by Marcus Brown
“We were born to greater things than childbirth and cleaning up after humans. You’ve developed a sympathy for their kind, you do realise that.” Juliet’s face flushed with wrath.
“And if I hadn’t escaped, I would have done the same for our father. Was that what you wanted? You know I’ve never been as strong as you. Father knew it too and would have killed me sooner or later and passed what little power I had to you.”
“I’ve never cared that I was the strongest of the two of us. I wanted to be with my sister. Nothing else mattered, only us. When you ran away, I scryed for you, night and day. I found you and not even father could stop me, even though he tried I made him pay for his wicked treatment of you and ripped his liver out then rammed it down his throat. Not even he, as strong as he was, could divide us. But now look at us, kept apart once again on the decrees of your human husband. Luke deserves to be with his mother and I want to be closer to my sister. Leave this place and let Mark and his daughter rot.”
“What about the pact?”
“We’ll find a way, Samantha. There’s always another way.”
“This is the only path. I swore an oath to Moloch. If I fail, I’ll die, then spend eternity burning in hell.”
“I wanted so much more for you, my dear sister, but if this is what you desire, so be it. I’ll stand by you as I always have. You have no need to be concerned about Luke. I’ll raise him as though he were my own child, but only until the time comes for him to take his rightful place.”
“Thank you, Juliet. I owe you so much already, but promise you’ll keep Luke safe until the time is right. He's too important.”
“I know how much he means to you, and to our Master.” Juliet took hold of Samantha’s hand.
“When the time arrives, we will be rewarded beyond our wildest dreams. Nothing must stand in our way.” Samantha looked down at her son.
“Very well. I’m not happy with your choice to remain here, but I respect your wishes. Now, we don’t have much time–on to business,” Juliet said, changing the subject. “You wrote and said you needed to see me. What is so urgent that you couldn’t tell me by letter?”
“I’ve got something to show you, but we have to be quick.”
Luke broke the tension between them, handing over the parcel he was carrying. It had been enclosed in a ratty looking blanket.
“You’ve brought me a gift?” Samantha smiled tenderly at her darling child.
“It’s for the girl,” Juliet said, taking the parcel from Luke. “A doll–he insisted.” She couldn’t mask her disgust.
Samantha cupped her hands around Luke’s face and kissed him gently on the cheek. “Such a sweet boy. I’m sure Maisie will love it.”
“Nobody cares if she loves it or not, Samantha. Just make sure the girl gets it.” She didn’t have time for pleasantries, especially where her niece was concerned. “What is it you need to show me?”
“Follow me upstairs.”
Juliet and Luke followed Samantha. She climbed the stairs and headed for the attic. Standing in an empty room, Juliet looked around, struggling to see what could be of interest in there.
“Watch and pay attention.”
Juliet did as she was instructed as Samantha pulled a hidden lever inside one of the cupboards, surprised to see a door slide open. Peeking inside the opening, she saw a large rectangular room that stretched the length of the house.
She stepped inside and looked around–dead chickens and foxes hung from the vaulted ceiling by hooks, and jars of blood lined the shelves and ledges around the walls.
Juliet keenly observed Luke as he walked around the room. He appeared hypnotised as he glowered at the contents of the jars – he was drooling, and both sisters knew the thirst for blood would soon take over.
Samantha reached for a jar on the top shelf and removed the lid. They both watched as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his jaw cracked, the hunger taking over.
“Not now, my son.” He reached out as Samantha passed him the jar of blood and snatched it out of her hands. “Drink. It will pass.”
“What is this place, Samantha?”
“It holds what is left of my power and if anything should happen to me, you must bide your time and return when the time is right. You’ll find the spells to bring me back.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“When the time comes to fulfil the pact, Mark will fight me at every turn. I’ve never seen a love as strong as he has for Maisie. Even now, he rarely leaves her alone with me, scared of what he thinks I’ll do to her.”
“If only he realised how important she is.”
“Mark can never know. He would sacrifice each of us to keep her safe.”
“How can you stand to play this game day after day? You know why she was conceived–so Luke could survive.” Juliet looked over as the boy noisily licked the last of the blood from the jar. “Sating his thirst isn’t as easy as it used to be. He weakens much quicker and needs his sister’s blood to stay strong.”
“I can’t give any more–once a year is all Mark will agree to. He knows it is the only way to keep Luke alive, and only agreed to that if I sent him away.”
“It barely sustains him. He needs her blood. If you could get more and send it to me.”
“It’s impossible. I’m sorry, but while you are here, take anything from this room you may need. It will be enough for now.”
“It will be enough, but he desires more than what’s in these jars.”
“The time to fulfil the pact draws near. The day will soon come when he no longer needs Maisie’s blood to survive.”
“He must consume her heart too. I know the pact you made, Samantha. You have to sacrifice Maisie, so Luke can grow strong.”
“And it’s a sacrifice I will make without question. I loathe the child and have done since I expelled her from my womb. Watching her die will be my greatest reward.”
The sound of smashing glass caught their attention.
Luke was on his feet. He had smashed the jar on the floor. Blood splatters covered him and the walls in the corner of the room. Juliet looked fearfully at her sister.
“I’ve warned you about this, Samantha.” Juliet looked worried. “There is a bond between them and when the time comes, you won’t find him as malleable as you think.”
“He will do what is right.”
Juliet could see the doubt creep into her sister’s eyes.
“We don’t have a great deal of time. I can smell Mark and Maisie as they approach. They're not that far away now. If I should die before I fulfil the pact, promise you will return. Everything you need is in here. A word of warning; only return if the situation is so dire, you have no other option. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sister. Come, Luke, we must leave.”
The little boy followed them out of the secret room. Samantha sealed the door and rushed them down the steps.
“Goodbye, for now, my son. I’ll miss you,” she said, scooping Luke up into her arms and covering him with kisses. “Always remember my darling, this is all for you.”
Juliet kissed her sister and bid her goodbye.
She took hold of Luke’s hand and hurried away.
They didn’t stop until they reached the end of the lane. Juliet looked down at Luke. Tears ran down his face.
“Why do you cry?”
He looked up at her, his black eyes shining. “I want to stay.”
“I know you do, but it’s not possible. Your father will never understand, and I fear one day he will harm you in order to keep your sister safe.”
“My sister’s name is Maisie.”
“I know what her name is.”
“Then why do you speak of her like she means nothing?”
“You are wise beyond your age, my child.”
“I’m not your child.”
“I think of you as my own. Who else would have taken you in and protected you, if not me?”
“I do love you, Aunt Jul
iet, but I desire to be with my mother.”
“And she desires nothing more than to be with you, and one day soon, both of you will get your wish, but right now, it has to be this way.”
“I should be with my sister. She will learn to love me as I am.”
“You fool yourself, Luke. Maisie will always be scared of you, and each time you feed from her, she will close her heart to you that little bit more.”
“Then it’s simple,” he announced. “I will refuse her blood. I love my sister very much and don’t wish to harm her.”
“Don’t be stupid, Luke. You’ll die if you do not feed from her.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.”
He was only a child, but his intelligence was a match for her own. “Her blood makes you strong. Even now, you grow in appearance. Soon, while she remains a weak child, you will be a fully-grown man, ready to claim this world as your own.”
“I know all that.”
“You’d give all that up for your sister’s love, and condemn your mother to burn in hell for eternity?”
Luke didn’t answer and remained silent for the entire journey home. He skulked off to his room upon returning home.
Juliet climbed the stairs to her room. She closed the door and magically sealed it. Retrieving the mirror from under her bed, she wiped her hand across the glass and called her sister’s name.
Samantha’s pale face appeared in the mirror. “I told you never to contact me this way again,” she whispered. “It’s too risky. Mark must never know the extent of our powers.”
“Your human husband doesn’t interest me.”
“Well he should. I promised him I wouldn’t use my gifts. It was the only way I could convince him to stay here. He threatened to take Maisie away if I didn’t.”
“Cut his throat and lock her in a room until the time comes.”
“I can’t stand to be near her, Juliet. Even her touch burns my skin.”
“What? This is the first time you’ve mentioned such things to me.”
“I can’t touch her. It causes me physical pain. She belongs to the light, surely you can understand that. Even with my blood coursing through her veins, she is pure of heart. Luke is drawn to the good in her. I have seen it with my own eyes.”
“She is half witch. Your blood moves through her veins too.”
“That may be so, but she has nothing of me in her. She reminds me of...”
“Don’t say her name out loud.”
“Our mother.”
Juliet hissed angrily. “She was weak and didn’t deserve the honour of being mother to us.”
“Mother was human, and no matter how much you try to pretend otherwise, you know what she was.”
“I don’t wish to speak of her,” Juliet warned.
“You know what she said to us both before father killed her,” Samantha reminded her sister.
“I recall, yes, but they were only words.”
“Father wanted her for himself–a trophy bride. He held her in thrall until she was pregnant. He knew she wouldn’t raise a bastard child and would agree to marry him and stay.”
“And look where she ended up,” Juliet spat. “On our plates… as dinner.”
“Maisie is the image of her. I’m scared that when the time comes my magic will fail and Luke will die.” Juliet could see the fear on her sister’s face.
“It will work, believe me, but we have more pressing things to concern ourselves with.”
“What’s wrong?” Samantha asked.
“Luke wanted to stay with you, and Maisie. He told me he’d refuse to drink from her. You must make him see sense. He must know the consequences of you failing to honour the pact.”
“What am I to do?”
“Use his love for you as a weapon. Manipulate him until he comes around to our way of thinking and do it before he reaches maturity and we no longer have any control over him.”
“How am I to do that? I’m so far away.”
“You must use the mirror to speak with him and strengthen the bond he already feels for you. Mark is out of the house for long periods of time during the day, and the girl will not realise what you’re doing, even if you’re unlucky to have her in the house with you – take advantage of that.”
“I have no choice, do I?”
“No sister, you don’t. This is a dangerous time and you must find a way of fooling Mark into believing you care for Maisie, no matter how repulsive you find her. If she is amenable to Luke feeding from her, things will be much easier, and Luke will be more agreeable in the long term. He won’t harm her, I know it, but we can mould his thoughts. We have to ensure he understands what will happen if he disobeys us.”
“Okay, I’ll do as you ask and call for you when Mark is out of the house. But if you must call me through the mirror, do so once only, and if I don’t answer you, do not persist… Mark must never find out we have this means of communication.”
“I found you through the mirror when he took you away, remember. We will make it work.”
“Until tomorrow, sister.”
The mirror went black.
Juliet unsealed the door and carried the mirror out of her bedroom and walked into Luke’s bedroom.
He was asleep on the bed, so she gently set it down on the dressing table and closed the door behind her.
Chapter Eighteen
Juliet took a deep breath.
Pulling her dark hair loose from the bun currently holding it in place, it swung free, hanging lustrous against her shoulders.
She was beautiful. Men found her alluring and over the years she’d used everything at her disposal to get her own way.
She opened the door with a smile.
“What a nice surprise, Detective Chief Inspector,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon.” She wondered if he was convinced by her agreeable demeanor.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Miss Oswell, but do you mind if I step inside and speak with you?”
“Not at all,” she lied. “And call me Juliet. We’re old friends now, after all.”
She knew he was clever enough to pick up the intended sarcasm. His interruption was the last thing she needed or wanted.
“We’ve had a report Sandra Miller was recently seen in the rear garden and I was hoping you’d be kind enough to allow me to look around? Dot the i’s and cross the t’s as it were. Just a formality, you understand.”
“Really. Here? How very odd. You’d think I’d be aware if there was a missing woman walking around my garden. I suppose you’re going to tell me there’s a doll with human looking eyes lurking around the well too.”
“I’m really sorry about this, but I have a job to do. There’s been no sign of Miss Miller and this is the last place we traced her whereabouts to. A quick look round and I’ll be out of your hair.”
“I could refuse and ask you to bring a warrant,” she said, considering her options, whilst maintaining eye contact with the awkward looking pudgy faced Detective. “But as I’ve nothing to hide, allow me to lead the way.”
She led him through the beautifully renovated house and into the spacious and modern kitchen towards the French doors. “Can I tempt you with a refreshment, whilst we’re in here?”
“No. But thank you anyway. I should get on, so I don’t take up any more of your precious time.”
Juliet grabbed an umbrella from a stand to the side of the door.
Andrew gave a curious look as Juliet pushed the doors open and took a few steps towards the garden steps, inviting him to follow. She opened the umbrella, shielding her face and upper body from the sunlight and noticed the curious look he gave her.
“You’re not a fan of the sun?” he quizzed.
“It doesn’t like me, I’m afraid. A touch of photosensitivity.”
“That’s a pity,” he said, looking around the vast garden. “It’s going to be the hottest summer for years.”
“Hopefully not,” she said, already tiring
of his company. “As you can see, Miss Miller isn’t here, so if that’s all, I have errands to run.”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll check out the rest of the garden and around the well?”
“If you insist.” Her tone was flat.
Andrew searched the grounds, peering behind bushes and hidden overgrown nooks. He focused his attentions around the well and peeked his head over the wall.
She giggled softly to herself. If only he knew what lay in wait down there. If she wasn’t concerned about the lane being swarmed with police she’d have jostled him into the darkness and let Adam deal with him. Still, there was plenty of time for that.
She plastered on her best smile as he approached her. “Thank you for your time, Miss Oswell. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
“If you wouldn’t mind leaving via the pathway at the side, I’d be grateful. Saves you dragging your muddy feet over my newly polished floors.”
“My pleasure. Good day to you.”
“Goodbye, and give my regards to Hilary, won’t you.” She winked at Andrew, letting him know she was aware of the source of the latest reports.
Andrew stopped and turned back towards her. He had a confused expression on his face. “I didn’t mention Mrs Baines.”
“Didn’t you? Oh well, my mistake. Never mind me. The doll in the house over there must have told me.” She arched an eyebrow and grinned. He headed for the pathway, glancing at the doll house before disappearing out of sight.
Juliet stormed up the stairs and slammed the doors behind her.
She furiously marched up the stairway and into the secret room.
Sandra cowered in the corner.
“What do you want?”
Juliet picked up a carving knife from the slab, then knelt in front of Sandra. “You’ll do my bidding, or I’ll make you suffer.” She pushed the tip of the blade deep into Sandra’s neck, but there was no blood.
She cried out in agony.
“I can hurt you more than you’ll ever know.”
“You can’t do anything worse to me than you already have.”
Juliet pulled the blade out. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” she replied, defiant.
