Curiosity Killed The Cat

by T. H. Hunter

  “Thank God you made it, Beccs. Harrow, he just overpowered me. I had no idea about him until it was too late,” said Steve, looking ashamed.

  “It’s ok, Steve. Even Yurasov was taken in by him. Strange, though, that he didn’t run into you, Lynn.”

  “Yeah, that was pretty lucky. He must have been with you, Steve, in that shed right at that moment.”

  “Well, Beccs, you solved it,” said Steve, trying to lift the mood a little.

  “We all did.” I tried to smile, but somehow my mouth wouldn’t comply. “You did great, guys. I owe you. Better get a good night’s sleep.”

  “Yeah,” said Steve.

  “Goodnight,” said Lynn.

  We had reached the girls’ corridor in the East Tower. Two heavily armed Knights were outside, standing guard.

  I was so tired I fell immediately into my bed. But despite my exhaustion, the thought of that kiss outside of the tower would keep me awake well into the early hours of the next day.

  ***

  The following morning, we heard the First Warden’s speech to the entire castle after breakfast. The ordeal had ended, the culprit had been caught. He spoke of how Harrow had betrayed the entire community. How he had lived a double life, caught between the temptations from the outside world and his duties as a vampire. And how he had made the wrong choice, a choice each and every one of us would have to make in a future that was more than uncertain. Then, Raphael and I were brought in front of the entire castle, to receive medals for our ‘exemplary’ conduct and for saving Cranvin Castle from a great catastrophe. I would have thrown that thing they had buttoned to my robe away in an instant if it had meant five more minutes with Raphael. The students and staff in attendance clapped furiously.

  Finally, in his most preacher-like voice, First Warden Stephanopoulos announced with great sadness that the King had passed away during the night. As it was the vampires’ tradition, he would preside over a regency until the new king would be coronated.

  Almost as a side note, Stephanopoulos closed with a remark on the Elixir. Apparently, they were having some sort of problem with the pumping system, and so the fountain would remain empty for the next few days. There were enough bottled supplies, however, to compensate for this minor incursion.

  I had to remember what Sarah had told me about the Elixir and the spring. Evidently, Harrow must have found a way to sabotage the system before our encounter in the Abandoned Tower.

  21

  The following days, life seemingly returned to normal. At least, for most people. Perhaps I was in a brooding mood anyway due to Raphael. For some reason, I simply couldn’t let go of what had happened at the Abandoned Tower.

  Harrow had undoubtedly outwitted all of us until the very end. But a nagging feeling persisted, one that told me that things just didn’t add up. Though the extent of Vox’s help was unclear, it was extremely unlikely that Harrow could have masterminded the entire sabotage action against the spring below in the catacombs. As resourceful as he had proven, I knew from long and difficult lectures in my haematology and alchemy classes that the Elixir had been designed to repel most toxins, precisely because it constituted such an important lifeline.

  If, however, the source were contaminated, even destroyed, the effects would be felt all over the world. Since the Council prohibited the drawing of blood for all vampires, the great majority of vampires – with the exception of the Outlaws – depended on the castle’s export of the Elixir. In other words, the entire basis for the political system would collapse instantly. And the vampires would either die or be forced to return to their bloodsucking past. Facing such a choice, I knew what the vast majority of vampires would do. No human would be safe any longer.

  Unless Criswell and the League had more information than anyone had previously assumed, even they wouldn’t have been able to come up and realise such a plan on their own. In any case, Harrow had seemed almost entirely fixated on capturing me, and never mentioned anything about the Elixir at all, except to point out the aristocracy’s hypocrisy.

  No, there had to be a piece of the puzzle that was still missing.

  I tried to talk to Lynn about it, though she remained unconvinced.

  “I’m not sure, Beccs. Don’t you think it’s rather unlikely that there are two spies at Cranvin Castle?”

  Steve, though he also doubted whether Harrow had foreseen or planned for all of the political consequences, agreed with Lynn.

  “I know, Beccs, that some things don’t make sense. But what you’re suggesting seems impossible.”

  There was only one person I could still talk to, who would understand.

  ***

  I had no idea how I could reach Raphael. I didn’t even know where he had his living quarters. So the next best thing I could do was go to the Knights’ common room. We had received our exam results that day – in letter form delivered to our dorm rooms – and I decided I’d pass the time waiting by checking my results. With A+ being the best grade and a straight D the last possible pass, they were:

  Vampiric Ethics & Law (Mme Dampierre)C

  Vampiric History (Doctor Yurasov) A-

  Alchemy (vacant)B+

  Engineering (Master Gorgos)B

  Vampiric Martial Arts (Doctor Matei) A+ *

  Haematology (Doctor Balewa)C+

  Surgery (Doctor Hasenberg)B

  Stealth (Doctor Linton)C-

  *Due to Miss Rebecca Flynn’s outstanding performance, trial admittance to the Scarlet Knights is advised in the upcoming semester.

  Considering the circumstances, I thought I hadn’t done too badly. And best of all, I’d get a chance to prove myself with the Knights.

  I noticed that Sarah had entered the common room. She said she had just talked to Raphael a few minutes ago. He had said that he wanted to go down to the village, to the small Orthodox church where his father would be buried. I immediately got my coat and headed through the castle’s gates down into the village.

  It was very beautiful at this time of year, with the snow covering every wall and rooftop. There was something magical about it. And though I knew we could never be together, the prospect of seeing him again revived that beautiful fluttery feeling I felt whenever I was near him.

  I finally reached the church and the graveyard. It looked extremely peaceful with the snow, all in white. And there, right at the end, was a lone figure, strolling along the edge of the graveyard. There could be no mistaking that peculiarly attractive gait. It was Raphael.

  “Raphael,” I said when I had reached him.

  He turned around in surprise. His entire face, all dark clouds one moment, lit up as soon as he saw me.

  “Rebecca. I’ve just been thinking about you.”

  “And you go to a graveyard to do it? I’ll try not to take it personally.”

  He laughed as if he hadn’t done so in quite a while.

  “No, I’m here… you know, we’ll have the ceremony for my father tomorrow. We’re going to bury him here, in the family crypt.”

  “I’m really sorry for your loss, Raphael.”

  He took my hand. It was warm and strong. We started walking.

  “I wish things were different, Rebecca. They… expect me to do certain things once I’m king.”

  “I know,” I said heavily. “I just wish we’d had just a little more time. To get away and get to know each other.”

  He shook his head sadly.

  “It’d be worse, then, you know that,” he said.

  “Yes. But it’d be worth it.”

  We had reached my grandfather’s grave.

  “He meant a great deal to you, didn’t he?”

  “He did,” I said.

  We stood there a while in silence.

  “Tell me, Raphael,” I said. “Do you think this whole thing is over? I mean, with Harrow.”

  “Well, for the moment perhaps. He’s dead. And so is Vox.”

  “Yes, but so much of it just doesn’t make any sense. Harrow couldn’t have mastermi
nded all that stuff on his own. Messing with the Elixir’s formula. I doubt Vox was even up to it, at least in the drugged-up state he was in usually.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think we’re missing a big piece of the puzzle. There’s something still going on. Harrow wasn’t a scientist, there’s no way he could have tampered with the Elixir’s supply like that.”

  Raphael stared at me, as if things were suddenly beginning to make sense.

  “They used silver for these figurines, didn’t they? The ones they used as trading tokens for the phials of blood,” he said.

  “That’s right. Why?”

  “It’s an expensive metal. Why not use steel instead?” he said.

  “I don’t know. Why didn’t they?” I asked.

  “Because silver has properties no other metal has. You see, silver is fatal to us as vampires, but as you probably know, it works more like a toxin. If, hypothetically, you were to attempt to poison the Elixir’s spring for good, silver would be the go-to material. You’d need massive quantities and extensive alchemical knowledge, granted, but it’s possible in theory.”

  “So whoever was directing the blood trade was using the figurines to smuggle silver into castle!”

  Realisation was beginning to dawn on both of our faces now.

  “Rebecca, we need to go to the spring immediately. There’s no time to lose.”

  22

  We raced back up the hill as fast as we could. I wanted to tell Lynn and Steve, to have them come with us, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. They weren’t in the East Tower common room, nor was Lynn in our room. But there was no time to lose. I grabbed my silver rapier and rushed back into the courtyard, where Raphael was already waiting for me.

  He looked extremely handsome in a Knights’ quilted vest and black trousers.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Here, take two torches. It’ll be dark down there. They should last us to get down to the spring and back up again.”

  ***

  And so we descended the various staircases to the Great Hall’s cellars and further down into the catacombs. The rough stones were as wet and slippery as I had remembered them from my last visit. It was the same path that Jayden had led me along, though we now turned left where the den had been on our right.

  The corridors were getting narrower and rockier here. We were evidently moving ever closer to the innermost core of the mountain. Strange noises, as though the mountain itself was alive and moving, accompanied us as we moved ever further down.

  “What’s that noise?” I asked, as the rumbling sounds were getting louder.

  “The cavities must be destabilising. Someone’s manipulating the system. We have to move faster.”

  We passed through the next corridor and found ourselves in a large chamber. We lifted our torches in order to see further. There was a narrow pathway about fifty feet long at its centre, a gaping chasm on either side of it.

  “We’re very close now,” Raphael said. “Across the bridge. Careful, now. It looks unsafe.”

  “We’d better move across one by one, then,” I said, stepping on it before he could protest.

  “Rebecca, wait, let me…”

  “It’s ok, I’ve got this,” I said.

  With a fifty-foot drop to either side of me, I edged forward carefully. The path across was shaped a bit like an arch, with rough stone steps cut into either end. I had passed halfway when, suddenly, the mountain began to rumble and shake again, more violently than ever before.

  Then, without warning, a huge rock had dislodged itself from the ceiling and was heading right for me.

  “Watch out!” Raphael shouted from behind me.

  It was going to hit the stone path just where I was standing. With lightning reactions, I lunged forwards.

  The rock hit the pathway with a deafening crash. The stone was giving way, with cracks appearing all over.

  I managed to reach the other side just in time. The pathway was collapsing under the weight of the rock, crumbling down into the abyss below. I was trapped. There was no way back. Even Raphael wouldn’t be able to jump this far.

  “What are we going to do?” I said desperately.

  “No time, Rebecca. You have to move ahead alone. Try to stop whoever is poisoning the spring. I’ll get backup.”

  “But you won’t be able to get over here.”

  “I’ll find a way, just go,” he said imploringly. “Hurry.”

  ***

  He was right. I turned around and moved ahead, drawing my rapier as I did so and holding the torch in my left hand.

  Passing through several corridors, I finally reached a huge cave, even larger than the previous chamber. Torches had been lit all around it, giving it an eerie atmosphere. I’d never seen anything like it in my life. A massive pool of water was located in its midst. The spring. All sorts of technical equipment had been set up next to it, no doubt in order to monitor the production of the Elixir. Large storage tanks with liquids were connected to the pool, while even larger pipes led straight through the ceiling, presumably right up to the castle.

  I was not, however, alone. A shadowy figure was standing right beside the pool of water. Three large tanks full of greyish liquid stood nearby.

  As I approached, the figure didn’t turn, but instead addressed me.

  “You really are too clever for your own good, Miss Flynn.”

  My mouth dropped as he turned around, his glasses flashing as he did so.

  It was Doctor Yurasov.

  “Doctor… what are you doing down here?”

  “I might ask you the same question, Miss Flynn. You always seem to be appearing just in time to save the day. But it would have been so much simpler if you hadn’t, you know.”

  “It can’t be. You can’t be a Slayer agent. You just can’t,” I said.

  “Who said I was?” he asked calmly.

  ”But, this doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I’m afraid it will, very soon. I assume you already know why I am here?” he asked.

  “You want to contaminate the spring,” I said.

  “Very good, Miss Flynn. Full marks again. Though of course, it is not how I would phrase it. You see, for me and many other vampires, this spring and the Elixir that is derived from it are the contamination. You see these pipes leading to the tanks over there? It only works with the spring water from this particular mountain, it is unique. They tried to replicate it around the world, but without success. The formula I devised many years ago can only work here, at Cranvin Castle. It was the greatest mistake of my life.”

  “This is insane. You’re destroying your life’s work.”

  “I told you, Miss Flynn, of the various factions that are waiting to take power after King Rurik died. Of those who wished to return to an older, a more primordial and purer way of life. The way our ancestors have lived since the dawn of time. You should understand this. You have the Curse. That is how all vampires initially came into existence, did you know that? They were neither born nor were they bitten. But they understood, no they relished in their new powers. As you have done, in fact. So why deny yourself the ultimate pleasure of blood? It is the natural thing for you, Miss Flynn, perhaps even more natural than for any other vampire alive. And with real blood to feed on, who knows how powerful you could become? Join me, Miss Flynn, and we can recreate the Vampiric world anew, in an image that truly befits it.”

  “And would that recreation entail murder and blackmail?” I asked. “The killing of a king?”

  “King Rurik was nothing but a fool who believed in his own delusions of peaceful cooperation with humankind. I had to remove him. I had no other choice. But I had to do it quietly, slowly. A bolt through the heart, though quite effective as Mr. Harrow has shown, would have aroused too much suspicion.”

  “So Harrow was helping you after all?”

  “Yes, though he never knew he did, of course. There is nothing going on in this castle tha
t I do not know about, Miss Flynn. I intercepted his childishly encrypted communications with the Slayers’ League almost at once. But he was more useful to me alive and active. I studied the letters and broke the code quite easily. Then, all I had to do was to concoct a few letters of my own, with some interesting instructions for him.”

  “So you made him kill Wiley?”

  “Of course. Wiley was getting too nosey for his own good. He almost discovered my little secret. Many years ago, you must understand, we worked on the Elixir’s formula together. He knew its weak points. If he ever got wind of such large amounts of silver being smuggled into the castle, he would have known instantly. And, as the vampire who knew the most about the Elixir aside from himself, his suspicion would have naturally fallen on me. Vampires are particularly sensitive on the topic of silver, as you might imagine, and there are special security systems in place that prevented me from transporting larger amounts at once. Even I could not circumvent them so easily. So, I devised a scheme to transport the silver in smaller quantities.”

  “And the little figurines were the perfect cover. Nobody would have suspected the creator of the Elixir to be heading the blood ring himself,” I said.

  “Ingenious, is it not? I gave coded orders for Harrow to kidnap Wiley. I needed to find out how much he knew. Harrow was quite thorough in his interrogations. And all I had to do was to wait at the post office in the village,” Doctor Yurasov said, smiling maliciously.

  “And then you ordered Harrow to kill him.”

  “Yes. Luckily for me, Wiley had not yet discovered who was behind the blood smuggling. I gave orders to Harrow to shoot Wiley during the final match of the tournament, providing me with the perfect alibi. In the eyes of the Council, I was above suspicion.”

  “And what about Vox?” I demanded.

  The longer Yurasov talked, the more time Raphael had to get the Scarlet Knights and somehow get across the chasm in the chamber beyond.