The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: Sacrificial Children

by Jessica MacIntyre

  Another desire overwhelmed me and with a sudden burst of energy I zipped back through the woods and made my way back into the sanctuary.

  “Have a group go to the pond and do cleanup,” I said to a guard standing there. “The niads are dead. Put everything back the way it was. I have a mess to clean up here.”

  The guard dutifully nodded and went the other way. I however, headed for the room where the orphans were being held. Upon seeing me they came closer as quickly as they could. They scented my blood and were moaning for it, more like animals than vampires or humans and I grabbed the first one that came toward me, a male in his mid-twenties, and ripped his head completely off. He turned to ash instantly and the others, having gotten the message, backed into the farthest corner of the room, whimpering.

  Their fear fed me and I stalked toward them, focusing on the small huddled group. They were all that was left at Soldiers Cove sanctuary. I had set free many others but these, the sickest and oldest of Angus’ progeny, were now alone. There were six of them and I let my fury rise until I saw each of them burst into flames. Their screams filled the room for only a few moments before silence encompassed the empty space. A wave of relief washed over me. Even though there were still some orphans left in the Chapel Island sanctuary I felt confident that I could kill them rather quickly once I got on the grounds. Although they were still alive I felt free.

  That problem would have to wait though because I had one sitting in a cell here that I had to take care of. It was time to pay a visit to Leiv.

  Chapter Seven

  I stalked down the hall toward the cell that Leiv occupied. A guard was stationed out front of the lone prisoner’s door. “Give me the key,” I demanded. He handed it over without hesitation. “You’re dismissed,” I said.

  He raised his eyebrows. “Dismissed?”

  “Dismissed,” I growled at him. “Go!”

  He wasted no time taking off and I stood there alone for a moment, taking a deep breath to steady myself before doing what I had to do. Leiv was my progeny, and as such, I didn’t want him to suffer, but that would be entirely up to him. If he resisted that would make it harder. I prayed that he wouldn’t because I knew what I had to do, and I was ready to do it by any means necessary.

  I slipped the skeleton key into the lock of the old wooden door and it creaked open. Leiv lay on the floor in the darkness, sleeping. He opened his eyes upon hearing me and my heart sank a little. If only he had stayed asleep things would have been so much better. But there was no avoiding him now. He was awake and I had to talk to him and get him into a position where I could do what I had to do quickly.

  “Rachel?” he said, sitting up groggily. In that moment he reminded me of one of my children. I wanted to take him in my arms and tell him how I loved him, even if it didn’t make sense. He was mine and I wanted to protect him, but I couldn’t.

  My actions were going against every instinct I had and my stomach clenched violently at the thought of it. “Leiv, I need you to do something for me without question,” I said, hoping my authority over him would be enough. “Turn around.”

  Instinctively he knew what I was there to do. “Why?” he said, backing up against the wall.

  “Please, just do it. I need you to cooperate…please…this is hard enough.”

  “What is hard enough? Rachel, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I’ve just been so lonely. I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m sorry. Please, please give me another chance. Give me a chance like the chance that was given to you when you killed that girl in her car all those years ago.”

  I was stunned. I had no idea he knew about that. Seeing my reaction he said, “Holly told me all about it. She said they almost killed you, but that they forgave you and gave you a second chance. Can’t you give me a second chance now?”

  “I want to,” I said. I took a step back, questioning what I was doing. Was it really the right thing? Did Leiv deserve to die? Was he really that much of a risk? Yes, I decided. He was.

  “But I just can’t,” I said. “Leiv, I need you to turn around. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

  “It doesn’t have to be at all, Rachel. What about Alexander? Have you thought about that? He loves me. He’ll never forgive you.”

  I took another step forward. “Leiv, turn around, please.”

  “No, I won’t. What about the council? What about a vote? Don’t I get to plead my case? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?”

  Another step. “Leiv, turn around. Now.”

  He began to tremble as he took his last step back into the corner. There was nowhere else to go. He began to cry. “Don’t do this, Rachel.”

  “I’ll only tell you one more time. Turn around.”

  For a moment it seemed that he would, but with a last show of defiance he strengthened his resolve. “No,” he said. “If you’re going to kill me you’ll have to look me in the eyes.”

  My progeny challenged me and for a second I was both proud and horrified. I wanted to tell him that. I wanted more than anything to express my deep and profound love for him at that very moment, but forced it down into a deep dark place where I couldn’t access it. I had to stay focused.

  “Leiv, I want you to know that none of this is your fault. You tried. We all tried.”

  “Please, Rachel don’t…”

  Before he could finish I extended my hand, ripped his heart from his chest taking him by surprise and held it, bloody and beating, in my hand for a moment before it turned to ash at the same time as Leiv did, his expression one of hurt and shock.

  I closed my eyes and pictured his face. His young and beautiful face that I would never see again and I began to cry. “I’m sorry,” I said to the empty room.

  A moment later I slid down the wall and sat on the cold hard floor next to Leiv’s remains. A churning began in the pit of my stomach and I knew I was going to be sick. The breaking of a blood bond always came with sickness but I didn’t know if it was that or the sickness of guilt and grief that was beginning to consume me.

  I don’t know how much time passed with me sitting there, staring blankly at the walls in the darkened room, but sometime later Holly was there, touching her palm to my forehead.

  “How do you feel?” she asked.

  I shook my head, unable to form words, unable to look at her, unable to hold a thought. How did I feel? I felt a numbness and darkness in my soul that I had never experienced before. I realized it was more profound than anything I had ever, or would ever feel.

  “Empty,” I said. “I feel so empty.”

  Chapter eight

  Holly led me back to my room inside the sanctuary and I lay down on the bed, suddenly exhausted.

  “The breaking of your blood bond won’t be as bad as mine. Leiv wasn’t that old. Still, you’re going to be sick sometime in the next few days, and after that possibly for a while.”

  I said nothing, simply continued to stare at the ceiling. Gavin entered next. “Rachel?”

  I didn’t know if he would want to comfort me or scold me, but at the moment I didn’t care. “Call a general meeting. I want to see everyone, everyone in three hours.”

  Gavin must have sensed I didn’t want to talk and flipped into business mode. “Three hours? Why so soon?”

  “Because I’m going to be sick, or dead, and I want whatever is coming to be decided and over with. Today.”

  Gavin and Holly exchanged a look of concern, and then Holly left, giving us our privacy.

  “I understand that you’re wanting to move things along, but Rachel, you still have a few weeks until…”

  “I don’t want to wait a few weeks,” I said, cutting him off. “I want to live or I want to die. I don’t want to wait in limbo anymore.”

  He sat on the bed. “Rachel, come on.”

  He reached for my hand but I pulled it away before he could take it. “Just do what I ask,” I said.

  Finally he relented. “Ok, fine,” he said. “And if you live what do
you plan to do about the orphans on Chapel Island? Do you plan to kill them too?”

  I thought about not giving a direct answer, but in the end I decided to be blunt. “Yes,” I said.

  With that he stood and walked out the door.

  ***

  Standing outside the door to the large meeting room where everyone was collected I could sense a nervous buzz in the air. Gavin had gathered the clan and the council members were in attendance as well. Now it was just Holly and I standing outside preparing to enter.

  “Are you sure you want to do this now? You can still change your mind. Call it off and rest, you’ll see things more clearly tomorrow.”

  I couldn’t see how that would be. I was already beginning to feel the effects of Leiv’s death physically. My body shook and I had undergone several bouts of vertigo in just the last hour. Standing was taking more of an effort than normal and speaking, well, that was going to be monumental.

  “It has to be now,” I said. “Stay close though.” She nodded. “Holly, if I don’t come home again I want you to take care of my children.”

  “You already know I will.”

  And of course she would. She had been doing so for the last year and so to ask must have seemed like an insult, but I couldn’t die without hearing her say it. “I know. And Alexander…”

  “I’ll do my best for Alexander, we all will. Rachel, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but I, well, I really admire you.”

  I turned to her with a surprised look. She admired me?

  “I do,” she said seeming to know my thoughts. “You’ve come so far. From lost little girl to confident leader of this clan. You’ve made mistakes but you’ve come through and done things that were not easy, but that were right, and if you should never come home again I would tell your daughter all about you. And your son.”

  I embraced her. “Holly, thank you.”

  I said no more. All that was needed to be expressed had been and I was confident that both she and Duncan would be both excellent guardians for all three of the people I thought of as children now, and also, that they would care for Gavin until such a time as he could be a proper parent again himself.

  We entered the packed room and walked up through the center of the crowd. I took the steps to the raised platform where Gavin was already standing and faced the clan, holding on to the lectern to keep myself from shaking. I took a deep breath. I was only going to get one shot at this. One shot to plead my case and convince them, hopefully once and for all, that I could be a leader. Their leader.

  “The niads are dead,” I began. “The orphans that were residing here are dead. Our newest clan member, Leiv, is dead. I am responsible for all of these things.

  “Firstly, the niads tricked us by asking for mates. We had no way to know mating with them would have deadly consequences. I’ve seen that they’ve paid for their actions.”

  A murmur swept through the crowd. I pressed on. “I have euthanized the last and most dangerous of the orphans and I have euthanized a potentially dangerous vampire, who was, as you know, my own progeny. Let it be said now. If any one of you threaten the health and safety of this clan so long as I am leader I will not hesitate to do the same to you. I want you to understand this. I want you to understand that not only will I give my life to you, and for you, but I will gladly take the life of anyone, anyone, who dares to disrupt our well-being.”

  I let that sink in for a few moments. Again, there were slight whispers.

  “Tonight, I want there to be no misunderstandings. No regrets or divides among us. We’ve been separate in our ideals as to the running of this clan for the last year. This ends tonight. I’m going to forgo the last few weeks of being ineligible for non-confirma, and invite anyone who wishes to challenge me to step forward now. Let us put this to bed once and for all so that we can get on with the business of things.

  Ellie spoke up, confusion and concern in her voice. “Are you saying you want to fight it out if someone challenges you here and now?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Now.” I scanned the crowd, continuing to hold on to the lectern for balance. Shaking at this very moment might be seen as a sign of weakness and it was a sign I couldn’t afford. I made eye contact with as many of the clan as I could, letting them know I was serious. “If you won’t come forward tonight, don’t come forward at all.”

  The silence in the room was deafening and the smell of burning torches filled the air. Then, just as I’d expected, Jacob stepped forward. As he was about to speak another member of the dissenting group pulled him back to his previous spot by the shoulder and spoke up instead. The woman, with long red hair, in her mid-forties, said, “I wonder if we could have a moment? We need to confer outside.”

  “I’m surprised you actually need to think about it,” I challenged. “Very well, step outside and return when you’ve reached a decision.”

  About half the room emptied and the large iron door clanged shut as the last robed figure stepped out. Gavin came forward and took me backward a few steps as well to speak to me, privately.

  “What are you thinking? You’re in no shape to issue a challenge. Jacob will kill you easily.”

  “No,” I said. “I’ll be the one doing the killing around here. I’m the leader of this clan and it’s time I acted like it. Jacob won’t kill me. I’ve killed two dozen beings tonight at least.”

  “Yes, but that was with the help of your fire gift. In a challenge you can only use your sword.”

  “Is that so?”

  Gavin shook his head in surprise. “What do you mean, ‘is that so’? You know it is.”

  The door opened once again and the second half of the room filled as quickly as it had emptied. The extra bodies occupied the formerly empty space and as the crowd took a moment to get resettled, Jacob locked eyes with me, giving me a knowing smile. There was silence once again and after another moment had passed I held on to the lectern once more and asked, “Have you come to a decision?”

  “We have,” Jacob said.

  “Tell me.”

  “We took a vote. Our side challenges you under the rules of non-confirma.”

  I nodded, not surprised at all. “We fight immediately then,” I said and turned around. I made my way to the door of the room, and headed to the staircase that descended into the fighting pit, followed by every single vampire in my clan.

  ***

  I expected Gavin to protest or to talk of the children. Instead he remained silent as we waited on the floor for the challenge to begin. I took my face in his hands. “You worry too much. Everything will be fine.”

  “I don’t know how you can say that,” he whispered finally. “You can barely stand under your own weight. This is suicide.”

  “Is that how you feel?”

  “How do you expect me to feel? My wife, my progeny, the mother of my children and leader no less, is partaking in a less than above board challenge on the spur of the moment. At least wait for an impartial party to come and call it. I’m sure Ely will come.”

  “There’s no need for Ely.”

  “Let’s do this,” Jacob said from across the floor.

  “I’m ready when you are.”

  Gavin and the woman who had spoken up moved to the side as both Jacob and I were handed our swords.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked, locking eyes with Jacob. Where I was shaking with exhaustion, he seemed to be shaking as well, only his trembling seemed to be caused by excitement. I could see the certainty in his eyes and he confidently, almost arrogantly, spoke.

  “I’ve been ready all my life,” he said.

  A vote had been held and it was decided that Gavin’s father, John, would be oversee the fight. He was the most well respected member of the clan and even though his ties to me were known, he was trusted by both sides to call a fair fight.

  “Ready?” John asked me. I nodded. Then he turned to Jacob. “Ready?” he said once again. Jacob nodded as well. He backed up well
out of the way himself and after a moment of silence he screamed, “Go!”

  Jacob raised the sword. As he did I threw mine to the ground. It landed on the hard packed dirt with a thump and off to the side I heard Gavin screaming my name.

  Jacob held my gaze in confusion and as he did I focused on his eyes, feeling the heat build in his body as I lit his tangled intestines on fire.

  The arrogant vampire screamed once in agony and went up in flames. A roar of anger broke through the dissenters and screams of shock and surprise came from my supporters.

  Calmly, I walked to where Jacob had once stood and picked up his sword holding it high in the air. The crowd fell silent.

  I let them see. Let them take in the sword and the pile of ashes that was a vampire only moments ago, and then I spoke. “Let this be a lesson,” I said. “This is my clan, and we play by my rules. If you challenge me I will come at you with everything that I have.”

  I made sure to look each dissenter dead square in the eye as I spoke. Looks of horror and shock were apparent. “Is there anyone else who would like to come forward before I declare this opportunity closed?”

  Nobody said a word.

  “Good. Go home. Anyone who wishes to leave the clan must be off Soldiers Cove land by sunrise. If you are still here when day breaks I will take it as a sign of your support. This matter is now resolved. We are one entity here. I am your leader. There will be no more talk of non-confirma, there will only be my orders and you following them. Now…leave!”

  Chapter nine

  By the time the sun had risen the next morning we had lost only two families. A total of eight vampires had decided they would be putting down roots elsewhere. I didn’t know where they’d gone and I didn’t care. None of them were living outside the sanctuary and so there were no loose ends to tie up in that regard. No stories to be made up for the humans and no homes to clean up. My own home, however, was a different story.