by Willow Rose
"That golf course will be closed within the year," someone else was quoted saying.
I chuckled, thinking, if only they had known. Not only was the golf course still running, it was a very profitable business. And now, years later, tourism was actually Fanoe Island's main industry. Every year, we received more than thirty-thousand visitors, and they especially came because of the wide beaches, where they could do all kinds of water sports like kite flying, surfing, and driving those annoying beach buggies in the sand. It was fun to think about how the Dragstedt family had actually been the first to see this potential, even though, back then, they believed it was the idea of a madman.
But as I was busy indulging in the history of our small island, I came across a picture in one of the articles that immediately made me stop and stare, almost dropping my coffee cup. I zoomed into it, to better see because I simply couldn't believe it. It was pixelated; still, I had no problem seeing what—or who—it was.
"How on earth is that possible?" I asked, staring at the man. "This picture is more than a hundred years old."
I scrolled down the article and found another picture from that same day and there he was again. Dressed as a nobleman.
Maybe it's a relative?
I heard Maya on the stairs, then the front door open, and guessed Samuel had to be here. I had told her to stop having him climb up the ladder when we all knew he was there anyway. She opened the front door and I heard voices speaking in the hallway.
I looked at the screen and the picture, then back at the door to the kitchen, listening to the voices behind it. I heard them walk into the living room and that was when it hit me.
I grabbed the computer, got up, and ran out.
Chapter 61
I found all of them in the living room. Victor and Skye were sitting by the window, a ball floating between them, probably engaged in some odd conversation I would never be a part of.
Maya and Samuel were standing by Susan, who was sitting on the couch, looking at Samuel, her eyes glistening with excitement.
They turned around when I walked in.
"What's going on?" I asked, approaching them cautiously.
"Nothing, Mom," Maya said. "Samuel is just saying hi to Susan."
"I remember him," Susan said, smiling blissfully while looking up at Samuel. "I actually remember him. I can't remember where from, but I know that I remember him."
"Well, that's great," I said as I looked at the screen in my hand, then back up at Samuel.
"It was the song," Susan said. "The song he was whistling. I recognized it and that's how I realized that I knew him from somewhere."
I sighed. "That's awesome, Susan. I’m glad you're beginning to remember things."
"That's a good sign, right?" she asked.
I nodded. "It sure is. Say, Samuel, I thought you said you and your family came to the island just a few years ago?"
He nodded. "Yes. We came from Copenhagen. I was born there and most of my family still lives there."
"Really?” I asked. "And you don't have any ancestors that used to live here on the island?"
He shook his head, looking a little confused. His eyes settled on Victor and Skye, who didn't seem interested in what was going on around them. Samuel's hands were clenched into fists. He was shivering slightly as he watched them, even though he was still speaking to me.
"No. I don't think any of us ever came out here, why?"
"It's just…well, I came across this picture here." I turned the laptop around and showed it to Maya and Samuel.
"Wow, that looks just like you, Sam," Maya said.
Samuel stared at the old photo, then up at me, his eye twitching. "Must be a coincidence."
"Really? Is it also a coincidence that this guy has the exact same scar on his cheek as you have? Because, as far as I know, that’s not something you inherit from your ancestors. This is you, Samuel. How do you explain that?"
Samuel rubbed his temples while making an aggravated sound. Maya stared at him, startled. She pulled away.
"Samuel? Is my mom right? And what's going on with your hands? And your face? What's happening? Is your eczema acting up again?"
Samuel moved his hands and a big patch of his skin peeled off and fell to the carpet below. Older and more wrinkled skin appeared beneath it, some of it was almost grey and lifeless. Maya screamed.
"Samuel, what's going on here?" she asked, her voice breaking. "What's happening to your skin?"
Susan stood up, then sang. Her voice was eerily shrill, cutting through the tension in the room, "…And you'll come a-waltzing, Mati-i-i-lda, with me."
Her facial expression changed as she sang. From confusion to one of utter terror.
"Now, I remember," she said, gasping to breathe. "You…that song, you whistled it…wearing a mask and…"
"A mask? What is she talking about, Samuel?" Maya shrieked.
I grabbed my daughter and pulled her away from him, while Susan stood frozen and looked like all her memories were coming back at once.
"Samuel is the one who killed Asgar," I said. "He also kept Susan captive and emptied her and Vincent of their blood. You've been around for a very long time, haven't you?"
Samuel smiled, his face cracking as his lips moved. "Yes. I came here centuries ago."
"W-where are you from?" Maya asked.
"Somewhere else," he said. "Somewhere different. A place where there are many like those two." He pointed at Victor and Skye. "A place where their blood can keep me alive. Here, it’s different. I came here by accident. I don't know how it happened. All I know is, I was having a blast with my friends, partying, and I woke up in your sewers back when they were newly built. Don't know how I got there and, all this time, I’ve been looking for a way back. That's why I collect clocks. I am fascinated by time. It passes by outside my house, yet I don't grow older. Meanwhile, I have been living off your filthy blood, while looking for the real deal." He pointed at Skye. "Like hers. If I get some of hers, I’ll sleep for decades and wake up younger than I was when I went to sleep. It's very much like winding up a clock. It just keeps ticking, tick-tock, but nothing really changes. They too can stay the same for centuries."
"And every now and then," I said, "you find children like them, like Skye, who come from the same place you do, who accidentally end up here in our world, and you drink their blood and sleep. And then, when you wake up, you start looking for them again."
"Your thin blood only keeps me alive for a few hours, whereas theirs…theirs, boy, it is go-o-o-od."
"Is that why you took Asgar?" Maya asked. "Because his blood had changed?"
Samuel nodded. "Yesss, my dear. I don't know how it happened to him, but I had been awake for two years, and I was craving the good blood, while living off scraps, drinking blood from a few teenagers that no one would miss. I had grabbed them in Sonderho and kept them in my house, but their blood was barely keeping me going. Suddenly, I smelled the good blood on Asgar one day when he cut himself. We were at his house making sandwiches and he cut himself with the knife. The smell wasn't strong, but I immediately knew he had some of our blood mixed in him."
"How?" I asked, baffled. "How did he get different blood?"
"We don't know," Maya said. "He believed he had been taken by a spacecraft and experimented on. That aliens had changed his blood by injecting some of theirs. "
"But, instead, it was blood injected from someone coming from the same place as Samuel came from," I said, not quite sure I believed any of this. But, in a strange way, it made sense.
Maya looked pensive. "So, that was why you took them? Asgar, Susan, and Vincent. They all shared the same story; they all had their blood changed."
"But it wasn't enough," Samuel said. “The concentration was too weak. It helped me for a little while, but it isn't enough." Samuel's skin was sizzling like it was burning, and he grabbed his face in pain.
"I need my mask," he said, "It keeps my face cool and I need…I need blood…" he stared at Skye,
his hands shaking. Before I could react, Samuel rushed to Skye, pulled a pocket knife out, and placed it on her throat.
"Hey!" I yelled. "Leave her alone!"
I stepped toward her, but he pressed the knife closer to her skin. "Come any closer and I'll slit her throat," he hissed. "Believe me, I'd love to do just that."
Samuel placed the knife on her arm and cut the skin. Skye cried as blood gushed out. Green, thick blood. Samuel smiled when he saw it, his eyes narrowing, skin peeling off.
"Ah, now that's the right stuff. Not all yellow and mixed like the others were. This is just right. This will keep me alive for decades." He placed his tongue on her skin and licked the green blood. Immediately, his face grew younger and his skin became soft and smooth. He licked his lips with pleasure.
"Let her go," I said.
Samuel hissed at me again, sounding like an angry cat. He grabbed Skye by the throat and lifted her up.
"She's coming with me," he said as he blasted through the French doors faster than I had ever seen anyone run, Skye on his shoulder.
Chapter 62
"Where did he go?"
I was immediately after him and out in the yard, but there was no sign of Samuel. I looked at Maya, who had followed me outside.
"How can anyone move that fast?"
"How can anyone do any of the things he just said?" Maya asked.
I looked into her eyes. They were expressing utter terror and devastation.
"I loved him, Mom," she said. "I fell for him. I can't believe the lies he has told me."
I looked around me. It was getting darker. We had to move fast before Samuel started to drink Skye's blood and eventually drained her like he had the others, then went into hibernation.
"Where does he live?" I asked.
Maya stared at me. "Somewhere on the north side of town. I’ve never been there. No wonder he never wanted me to come to his place or even meet his family. We were always here at our house. I thought he was just being shy."
"Do you know the address?" I asked as we rushed back inside.
Maya shook her head.
"You mean to tell me you’ve been seeing this guy even though you don't know his address or his parents? Oh, boy, the two of us need to have a talk once this is over. Now, how do we find this place?"
"I might be able to help," Susan said, getting to her feet.
"Susan. Yes, of course," I said. "You’ve been there. Did he keep you at his house?"
"I think so. It was a very big place. I think I might be able to find it. I remember running through the plantation. He must be on the other side of that."
"Let's go then," I said and shooed the both of them toward the door. "You too, Vic," I said, addressed to the boy who was still sitting by the windowsill staring out the window like he expected Skye to come back any second. I wondered if he even understood what had been going on, what had happened to her.
In the car, I grabbed my phone and called Morten, but he didn't pick up. I left a message while getting the car onto the road.
"We're on our way to the killer's house. Yes, you heard me right. I didn't stay out of trouble, trouble came to me, literally. I know who killed Asgar and took Susan and Vincent, and his name is Samuel," I stopped, realizing I didn't even know the boy's last name. Wow, were we going to do background checks on Maya's boyfriends from now on before letting them come anywhere close to her.
"Anyway, we're on our way there. It's on the north side of the island, behind the plantation. We don't know the exact address yet, but I'll text it or call you again. Did I say it’s important that we move fast? He has Skye and wants to…well, take her blood. Call me."
I hung up, pressed the gas pedal down, and rushed through town, secretly hoping a police car would see us and follow. But since the island only had one, it was kind of rare to actually come across it.
Chapter 63
"It's over there, the big one."
Susan pointed out the window. She shivered as she spoke, and I wondered if more memories were coming back to her as she saw the big mansion once again. It was located in one of the most remote areas of the island, and I remember hearing kids tell stories about this estate and how it was haunted by an old vampire. Guess they didn't know how right they were when they came up with that one.
I drove up in front of it and got out.
"You stay here," I told all three of them, especially Victor. He didn't look much like he would go anywhere anyway, so I left them and rushed up to the front door. I grabbed the handle but, of course, it was locked. I called Morten again and left him the address, then called the police station, but the answering machine sent me to Morten's cellphone in case of an emergency. It was late and there was usually just one man on duty at nighttime, so there was no one to answer the phone. If Morten was out on another job or just on patrol, he wouldn't be able to answer.
I grunted angrily, then looked at the door in front of me. How was I supposed to get in? This place was like a fortress, with bars on the windows and everything.
That was when I heard the car door open and shut. I turned and spotted my son walking up the stairs, his raging eyes fixated on the big wooden door.
"Victor? Didn't I ask you to stay in the…?"
He walked past me and up to the door, then threw out his hands and the double doors slammed open with a loud bang.
"I completely forgot he could do that," I said, looking back at Maya, who stared, baffled, from inside the car. "Remind me to tell your sister more about it later," I said to Victor, then walked past the shattered doors.
I followed Victor through the hallway until he stopped in front of a closed door. Again, he lifted his hands and blasted them open. Behind them, we spotted Skye. She was lying in a hospital bed, strapped down and gagged. A tube was already inserted into her vein and the green blood was flowing into a bag.
"Oh, dear God," I said and approached her.
She was making noises behind the gag. I removed it, but whatever came out of her wasn't understandable. I started to unstrap the leather bands, when Victor suddenly said, "Rats."
"What?"
"Rats," he said. "She’s showing me pictures of rats. Rats, rats, rats, rats, RATS!"
"What do you mean r…ATS!!"
I turned around just in time to see the wave of rats coming toward us. No, it wasn't a wave, it was a freakin tsunami. Thousands and thousands of rats rushed toward us and, seconds later, knocked us to the floor. They were everywhere. In my clothes, in my hair, and on my back as I tried to get up on my feet. And then I felt the pain as their little teeth pierced my skin and they bit me. As they attacked us, I spotted Samuel standing on the stairs behind them. He had a flute to his lips and was playing Waltzing Matilda.
Chapter 64
"He’s controlling them," I yelled. "Somehow, he is making them do this."
I reached out my hand while lying on the floor, fighting off the rats, trying to grab Victor's hand in mine. He was screaming, fighting a rat biting his earlobe. I used my foot to kick one off my leg, then reached over and slammed the one on Victor's ear, hard, till it flew off and landed up on the wall before it slid down to the floor.
But as soon as it was gone, two more came and bit down on him. He covered his face with his hands and they bit onto his fingers. Victor was screaming loudly. The rats kept coming at us, no matter how much we managed to fight them off. Victor was now completely covered in the furry gray monsters, biting down on him.
"Victor," I yelled, "Victor!"
In the chaos, I managed to look up and notice that Skye had now filled an entire bag with green blood. Samuel approached her, then changed the bag and continued the draining. He put the filled bag on top of another, and I realized he had already taken a lot. Too much for such a young girl. She was lying on the bed, all pale and barely able to keep her eyes open.
"Victor," I yelled through the swarm of rats. "Skye needs help! She needs you! Help her!"
Victor didn't move. He was lying completely still on th
e floor now, the rats almost covering him from head to toe. My heart sank. Why was he so eerily still? Why had he stopped screaming?
"VICTOR!" I screamed, then reached over with my leg and kicked a few of the rats away from him, but more took their place. It was useless. I could fight them all I wanted to, but there were too many.
One bit down on my lip and I screamed again. I fought it off, frantically hitting it repeatedly until it finally let go of my lip, then I looked over at Victor once again and suddenly saw his back move, raise up, as his body raised to his feet, rats clinging onto him, biting him till blood gushed down his face. Victor didn't even bother to brush them off, he simply bent his head down, then closed his eyes and, seconds later, the first rat popped off his face. Soon, they were flying off one after another, shooting through the room, hitting the walls and floors. As soon as he was clear of them, he lifted all the ones on top of me, pulled them off forcefully using the power of his mind, then had them blast out through the door, shooting like a machine gun.
I looked at my hands, they were bleeding from the many wounds, but the rats were gone. Victor was bleeding too, and that was when I noticed it, noticed what I had never seen before because Victor never got hurt, not even as a young child.
Victor's blood was dark green.
Everything stopped inside of me. I forgot everything about Skye and even Samuel. All I could see was the blood dripping from my son onto the floor. The dark green mass.
"Victor?"
But the boy didn't hear me, nor did he look at me. He only had one thing in mind. And that was saving his best friend.
He bent his head forward, his eyes fixated on Skye and especially Samuel standing next to her. Samuel was staring at him, and especially at the blood on his face. Samuel seemed to be almost in a trance. He walked closer to Victor, reached down with his finger and touched it. Samuel tasted the blood, licking it off his fingertips. Then, he closed his eyes. The skin around them smoothed out, making him look even younger.
