As we stood with our backs against Quartz block, I rested my hands on my hips. The shadows were thick tonight. Across the quad, the dim lights from student bedrooms barely illuminated the grass.
Not even the moon was out; just the clouds passing over the inky sky. The constellations, which were meant to show me the way, help me navigate my choices, were shrouded just as they had been the
night Rhode was taken.
‘A veiled sky is no friend,’ Rhode used to say.
Used to say. Before the loss of his memory. Before all of this.
‘There it is,’ Tony whispered dramatically, pointing across campus.
‘We know. We see the chapel every day,’ Tracy said.
‘Yes, but tonight a vampire is in there waiting for us. It’s different.’
‘For starters, let’s just make it across the quad to the union,’ I said.
We ran towards the chapel, bent low. We crossed the path that led from the Quartz to the library, made it over the green and were almost at the union when Tony stopped. He hissed and slid the
ring off his finger.
‘Damn it. You’re right. It’s hot.’ He bounced it in his hand.
‘Mine is warming up too,’ Tracy whispered.
‘Get down,’ I ordered. ‘Now.’
We hit the grass. Within seconds a security van pulled around the library and down the car path to Quartz. It crept by and headed up towards Seeker block. Tony crawled over to me. I touched the
ring in his palm. It pulsed little beats of heat just as my necklace had on the beach.
I lifted my head, though kept my body close to the ground.
‘What do you see?’ Tracy asked with a grimace. It seemed the bracelet had singed her skin because she lifted it from her wrist. We had to get out of here.
The lights of the union were out and the dorms were far enough away now that their light could not illuminate the quad. We had no choice but to keep going in the darkness. I just hoped we could
get to the chapel before Justin or any of his men saw us – if they hadn’t already. I had no doubt someone was watching. ‘Let’s go,’ I said.
We were up and running through the shadows again.
Panic zoomed through my stomach. We moved quickly past the union and on to the second lacrosse field. Once we made it past the back of the building, we were only fifty yards or so from the
chapel.
‘Victory!’ Tony whispered and threw his hands in the air.
‘You’re still an idiot,’ Tracy said with a smile.
Mint and sage filled the air, from the farm, which was nearby. We slowed down and headed up the hill to the chapel. I checked behind me but didn’t sense anyone following us. The area was
too big for me to tell for sure.
‘Yikes,’ Tracy said, and slipped the bracelet off her wrist completely. Tony had slid his ring back on but shook his hand out.
‘It burns again,’ he said. His eyes widened and he pointed behind me. ‘Watch out!’
There was the sound of feet running. Bodies leapt in the darkness. Because of the overwhelming shadows I didn’t know where they were coming from and who, or what, we were dealing with. I
unsheathed my dagger and held it in front of me. Tracy and Tony did the same, following my cue.
Vampires stood like statues in a circle around us. There were at least twelve of them, and only three of us. Each one held a weapon of some kind.
My dagger seemed so silly, outstretched in my hand. I dropped the point of my blade just enough to meet the eyes of the Italian vampire. He stood directly across from me. I evaluated these
vampires; their energy was not directed at us. Some of them weren’t even facing us. I kept my dagger raised.
‘I thought you wanted to meet inside the chapel?’ I said.
‘Quiet,’ he whispered curtly, his silver eyes darted around the circle to the woods beyond. He held a long machete that curved at the tip, and the point of the blade rested
dangerously close to his leg.
All of the vampires wore that symbol, the same one he did: an encircled R.
‘Go!’ the Italian vampire commanded.
The vampires moved as a choreographed unit, and within seconds there were two flanking me. One was the Italian, the other a girl with long blonde hair that fell in a ponytail down her back. Her
silver eyes kept dancing at the woods.
‘I’m waiting for Lenah!’ Tony cried. Two vampires were leading him away towards the chapel and he struggled against their grasp. Tracy too was struggling against her guard.
‘Go, Tony!’ I cried. ‘Tracy, I’m all right.’
I hoped that was true.
The blonde vampire stared into the woods and whispered something to the leader in a language I couldn’t understand.
‘Formation! Go!’ she yelled, this time in English. I jumped from the force of her voice. She stepped before me, guarding me from Justin.
The same black clouds that I had seen on Main Street ushered Justin across the fields. They curled over the grass like fast-moving storm clouds. The Italian ran at Justin, his machete high in
the air.
‘Run!’ the blonde said, moving her metallic eyes to mine.
Together we ran towards the chapel. I wasn’t sure how to protect myself. I didn’t want to see that darkness Justin conjured when he forced our stare. I didn’t want to watch the
world fall away. With every step, I expected Justin’s grip to slap around my wrist and drag me from the field.
‘Keep going,’ the blonde girl shouted, as she slowed and shot arrow after arrow at Justin. I had to fight the instinct to turn and help.
‘You should know better, Liliana,’ Justin said from behind me. I stopped short when the blonde – Liliana – flew into the air and landed at my feet. She immediately
flipped on to her back and shot another arrow. It sailed past Justin’s ear. I tried to pull her out of his way, but Justin waved his hand again and Liliana was lifted from the ground. She
hurled through the air and landed with a hard crack all the way back at the union. The fall would have killed a human instantly, but with a shake of her head, Liliana was up on her feet and running
back towards the fight.
Justin stood before me in the same style of black suit he’d worn previously.
‘Miss me?’ he asked.
‘What did you do with Rhode?’ I demanded.
From behind him, Justin’s vampires ran out of the woods directly at the Italian vampire’s coven.
‘Get them inside the chapel!’ the Italian screamed, and yelled something else in that language I couldn’t understand.
‘I always knew you were feisty, Lenah, but you should probably stop fighting me. Save your strength . . . for later.’
He slapped his hand around my wrist and dragged me across the field, away from the chapel. My knees gave out and I kept tripping over my boots. The tightness of Justin’s grip sent spasms
of pain from my shoulders to my hands. The Italian vampire jumped in front of us, swinging his machete at Justin’s chest.
‘You’re completely ineffective, Cassius,’ Justin snarled as he batted the machete aside and yanked me away from the chapel. ‘Why bother?’
Cassius replied to Justin in the mysterious language. I couldn’t tell if Justin understood because he didn’t respond. Cassius retrieved the machete and swung it so Justin had to jump
back. In doing so, I was freed from his grasp. I wanted to sink to the ground and hold my arm to my body. The pressure from his grip had been nearly unbearable. Justin and Cassius exchanged blows
as I ran towards the chapel. I wasn’t sure how the chapel could protect me, only that Fire’s weapons were on Tracy and Tony and they could immediately put us at an advantage.
One of Cassius’s vampires fell into pace beside me. Ahead, by the golden light of the chapel doorway, Tony helped Tracy inside. The wind rushed above our heads again and I knew Justin was
airborne for a second time.
‘Watch it!’ my guard cried out and we slowed to a stop, not sure where Justin was going to land.
Justin’s cloud cover dropped him before me like a finger snap. He wrestled me to the ground with a hard
thud
. My head pounded and I blinked fast to clear my vision. A flash of
metal crossed my eye line. The vampire that had been guarding me sliced through the air holding a sword, but there was a
crack
.
The
crack
of bone snapping.
I sat up. The vampire who was trying to help me had collapsed in a heap on the ground, his own sword through his heart.
Cassius appeared seemingly from nowhere and yanked the sword from the dead vampire’s chest. He held the bloodied sword in one hand and his machete in the other.
‘I’m impressed by your passion,’ Justin said to Cassius. ‘But Lenah’s not worth it, I promise.’
The way Justin spoke as a vampire – the cadence and the tone – was so cold and precise.
‘Stay behind me,’ Cassius instructed, but kept his focus on Justin. If I ran, it would cause a diversion, but Justin was entirely too fast and I hated being useless.
Justin cocked his head at Cassius. The machete was high in Cassius’s left hand, the sword in his right. He kept shifting his weight, ready to pounce.
‘I wondered what had happened to you this past year,’ Justin said. ‘I thought you might just be hanging back and letting your special friends do all your dirty work for
you.’
‘We’ve thwarted your attacks on Lenah and Wickham campus four times now,’ Cassius spat. ‘Now tell her!’ he shouted, his strong, menacing features contorting.
‘Tell her why we have come to protect her! Why we save her!’
‘Where were you last night when we took her precious Rhode?’ Justin asked.
Cassius growled. ‘You killed our watch. Our best archer. We got there only moments after you left.’
Justin pushed out his palm, and grey polluted air unfurled like a snake around Cassius’s knife and machete. Cassius cried out and fell to his knees. His fangs descended with a hiss and he
dropped his weapons on the grass. The grey smoke evaporated, yet Cassius’s hands lay limp in his lap.
‘Stop this,’ I said though I knew it was pointless.
Justin’s cold fingers locked on me again. His icy palm pulled my head towards his face.
Look away. Look away.
But I couldn’t
. . .
Our eyes met, and the moon darkened.
There is no sky. No grass. No Wickham. I am no longer standing – there is only endless, infinite space.
My tension dissipates – I can just float here if I want to. I don’t need to worry about Rhode or the fight on the field. Yes, this is right. I want to be here with Justin. I want
to be without my body. Why am I even fighting Justin? I should be helping him. I love him. If I stay here, he will find me.
I crumpled to the grass. My forehead smacked the ground, sending a wave of nausea through me. I inhaled the scent of the soil and brought my knees to my chest in a fetal position. I
couldn’t fight any more. No more.
I am still in my body. That’s what counts. I am safe.
Justin too had hit the ground. He seemed bewildered by the sight of me. He hoisted himself up and backed away.
‘What are you trying to do?’ I croaked, while cradling my head.
‘It’s no use,’ he muttered. ‘That’s twice now. I can’t take you.’
Take me. That’s what he’s doing.
Taking
me somewhere.
The middle of my forehead throbbed again and again. I could barely lift my neck the ache was so bad.
‘I’ll find a way,’ he said under his breath. And with a burst of cold air, he spread his fingers wide and was gone from the field. He moved too fast for my mind to ascertain
which direction he had gone.
I’ll find a way.
I kept repeating it to myself.
I’ll find a way.
This was all part of Justin’s plan.
The pain in my head had dulled, but it was still sensitive to touch.
‘Get inside. Get inside,’ Cassius said, leading me into the chapel. When I stepped inside the building, Tracy was sitting in the last pew, holding her wrist close to her body. Tony
stood at her side with a hand on her shoulder. A vampire approached Tracy, holding a medical bag. She drew her hand away nervously.
The vampire knelt before Tracy. ‘You should trust me,’ he said. ‘I’ve been a healer for two hundred years.’
My gut wrenched at the discomfort in her eyes. She stretched out her arm and he produced a bandage from the bag.
A chill ran over me and I hugged myself to keep warm. Justin had forced my gaze a few times now. It was purposeful; it wasn’t just to ‘look into my eyes’. He wanted to remove
me from my conciousness. Like I was being transported from my body.
I’ll find a way.
To do what? This plan of Justin’s, whatever it was, was much more complicated than I realized. I had been wasting time puzzling it out as if his intent was simply to attack Wickham. I
should have been trying to find a way to take him down. If I injured him, I could stop him from gaining any more power. I could try to find the boy I knew and loved inside that vampire shell.
I walked down the aisle of the chapel and sat down in the first row of pews. Behind me, the vampires paced up and down the rows. Two stood by the door keeping watch on the fields.
‘His coven is gone,’ one of the vampires said to Cassius as he followed me up the row.
When Justin takes me, what are the steps?
He seemed to have power over my consciousness but couldn’t follow through with it because vampire law prevented him from hurting me.
I shivered.
Wherever he took me, I liked being there. Whatever Justin was capable of doing to me numbed me to reality. My world had become his world.
I’ll find a way . . . to do what exactly? What was the purpose?
Cassius handed me a towel so I could clean my face and hands. The chapel was a large stone room with stained-glass windows high up in the walls. The moon filtered through the decorated glass,
casting pearly moonlight on to the pews and pulpit. Vampires had no fear of churches or religious buildings; they held no sway. Yet, in a room such as this, I felt protected.
Tony stood protectively by Tracy’s side watching the vampire care for her injury. A purple bruise blossomed on my wrist. It shone through the fabric of the bloodied bracelet.