The Dark Messenger

by Milo Spires

  ‘Very well then. Twice daily you must leave us messages so that we know everything is going to plan, since we are eighty-five years ahead. You will chisel the messages into the bark of the old oak tree, which I have indicated to you. Do you remember the location of the tree?’

  ‘Yes I do,’ Longinus replied, careful not to sound too condescending.

  ‘Fail us, and I promise you will die an agonising death,’ Rex added with a scowl.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Longinus said quietly. He bowed his head down as if already guilty of failure.

  ‘I send you alone, since you will have more chance to blend in without being seen. Should you require help, however, ask for it and my elite guards will be sent to you.’

  ‘My Master, I thank you. I will not fail you,’ Longinus said as he disappeared through the doorway.

  All eyes were on the departing messenger, until Rex loudly exclaimed, ‘And on another issue. For thousands of years we have only been but a whisper on the breaths of humans, dark imaginings in the night. No one had ever known for sure that we really existed.’

  He paused to pace up and down a couple of times, building up the excited expectations of his audience. Stopping in front of his seat, he put his hands on the railing in front of him. Gazing sternly around the room, he went on, ‘Recently the Scottish vampire clan in Edinburgh have ignored our sacred rules and have killed freely. We have been exposed, and there is no covering it up. Our existence is now being televised on the humans’ news channels all across the world.‘

  He paused before saying, ’ And I know some of your views of past was that our previous war with them was only so I could steal their riches, but that was not true, and now we must hold them accountable for their actions, else Satan is sure to punish our whole species for breaking the age old rule.’

  ‘We have told the Scottish clan that we are coming to discuss this matter peacefully.’ He smiled, a malicious gleam in his eye. ‘However, when we get there we are going to let loose our infected humans, and at midnight the beasts will kill them all!’

  Pausing to collect himself, he then looked down at the vampires and shouted,

  ‘Fuck peace! It’s WAR!’

  The assembly roared their approval, their evil screams ricocheting around the room.

  The noise in response to the idea of another battle coming was unbelievable, and even though the previous war, had seemed like their leader was only wanting Angus’ riches, they still agreed for another war. Looming inside their brains, which helped them make the decision to battle again, was the fear that Satan would be furious with them if they ignored and didn’t attack.

  Hoidrious grinned inwardly as he reminded himself about how easy Stage One in his own plan had been. He felt sure that soon he would become the new rightful leader of the coven and Rex would be forced to step down.

  Rex, unaware of his seditious thoughts, then paused for a moment to let his coven’s members express themselves. He then held his hand up for silence, and as everyone quieted down, he continued:

  ‘And when my warriors return from Scotland, we will send werewolves to Paris and all the other major cities across the world. Soon the planet will be swarming with these beasts, and after the humans die, mother-nature will hopefully be able to cure itself.’

  Kaine could not disagree with the idea of less humans. Halving the planets’ population might actually help the planet, but Rex’s plan was pure insanity. Werewolves were their main enemy, had the old fool finally gone mad?

  He glanced up at Rex who was leaning over the edge, his shrewd eyes upon him.

  ‘Kaine, I see you look like you disagree with me, so I will explain. We have finally found the sacred silver sword, so releasing the werewolves is safe. There is no risk of starting another huge war with them. We will keep the mother werewolf here, and all of her offspring can run wild around the planet. When we want to stop their destruction it’s simple--we just use the silver sword.’

  ‘And just how are we going to locate them all? Put homing collars on them?’ Kaine asked cynically.

  Rex shook his head and sighed. ‘Let me explain,’ he replied, looking at Kaine as if he was one of the more ignorant schoolboys in the class. ‘The silver sword’s powers are so strong that if we behead the mother in the dungeons with it, then all her children running around the world will die too.’

  ‘But we all know the myth, Rex,’ Kaine insisted. ‘The silver sword is locked, you fool. There’s a spell on it and it can’t be used.’

  Rex’s grin was wide and evil. ‘The sword has a spell on it, yes that’s true.’ He then glared at Kaine, all semblance of humour gone. ‘But Longinus has just gone back in time, and after he turns this Jenny person, I’m sure the holders of the spell—meaning the church—will release it. That is, after I blackmail its leaders.’

  Rex paused. He looked around himself, then leant forwards on his ledge and spat dark black phlegm onto the dead guard below. He then wiped his mouth on his sleeve and said,

  ‘We have recently learnt in the near past that a priest who we know only as John, had a child with a nun. This is, of course, forbidden in the church. The foolish priest broke their sacred rules, and if the leaders had found out he would be banished from the priesthood forever. They would have no choice, since he broke his vows to God that he made during the administering of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The child in its eyes would be a terrible thing. The priest abandoned his daughter Jenny when she was only a day old, and never told his superiors about her.’

  Rex chuckled to himself. ‘They will be furious with him for it, I’m sure.’ Everyone else laughed with him.

  He fixed Kaine with his gaze and continued, ‘Longinus has just gone back in time to 2014 to find her. When he does, he will turn her into one of us. In the year he arrives, she is not a baby anymore but a 30-year-old woman. He doesn’t have a lot of time to accomplish this, because she dies in the same year. I know this because my dark spirits have warned me.’

  He gave a half-smile. ‘I know the priest knows and hates us, but he will have no choice. I will send a messenger to arrange the meeting. Then I’m going to tell him to lift the spell on the sword or I will not only have his daughter here as my slave forever, I will also tell his precious church about his infidelity to his vows too.’

  Kaine buried his face into his hands and began to shake his head from side to side. He was tired of listening to this rubbish, and could sense that his body was telling him he was about to wake.

  Was this all just some horrible dream.

  Chapter 5 - Sleeping in the Rain

  ‘Oh my god! Becky! It’s me, Jenny!’

  The voice ricocheted for a moment around inside Becky’s head, only vaguely recognized, as she lay face down and completely naked on her bathroom floor. She was finding it really hard to leave the dream state that she was in and to make that final jump back to full consciousness into this world--wherever it was. The world she had just been in had seemed so real.

  As she began to open her eyes, little by little, she started to remember who she really was. Finally she recognized her mate Jenny, who was on her knees next to her. She could feel Jenny’s warm, bare arms around her shoulders and her hands reaching down underneath her chest, trying to lift her up off the floor. This was made somewhat difficult because Becky’s slim, petite body was still inside the cubicle from the waist down, and soaking wet. The water was still running, spraying the entire room.

  ‘Whats…er…where am I? Where is Longinus?’ Becky mumbled, still only half awake and not really improving with time.

  ‘Who is Longinus?’ Jenny asked, puzzled.

  ‘He’s my master.’ Becky replied as well as she could, but she was finding it hard to pronounce her words right. Everything still seemed so fuzzy. ‘He bit me and turned me into his vampire,’ she finally managed to get out.

  Jenny rocked back in shock and fear. ‘Hey hun, stop talking shit!’ she quavered, her voice and her nerves on edge. She shook Becky’s shoulder. ‘
You are in your flat, babe. With me. In Portslade.’ Jenny waved her hand in front of Becky’s face. ‘Remember me? Hello, Earth calling Becky. Remember me, your best mate Jenny?’ She bent down and gazed into Becky’s eyes, relieved that her friend seemed to be coming around. ‘Darling, you were having a nightmare. Anyway, babe I am going to call an ambulance,’ she said, pondering over whether that was actually the right thing to do.

  ‘How come you are here anyway?’ Becky asked, still mumbling her words in a somewhat dreamlike state.

  ‘Babe, look around. You collapsed in your shower. Your neighbour called me on my mobile because there was water pouring through her lounge ceiling. She tried calling your number first, but no answer. I panicked when I got the call in Tesco’s and ran all the way here!’

  Jenny gasped with the realization that the shower was still on; she’d totally blanked it out when she had seen Becky on the floor. Water was still overflowing the edge of the shower tray and disappearing slowly into a crack between the shower cubicle and the lino. She reached round with her right hand and leant into the cubicle, slamming the lever down to shut off the water. The shower head then fell limp and banged against the tiled wall.

  A few minutes later, Becky found herself feeling a lot stronger. She managed to get herself up on to her knees before slowly, with Jenny’s help, she was able to stand.

  ‘I’m alright,’ Becky said, lifting her left arm up to show her mate that she had strength. She gave Jenny a weak smile.

  ‘You sure?’ Jenny asked. When Becky nodded, she reluctantly eased her grip around her mate’s body. As she did though, Becky’s eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out, falling backwards into the shower cubicle and slamming her head against the wall.

  Jenny screamed.

  -------------------

  Tracy was Becky’s neighbour, who lived below her in an almost identical one-bed flat. She was the one who had called Jenny and told her that there was water pouring through her lounge ceiling. Tracy had been worried that maybe Becky had gone away and had accidentally left a tap running or something.

  Jenny had been deeply worried about Becky because the whole day before she hadn’t even answered a single text of hers. It was really strange, because normally they texted each other at least ten times a day or so. They were closer than sisters, although they couldn’t have been any more different from each other.

  Jenny was a tall, slim woman who was not overly beautiful, but her looks were on the pleasant side of average, with green eyes and shoulder-length auburn hair that was always in a mess.

  Everyone thought of Becky as a tomboy because she did “boy stuff”. She fixed plumbing, cemented walls, built sheds and rode a Ducati Monster motorcycle. She didn’t look like a boy though at all; she had chin-length blonde hair and a little petite sexy face. Her clothes were hardly boyish either; she always wore tight faded jeans that hung low and sexily just below her hip line, and her shirts always stopped just higher than her belly button. This was completely the opposite of how Jenny looked. She always wore a green-hooded Parker jacket from the 80’s, a tartan skirt or dress, and a seriously out-of-date jumper too.

  When Jenny got the call about the water pouring through the ceiling, it had tripped her mind and sent her into panic mode. She’d dropped her shopping and run the entire length of the high street to Becky’s flat.

  Even though it was past leaving for work time on Monday morning, Tracy had seen Jenny arrive and watched her go upstairs. She thought maybe she should have gone too, but it wasn’t her responsibility. However, rather than getting ready to leave for work, she’d waited instead, peering out of the window and occasionally emptying the water from the catch basin under the drizzle in her lounge.

  Suddenly there was a loud scream from upstairs. Jolted into action, Tracy flew out her door. Luckily Becky’s downstairs front door was unlocked; she threw it open and charged up the stairs.

  ‘Help! We are in here! Quickly! Help!’ Jenny screamed as she heard someone coming.

  Tracy turned at the top of the stairs and stared into the bathroom, hardly understanding what was going on. Jenny was leaning over into the shower cubicle, desperately trying to lift Becky, who was unconscious, naked and, in places, quite bruised.

  ‘Oh my god!’ Tracy said, running into the bathroom as the realisation of the grave situation suddenly clicked into her mind.

  ‘Who are you?’ Jenny said, giving Tracy a quick glance.

  ‘I’m Tracy, darling. From downstairs. I’m the one who called you about the water coming through my ceiling. You are Jenny, I presume?’

  ‘Er, yes,’ Jenny said, her eyes and mind still on trying to get Becky out of the shower. She paused ever so slightly before saying, ‘Have you got a phone on you? Mine is over there in my jacket pocket if you haven’t.’ She looked up at Tracy, fear in her eyes. ‘I know she will kill me for this, but I have to call an ambulance.’

  ‘I have mine, don't worry,’ Tracy said, reaching into her jeans pocket and taking out her mobile. Without waiting a second she dialled 999 and was immediately connected to the emergency services.

  ‘Hello caller, do you need Fire, Police or Ambulance?’ the calm voice asked.

  ‘Ambulance, and quick!’ Tracy said urgently. ‘There’s a woman here, and she is unconscious. I think she’s in a very bad way. The address is 65b Top Flat, Portslade High Street. Come quick!’

  Tracy clicked off the call before the emergency call handler could answer. She had no time to talk further. She knew some first aid, realized that they had to get Becky lying on her side and warm, in the recovery position.

  Jenny had heard Tracy say she thought Becky was in a bad way and she almost broke into tears. She loved her mate so much, and couldn’t bear to go through life without her.

  Seeing that Jenny wasn’t going to be able to do much because of her emotional attachment, Tracy threw her phone down onto the carpet in the hallway and took over the situation.

  ‘Right, no time for tears woman. Grab those bath towels fast and lay them down on the floor. We need her on them and in the recovery position,’ she said authoritatively.

  Jenny quickly responded, reaching out past the shower to a small shelf near the bath, where four big bath towels were stacked. With one strong tug, she pulled them all down onto the floor. Grabbing two of the towels, she laid them out fully on top of each other. Together, she and Tracy carefully pulled Becky out of the shower and laid her down on them. Tracy quickly placed her fingers inside Becky’s mouth, checking that her tongue wasn’t blocking her airway.

  There was a commotion downstairs, and then a man’s voice called up, ‘Hello, it’s the ambulance.’

  ‘Come up!’ Jenny and Tracy both shouted.

  In the two seconds before they arrived, Jenny quickly covered her mate’s naked body from the neck down but when she went to smooth down Becky’s hair, she was horrified at what she saw. On her neck were two festering holes, one just an inch above the other. She noticed straight away that the skin around them was inflamed and pus was leaking out too.

  ‘Oh my god! Look at these’ she whispered hoarsely, looking up into Tracy’s eyes.

  ‘I know darling, I saw them a minute ago.’ Tracy’s voice trembled. ‘Bad, whatever they are.’

  Suddenly two ambulance men came into the bathroom and rushed straight across to Becky’s side.

  ‘Give us space,’ the first man commanded, as he put his bag down and checked Becky’s pulse.

  ‘What happened to her?’ the other man asked, looking at Tracy.

  Tracy shook her head. ‘I don't know. I live downstairs. Jenny here found her.’

  Tracy then looked across at Jenny, who was in tears. She had moved enough for the man to do his work, but had stayed close enough to gently stroke Becky’s hair.

  ‘Ma’am?’ the man said, looking at Jenny with eyebrows raised.