in the air and sniffs as he comes to a halt. Nemesis places her cold hand on his arm, making the hairs stand to attention. He can’t stand the cold of the vampires anymore. The smell of dried grass and desert wasteland creeps up his nose. It is so weak that he is not sure if his wanting mind is just playing tricks on him.

  “God and father, why have you stopped?” her subservience sickens him. He preferred her when her eyes were glowing with hatred, watching the good-for-nothing cut his own tongue out of his throat. She doesn’t have Lilith’s fire. Nemesis is not even a shadow of her life force.

  “Be still, we are almost there.” He says as he said countless times before. His feet continue on silently and the darkness starts to lift. Nobody realises at first, but then they all notice at once. They can not only see their hands in front of their faces, but they can see each other as well. They can only really see shadows and outlines of each other, but it is enough to awaken new life in their tired bodies. Gripped by the power of the light, they storm further and further through the tunnels. Their steps now turn into a march and it is as loud as a battle drum. Their voices echo off the walls as they yell their war cries.

  “Death to the enemy!”, “Fight for the night!”, “Fight for Cain!”

  Their voices make his chest swell with pride, but they do not reach his heart. His children mean nothing to him. He could easily replace every one of them without feeling a thing. Even Nemesis is expendable, and could be swapped for any other tormented woman.

  A thin ray of golden light is touching the ground and makes them stop in their tracks. The sun must be high in the sky for it to be reaching this far into the cave. Cain steps as far as he dares towards the exit. His eyes are sensitive after the long time in the darkness and it pains him to look out into the light, which is so bright and blinding that he can’t make out anything. With his dirty black fingers, he shields his eyes from the sun and the other vampires follow his lead. They are standing in the entrance of the cave like cave people who were long lost and presumed dead.

  In what seems like quite a distance, Cain sees a flickering. Dark silhouettes appear in front of the glistening background. They blur before his eyes and seem to multiply. They are like a mirage, but the more he watches them, the closer they seem to come. There are hundreds of them, while there are thousands gathered in the cave. He sees their wings shining in the sun as if they were covered in tar - creatures straight from hell, more monster than human. They blur into a single mass as he spots her. More beautiful than an angel could ever be, she shines like a ray of light in the dark mass. Her hair is blowing wildly around her well-formed body and it reminds him of long lost sunrises from the beginning of time. He wants to run his fingers through her hair and let her sweat cleanse his body of all the dirt. They will unite the light and darkness, like a king and queen. Her face radiates both life and hatred. His whole body starts to tingle as she fixes her gaze on him.

  Cain is too caught in Lilith’s gaze to notice the uproar among the vampires around him. The ones who can see outside the cave are stepping back in sho
ck while the ones at the back who can’t see make their way closer to the front. They far outnumber their enemies, but the succubi have what the vampires have been yearning for - the light. Lilith is not just surrounded by her army of succubi. There are two vampires flanking her, one on either side. Many of them recognise Chasity, the former queen of the vampires who is now moving freely in the brightest sunlight, her sun-kissed skin unaffected by the light. She walks in the searing heat with her head held high, just like Claudia. They have done what no other vampire has ever done before them. They are not only immortal, but also invincible.

  Cain only now recognises the commotion as he sets his gaze back on Lilith, who has come to a halt several metres away from the mouth of the cave. Her laughter is triumphant and mocking.

  “Welcome, creatures of the night.” She says cheerfully, and it’s like a dagger in all of the vampires’ hearts. They feel like they are trapped on the spot, being eaten alive by the envy they feel towards the freedom that two of them have become a part of.

  Cain raises himself to his full size in the shadow of the cave.

  “Were you not once the queen of the night?”

  “As you can see, I transform in the light. I am the goddess of life, little prince of darkness.” She spits the last words at him with venomous hatred. As much as she would like to hurt him with her words, they just bring his cold blood more and more to the boil.

  “You betrayed the night. You betrayed me. Your blood shall soak the earth.” He promises her menacingly, knowing full well that everyone else’s blood will be shed before hers.

  Lilith’s high-pitched laugh is like music to his ears.

  “How do you plan to do that, little prince, when you can’t even step out of your cave?”

  “The night shall fall and finish what you started.”

  Lightning flashes in her eyes and she points towards her two companions.

  “My blood works miracles. I can make the blind see and heal the sick. I can even give vampires that which they yearn for the most: a life in the light.”