A Shade of Vampire 83: A Bender of Spirit

by Forrest, Bella

  For a moment, my mind went completely blank as my survival instincts kicked in.

  “You’re not from around here,” the angelic Aeternae said, her voice as sweet as honey. But the tone was burning with danger, and I knew these weren’t the hippie-loving bunch I’d mistaken them for. No, whatever had inspired the earlier atmosphere was gone, and they’d all returned to their true selves. Ancient Aeternae who clearly didn’t like unannounced visitors.

  “I think we’re in trouble,” Kalon whispered.

  “Oh, and then some,” the angelic Aeternae replied, shooting him a deadly grin. Her fangs were remarkably long and sharp, almost piercing the bottom of her lower lip.

  This mission was an absolute rollercoaster. Kalon and I had come here with the best of intentions, but we’d gotten carried away. Whether it was just the general vibe of the party or something in the air or the blood we’d drunk, it didn’t really matter anymore. We were now just two intruders staring down a sea of apex predators, and we were, in all possible senses of the word, screwed.

  Tristan

  Amal took another blood sample from Valaine in order to further study her genome. The twins hoped to better understand the curse and how it could be broken—or at least subdued—before it killed more Aeternae. From what we’d learned, it had already claimed hundreds of lives, and it would take thousands more by the end of the week.

  In the meantime—while Amane monitored Sofia and continued administering the day-walking cure—Phantom, Morning, Valaine, and I found a secluded place in the Nightmare Forest about a hundred yards from the village.

  “This should be far enough,” Phantom surmised as she analyzed our surroundings. “There are enough ghouls around to keep the sabre tigers at bay, if needed. Though I doubt the animals would be foolish enough to come near us.”

  “How are you feeling, dear sister?” Morning asked Valaine.

  “Fine, I think.” She sat on a thick log, hands in her lap.

  I settled next to her, watching her every move and following every change in her expression. Valaine wasn’t the type to openly discuss her emotions, so sometimes it was better to just pay attention to her body language.

  “This only serves to keep your darkness in check,” Phantom said, sitting on the ground in front of Valaine. Morning stood behind her, placing her hands on Valaine’s shoulders. “We’re both here, so don’t worry about it.”

  “But what is it, exactly?” I asked. “She completely blacked out yesterday, unable to control it. It felt like pure despair and hopelessness.”

  “It’s similar to what Night and Morning endured while trapped,” Phantom replied. “It’s a symptom of the Unending’s awakening. She’s struggling, she’s in a lot of pain, and we’ve got to keep pressing forward until we figure out how to set her free.”

  “I’m afraid it will only get worse,” Morning added as Valaine tilted her head back to look at her. “None of this is your fault, dear sister. If we stop now, you’ll just perpetuate your suffering. If we push it further, it will hurt more before it gets better.”

  Valaine bit her lower lip. “I guess it’s better to dig deeper until we let it all out, right?”

  “It carries its own risks, but the three of us will make sure you don’t hurt anyone,” Phantom said, glancing at Morning and me.

  “Okay…” Valaine murmured, leaning on my shoulder.

  Morning and Phantom proceeded with the remembrance spell, their lips moving as they whispered the ancient words. I held Valaine’s hand, keeping constant physical contact as the night began to gather around us. I felt its cold embrace as the image of Valaine became blurry. Moments later, I lacked a form, floating around in black ink.

  “Follow my voice,” Phantom said, resonating deep within me.

  “I’m here,” Valaine replied.

  “Good. Go deeper this time. You remembered your past life, but you need to dig beneath that. Your instincts should guide you now. Things that felt strange before should come as second nature. Wherever you feel the pull, don’t fight it,” Phantom advised.

  We lingered in the nothingness for a while as Valaine sought the right thread to pull. After some time, one particular line began to shimmer golden. I could almost feel Valaine’s hand reaching out to touch it. I certainly sensed the coldness washing over me as we were drawn into a moving image.

  The darkness dissolved, and we found ourselves in another past life. This time, we were stuck in the body of an Aeternae woman. She cried as two Darklings dragged her through a narrow corridor with damp stone walls. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it until I recognized the iron doors on both sides, their frames etched with death magic runes. We were in the basement of the imperial palace.

  “Please, don’t… I am not who you think I am,” the woman sobbed, and I experienced all her pain. It blazed through me like wildfire. My eyes stung. My heart was in tatters. I had trusted these people. I had joined the Darklings to protect my people, but I had never thought they would turn against me like this.

  “Shut up,” one of the Darklings spat.

  A door opened ahead, and orange light spilled into the dark hallway, revealing crevices and ghoulish scratches across the hall. I heard creatures wailing and sobbing all around me—Reapers trapped and forced to consume souls, gradually turning into Knight Ghouls. Nethissis had mentioned this title before… She’d picked it up from Petra and her cohorts.

  Everything I had done for the Darklings had felt right. I’d even captured a Reaper for them to turn. Yet here I was, dragged through the obscurity of the basement toward my own death. None of this was fair…

  I was brought into a room and tossed onto the floor as though I were nothing more than a rag doll. The Darklings stayed back, slamming the door shut while I struggled to lift my gaze and meet the one who would kill me. I was ready to fight with everything I had, but my body felt weak. They had done something to me. I couldn’t resist.

  Finally, I raised my head and saw him. Inwardly, I immediately recognized him, and my stomach churned. “Corbin…”

  He was only a boy, no older than Moore was when he’d joined the Darklings. Much like the Visentis boy, Corbin carried himself with a lot of dignity and poise for his young age. The black leather cloak hung around his shoulders, and the Darkling thread wrapped around his bony wrist. His hair was long and dark, his eyes brown and filled with doubt as he stared me down.

  Behind him stood a tall Aeternae man. He looked young, but he bore an uncanny resemblance to Corbin. It had to be his father. Glancing behind me, I noticed the Darklings bowing reverently before him. “Master,” one of them said. “No one knows she’s here.”

  “Good,” Corbin’s father—and as I’d just learned, the Master of Darkness—replied. He scowled at his son, who didn’t seem convinced by my presence. I didn’t care much about what the boy thought, I realized. All I was experiencing was a troubling mixture of fear and contempt for him and everyone else bearing his last name. “Kill her. She’s the Unending.”

  “Are you sure, Father?” Corbin asked, his brow furrowed.

  “She’s the reason why your mother is ill, son. If you want to save her, you must kill this woman.”

  I reached out to the boy, my eyes teary and stinging. “No, please. I’m not who you think I am. I’m… I’m just a humble servant to our cause, a Darkling like you. I would never hurt you or your mother. Please…”

  Corbin looked unsure, but his father didn’t care. He knew better; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been brought here. I, Tristan, was aware that this body held the Unending’s power, but the body itself had no idea. She was confused and terrified, held down by powerful death magic. The Master handed Corbin a scythe. “It’s your turn to honor the Crimson dynasty, Corbin,” he said firmly. “This is your duty. I’ve bestowed it upon you because I see the potential in you.”

  “Father, she’s—”

  “Kill her!” the Master shouted. “She’s Eternity! Kill her before she kills us all!”

&nbs
p; The bitter irony of this entire scene did not escape me. As Corbin gripped the scythe and brought the weapon down with all his might, I knew he’d one day regret this moment. Today, he was hunting his own daughter, and I was positive that, somewhere deep inside, he felt an unbearable ache—the memory of this particular moment coming back to haunt him.

  “The fates will not have mercy on you,” I heard myself scream before my head was cut off. Darkness enveloped me, accompanied by searing pain and anger. I was unable to do or say anything. I was dead. But my last words must have haunted Corbin for almost a million years.

  “I’m sorry,” I heard Corbin say, his voice echoing in the depths of my consciousness. “I’m so sorry…”

  You will be, I thought to myself. The day will come when you’ll understand that the fates heard this woman, loud and clear.

  Upon waking, I found Valaine crying and shuddering. I tried to hug her, but she pushed me away, tears streaming down her cheeks. When Morning moved to console her, as well, Valaine raised a hand to keep her from coming closer.

  “No. You don’t understand… this rage in me. It’s too much,” she sobbed.

  “Deep breaths, sister,” Phantom said. “You’re back. You’re okay.”

  “How am I okay? I’m not okay. I remember everything. Absolutely everything. Not just the moment I died, miserable, in that dark and dirty basement… I remember her life. She had a family! She had children she wanted to protect!” Valaine said.

  “Who were you?” Phantom asked.

  “Persia Bluewater,” Valaine replied. “I was Persia Bluewater, and I was a Darkling.”

  I rubbed my face, trying to differentiate between myself and the memory I’d just experienced. “Hold on, how do you remember her whole life? I only saw her death. Corbin killed her.”

  Morning chuckled. “Talk about the universe paying him back in kind, huh?”

  “I don’t know how I remember. I just do!” Valaine snapped. “My name was Persia Bluewater, and I grew up thinking that I could fight the Black Fever. That I could protect the people I loved the most in this world. I joined the Darklings and quickly moved through the ranks. I had a husband and two sons when I was captured and killed.”

  “Okay, but why are you taking this so hard?” I asked, trying to calm her. The temperature was dropping, and fine black veins appeared around her eyes. She was descending into darkness and fury, and I worried she might not be able to recover.

  “Because I know her story!” Valaine shouted, tears filling her eyes and flowing down her cheeks. “I remember Persia Bluewater as one of the victims of the Darklings. There were thousands… I memorized all their names the night they first tried to come for me.”

  “Is there something special about Persia?” Phantom asked, keeping her tone even as she tried to get closer to Valaine. She moved from the front, while Morning tried to reach Valaine from behind. I was frozen on the spot, my bones and joints stiff. The symptoms of the Unending’s suffering, as Phantom had described it, were already kicking in, much sooner than last time.

  Valaine looked at Phantom, her expression contorted with grief. “They didn’t just kill her… they murdered her husband and children, too. Hung them out in the town square with black-and-white rope so that everyone would know they’d done it,” she said. “This is unacceptable. I might go so far as to understand their mission and creed, but what they did… Persia wasn’t even the only one! They killed so many innocent people, simply because they were affiliated with their original targets. They’re mindless monsters, coldblooded murderers who hide behind a noble mission to justify their bloodthirst!”

  I could feel her anger swelling. It thickened the air around us. Static electricity crackled, flashes of light jumping around. The ground beneath us hummed and vibrated as the tension rose. Valaine was moments away from losing control, and she wouldn’t even let me get near her.

  “They’re abominations!” she snarled, her fangs extending, the black of her irises spreading to cover the whites of her eyes.

  A knot formed in my throat. “Valaine, listen to me,” I said. “You need to take a deep breath.”

  “They must all be destroyed. Each and every one of them!” she continued, unfazed by my pleas. “They kill. They pillage. They steal. They torture. They destroy lives! They destroyed mine so many times, I’ve lost count!”

  For a moment, something twinkled in the darkness of her gaze. I could swear I was seeing stars as they were born. Red dwarves collapsing in on themselves. Galaxies swirling, much like in the eyes of true Reapers.

  “Dear sister, you need to relax,” Morning said. “You’re losing yourself.”

  “No! I’m finding myself, and it all comes with so… much… pain!” Valaine replied, pressing her fingers to her temples as she doubled over.

  I only had one shot to bring her back from the pits of despair. I couldn’t miss this opportunity. Inhaling deeply, I darted toward her and tried to take her in my arms. She roared and threw me back with an energy pulse that burst from within.

  The air was kicked out of my lungs as I landed roughly on my back.

  “Sister, no!” Phantom called out.

  By the time my vision regained its clarity and I looked around, Valaine was gone, a mere shadow bolting through the woods as she blended seamlessly into the Nightmare Forest. I could no longer see her, but the heavy weight persisted on my shoulders. Whatever she was experiencing, it was spreading and lingering with a malicious vibe, unwilling to subside or let go.

  Morning gave me an alarmed look. “Oh dear…”

  “What do we do?” I asked, my voice faded and raspy.

  “She can’t be out there on her own. Not like this,” Phantom said. “We must stay with her, even if it means bearing the brunt of her rage. If you can’t handle it, Tristan, it’s okay. No one will blame you. She could kill you.”

  I pushed myself up, dusting off the dirt and trying to figure out a way to help bring Valaine back. “No. I’m with you all the way. She’ll respond eventually. But you’re right. We can’t leave her alone. Both of you can feel what she left behind, right?”

  The Reapers nodded slowly. “It’s just like Cruor,” Morning murmured. “Unending is suffering just like my brother, only… much worse.”

  “How so?” I asked.

  “Because she has a physical manifestation,” Morning replied. “The power is concentrated inside that Aeternae body. On Cruor, Night was infused into the land. He drained it of all life, but he could never manifest himself.”

  “My biggest concern is that whatever Unending is going through is much more potent, because Spirit would have made it so. There’s a logic to his madness, a method to his torture. Every seal he put on our sister is proof that he didn’t just want her stuck here, he wanted her to suffer.”

  “Then let’s go,” I said. “Valaine needs us.”

  We ran after her, and I mentally prepared myself for what could very well turn into a bloody, if not fatal, confrontation. Valaine was losing control over her body, over her emotions, and over the power of the Unending that dwelled within her. She was starting to remember, and as she put two and two together, she was able to paint an even clearer picture of the Darklings.

  While the nasty truth needed to come out, it was taking a devastating toll on Valaine, and if we didn’t find a way to help her control her emotions, she could become destructive to the point where we’d have no choice but to kill her. The thought had occurred to me before, and it horrified me. But the more she relapsed like this, the higher the possibility we might end up doing the Darklings’ job for them.

  I needed Valaine to remember who she was before she lost her grip completely. I needed her to recover and tell us how to set her free. I needed her in my life, regardless of her form. And right now, she needed me too.

  Nethissis

  The trip to Dieffen was pretty simple. Our Reapers handled it, using their power to allow us to tread the Nightmare Forest in minutes, rather than hours. Dieffen sat quiet
ly about thirty miles north of the woods, along a sinuous country road leading farther into the snow lands. Beyond, I’d been told there were only a handful of larger cities, with most of the towns concentrated along the coastline, focused on fishing.

  From afar, Dieffen looked empty. Its houses were mostly small and round, with slate-colored conical roofs and smoking chimneys. Toward the center, I could see larger buildings—a town hall, a worship house, a police station, and an indoor market—all made of large blocks of gray stone. The town was surrounded by empty fields. The crop must’ve been brought in already and stored in the granaries east of Dieffen. I could see them from here, with red-painted plywood walls and whitewashed roofs. Vision horses grazed all around them, but I couldn’t see anyone.

  “It looks abandoned,” I said.

  “It’s not,” Trev replied, pointing to a smoldering pile with black smoke rising in a thick, uneven column. “Those are the townspeople’s bodies burning.”

  I felt queasy for a moment before I remembered I had no stomach to be turned at the sight. The Darklings had gathered the Dieffeners’ corpses into a giant mountain and set it on fire. It must’ve been burning for hours, because I could no longer make out any humanoid shapes—only charred coils of carbonized bone.

  We walked slowly up the road as the town expanded ahead. The skies above were dark gray from the smoke, and I couldn’t see anyone moving. We were invisible, so there was no way the Darklings could tell we were coming. The Soul Crusher had been paying attention to every possible trap they might have set in anticipation of our arrival.

  Stopping just outside the town entrance, I pulled Seeley aside for a moment. “This feels wrong,” I said, keeping my voice low.

  “Why?” he asked, frowning.

  “It’s too quiet. Is it supposed to be like this? I’d expected to find them having a feast, laughing and patting each other on the back for all the people they killed, the sick bastards.”