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Chapter Nineteen
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Ariane stands before me with a smug grin, gloating in my angst over Sarthimia’s betrayal and the loss of Mina. Blood is slowly pouring out of my open wounds that still refuse to close, despite my enhanced abilities. Jackston is in a far worse shape than me, hanging almost lifelessly on the opposite wall. She must have poisoned us.
“However,” she says with a mocking tone but cuts herself off.
Jackston moans softly behind her, it must be one of his brief moments of consciousness. His has lost so much blood that the puddle beneath him is spreading over the floor, running in a trail between Ariane’s feet.
“’However?’” I demand, craving an explanation.
The chains behind her rattle as Jackston shifts uneasily. He is in immense pain.
“However,” she explains, “they have not given their consent to my actions.”
What does that mean? Does it mean that Mina is still alive? Do I even dare to hope?
The chamber is dimly lit as the light from the torches reflects off the cold metal of those horrifying tools placed here. Most of them, I do not as much as want to consider the use of, but some of them I recognise from previous encounters. The one placed on my right, a few meters away is one of those; the Guillotine – the master decapitator. It serves no purpose here – vampires are not killed by decapition, at least not when ordered to execution by the Council. Why is it here, and what are those other strange metal tools?
“Do you like them, Theodore?” Ariane asks with a wide grin, having noticed my horrified expression when watching the strange tools and machinery.
I refuse to answer her. She laughs at my small attempt to defy her.
“You don’t have to,” she explains, “few vampires before you have, other than the ones pulling the strings of course.”
I look questioningly at her, not wanting to satisfy her with my curiosity, but I find myself having little choice.
“What do you mean?” I ask, though hating myself for doing so.
Naturally, my question puts a pleased smile on her lips. She leans next to my ear and whispers softly.
“I think you know exactly what I mean,” she says.
Seizing the opportunity, I pull my arms furiously in front of myself to grab her. I have not even as much as blinked before she is standing next to a metal casket on the other side of the chamber, glaring infuriated at me. The chains rattle restlessly against each other as I growl at her. I felt the concrete, which hold the attachments to them, budge at my attempt to reach Ariane. Perhaps I am not as helpless as she thinks.
“Filth,” she snarls from her safe distance.
I grin pleased, only to half a second later feel all air leaving my body and sheer pain replacing it. She has knocked the air out of me and does not even look strained. I gasp desperately.
“Allow me to enlighten you,” she says. “This chamber is one of the first built in the Asylaum. It was the one thing that was found necessary – as a mean of control."
I give her a mixed look of desperation and perplexity – I need air – now. Ariane ignores my suffering without being bothered.
“You see, Theodore,” she continues, “after your kind was given laws, they settled down and built themselves a home – the Asylaum. In time they had even become a society – a tainted society, corrupted by power and filth, but a society nonetheless. As nature would have it, the most powerful vampires took control of this society and bossed the weaker vampires around – childish behaviour for beings created with ancient blood. This system eventually got so worked in that it became the rules and laws of the Asylaum. Thusly, the Council was formed, and shortly after it came the Guidance, given birth by the fundamental laws of the Sisterhood and the obsession of power and control by the Lords.”
She pauses with a malicious glint in the corner of her eye.
“The Lords began to study the anatomy of vampires,” she goes on, “not out of their great curiosity by it, but to learn of its weaknesses; to learn how to wound it the most. The scientists’ findings resulted in this very chamber that is well hidden from any common Brethren and grants entrance to only the Council members – the Lords.”
I stare at her, stricken with horror – this cannot be true.
“But word spread, Theodore,” she grins, “those few lucky to survive this chamber of torture told others about it. Naturally, this was the Council’s intention. For with the chamber being common knowledge, they could control every living vampire not only through power – but through fear.”
“You’re lying,” I snarl hoarsely, my throat is dry.
“I understand why you would want to believe that, Theodore,” she chortles, “with the Lords being the backbone of your very society and race – the pride of your whole existence. Why would they do such a thing?” she asks sarcastically.
I glare sorely at her as my breath slowly returns to me.
“Because they’re monsters!” she exclaims. “Just like you – they’re monsters! They’re filth. They prey on your fear and weaknesses as well as that of the Guardians’. You deserve nothing but death – all of you!”
I have to bite my lip not to tell her who truly deserves of death. She cannot possibly be telling the truth. After a moment, she has calmed herself down again, but she is clearly not done spreading her lies.
“I see that you do not trust my words,” she says, “would it help if I told you that someone close to you has been chained against that very wall you’re currently residing against?”
An image flashes by my mind, faint but significant. I push it away, though it shows me who she speaks of.
“Liar!” I ejaculate.
I squirm in rage as she chuckles at me attempts to reach her. She is standing in the puddle of Jackston’s blood, which has grown increasingly vast during her speech.
“But you know, don’t you? You know that I speak the truth – you see it,” she says.
My heart starts beating faster and more intense. My breathing is heavy. I am panting and perspiring immensely.
“You—are—lying!” I cry, but only making the last word heard.
I have been waiting for quite some time now. I admit my concerns. The Council has spoken to him longer than expected. Though I do not know what is the normal length of a meeting with the Lords, I gather that this is taking longer than usual.
He finally leaves the Council Chamber. Something is wrong – he is limping. I hurry to his side to steady his walk.
“What happened to you, Sire?”
His eyes are dim and he is trembling slightly.
“Nothing, Théodore,” he lies with a weak smile.
“But—”
He turns before me to stare straight into my eyes, piercing my will instantly.
“It’s nothing. We simply had a discussion,” he states.
I know that he is lying. Discussions do not hurt people, not like this. Was the Council upset of my Rebirth and punished him?
“Do you understand?” he asks, making sure that his lie will become truth in my ears.
I hesitate for a moment, looking behind my back at the direction of the Council Chamber and then studying his limp. Then I glance into his eyes and nod gravely.
“I understand, Sire.”
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“You’re monsters, Theodore,” she repeats with despise. “I had wished you to realise this before killing you, but you failed miserably in doing so. I am not surprised.”
“We are not monsters!”
I have had enough of her – cuffing us against a wall, cut us open and then have the guts of calling us monsters? I am tempted to tear this entire wall down and have her buried beneath it, but since I am stuck to it that would mean burying myself in the process. I prefer to live un-buried.
“But you are,” she says condescendingly. “Why else would think that Jackston over there looks the way he does?”
“Because you’ve poisoned him!”
This puts a smile on her face, which soon turns into a taunting cascade of laughter.
“That I have,” she titters, “that I have. But that is not related to his less flattering appearance.”
I refuse to satisfy her once more with my ignorance by begging for an explanation, and I obviously do not need to. My perplexed expression is enough for her to find pleasure in.
“You are monsters, Theodore.”
She raises a sharp finger and points it at the dying Jackston before me.
“That,” she snorts, “is your true face. You’re monsters hiding in human shells. Should the monster’s hunger not be calmed, it will reveal its true face and replace that travesty of a masquerade you hide so skilfully behind.”
She pauses only to gloat at my blank eyes, widened in revulsion.
“I thought that you would grasp that when I revealed your true selves,” she continues, “even several times. But in your arrogance you blamed a petty disease, instead of understanding the real nature of your being – pathetic.”
My eyelids are getting heavy, making it increasingly difficult to keep my eyes open. I slam my hands hard into the wall behind me to cause enough pain to keep me awake. Groaning slightly I then look at Ariane.
“But Sarthimia said—”
“Sarthimia said what she had to say!” she exclaims violently. “Like you puny vampires, the Sisterhood also has rules to obey, only we don’t have them because of fear, but because of love to our soul creators and protectors; the Ancients. And one of those rules is to never betray a sister, which is why neither she, nor any of the other sisters, could tell you anything. Other than hinting discretely, of course, saying that I was a disease – me, a disease? I hope that you realise the irony of calling a being of pure blood a disease in the company of a true plague like yourself, Theodore.”
I know now that Sarthimia was indeed hiding something from me – something utterly crucial. I do not think that I will ever forgive her for it, but I realise that the rules she is following are not unlike the ones I obey.
“What of you?” I ask, “If you don’t have your sisters’ approval, you must be betraying them by doing what you are.”
This clearly pushes several of her buttons. Her face suddenly turns heavy red and her eyes seem to darken in rage.
“I betray them no more than she did when she created you!” she roars wrathfully.
I shut my eyes and prepare for another blow – I receive none. Instead, Ariane appears to crawl into a shell in her mind, praying for forgiveness from the Ancients and the sisters for what she has done and what she is about to do. Clearly she is a woman of faith.
She looks at me through damp eyes.
“They won’t come for you, Theodore,” she whispers with frail voice. “I know that you pray for it, but they won’t. They are too devoted to the Ancients to betray their vows to them, even Sarthimia. That’s why they’ve let me go on this far, and that’s why they will let me go all the way. And when I’m done, I shall pray for their forgiveness, knowing that it will be given to me. You see, Theodore, that is what we do – forgive. Unlike you monsters we are capable of forgiveness – and love.”
“Vampires forgive,” I say.
She looks away distantly again, her mind off somewhere other than this cold chamber.
“No, you don’t,” she says distantly. “Look at your friend there. Had you not been chained to that wall, you would have ripped him apart for hurting a human – the one human you actually care about.”
My eyes turn to Jackston; he is on the brink of death. I observe his suffering in shame.
“No I wouldn’t,” I whisper, “not anymore. He was not himself, I know that now. You turned him into a monster.”
A small grin spread on Ariane’s lips.
“Have you not been listening, you—”
For the first time tonight I cut her off, instead of her knocking me breathless.
“I have been listening! But no matter if it’s true or not, I know that what I see in front of me is not Jackston, but something your have turned him into!”
My curiosity then gets the better of me.
“How did you do it?” I ask.
She sniggers quietly to herself, obviously amused by her own doings.
“We made you, Theodore, it’s our blood that’s floating in your veins, tainted as it may be,” she says. “Having created you, we possess the power to control you. We have the ability to do that which every vampire Reader dreams of doing – control the minds of vampires.”
I should be surprised. Such power is beyond anything I ever have seen or heard of, but seeing the image of Mina hovering in front of Sarthimia and me clinched to a wall; I recognise that mind-juggling vampires it not far from making them soar in midair. Instead, I sneer at Ariane.
“You forced this upon him and Mina, and the Lords and all the vampires before them, and then you made them come after me! Why?” I demand.
She gleams with narcissism when I ask this, as if I have just asked the one question she has been waiting for.
“The first few were to make you aware of your monstrosity and to distract the Council,” she begins, “the Elder was to test your strength, Jackston was to distract you when you were getting too close to the truth and lastly; the father of your protégé was simply to cause you pain and send you on a massive guilt-trip. It was, however, badly timed seeing how you were arrogant enough to bring her to Sarthimia and let her witness my doing before her very eyes.”
“Distract the Council from what?” I demand, denying ever having heard of Mina’s father.
“Me,” she says coldly. “I may be far stronger than you’ll ever be, but I couldn’t possibly extinct you without dividing you, which was done so simply once I gained access to the Lords and caused them to go berserk on the ones they have sworn to protect. It kind of makes it harder to trust them,” she chuckles.
I growl and pull my arms slightly in front of me, feeling the chains trembling at my strength. Maybe they were not designed for an Elder with the blood of another Elder and the blood of a Lord on top of that. Maybe, just maybe, I can tear these chains of the wall and slowly strangle Ariane to death.
“But not all Lords went berserk, only two. What of the others?” I say, trying to push her buttons once more.
She sneers arrogantly.
“The Lords are cowards, like the rest of your kind. They locked themselves up as soon as two of them turned. I have not been able to reach them since then, but I will – trust me on that. It will just take me some time.”
I snigger lightly, only as much as my lungs allow. I feel blood splash in them as I do so.
“Are a few vampires too much for a woman of your powers?” I mock. “After all you’ve told me, I figured that you could crush all of us in your sleep if you so wished.”
Bad move – I might have pushed it a bit too far. She plunges towards me and slams her fist at my right temple. I feel the world grow black. No – I refuse to. I must stay focused – keep myself conscious.
“Enough!” Ariane roars. “I’m leaving you now, Theodore. There are more important things to do. If you haven’t already figured it out; I have poisoned you. The bleeding won’t stop until your bodies are drained dry, which your friend’s body will be shortly. You can thank your precious Council for this; they are the ones who developed the poison. It’s a great way of getting information out of Brethren, they figure. It doesn’t work on humans, but your blood is just the trigger to make the poison kick in.”
My world is still spinning when I see her blurry contours move for the wooden door. She is just about to open the door when she turns around and glances at me.
“By the way, Theodore,” she says with a scornful undertone, “I would have thanked you for being so helpful by distracting everyone, had it not been for the fact that you made my task harder.”
“W-what do you mean?” I stutter weakly.
She grins slightly, loving the line she is delivering.
“You might very well have created the last vampire,” she says plainly, “for she is currently the most difficult vampire to get a hold of, being under the protection of Sarthimia and all. But fear not; I will get her too. And when I do – I will have all the time I wish, to do whatever I wish with her.”
The blow of hearing those words causes my body to forget its poor state and pumps the little blood left in me swiftly into my veins. ‘Hatred’ is not even near of describing what I am feeling.
“I hope that you’ve said your goodbyes to Mina,” Ariane chuckles.
“BITCH!” I howl, pulling the chains furiously before me.
My rage causes an attachment to give in, no, not the attachment – the wall. A big portion of concrete, the size of a football, shreds from the wall and flies before me at amazing speed as I swing it towards Ariane. She obviously does not expect it, since it hits her head with devastating force. To my amazement, it does not render her head a big unctuous gew, but simply scratches her left cheek slightly, sending a brief spray of pale blood towards the opposite wall. The scratch closes up immediately, leaving me only with the bad reason to strike her – her superior powers and bad temper. Within half a second she has torn the other chain from the wall and thrown me roughly on the cold stone floor. She is applying great pressure on my throat as she places herself on top of me.
“Fool!” she growls. “I was giving you a peaceful death and you choose this?”
“Easy choice to make,” I say.
I feel my throat gradually cave in, narrowing my breath. Tears force their way out my eyes, as if my body is trying to rid itself of anything stopping the airflow. Ariane’s silver eyes shimmer with insanity. I will not give in – not yet.
“You know,” I cough rustling, “some people would get turned on by this.”
She grins thrilled, knowing that my joke is one of desperation. Applying slightly more pressure to my throat, she chortles.
“You were never able to beat me, Theodore,” she states.
Farewell Mina. I pray for your safety and forgiveness. May you make better use of life than I have, and—
Ariane shrieks in pain. I notice strange bulges on her robes, as if something is sticking out of her body. Moments later she is hauled away from me and lying on the stone floor herself. I hear chains rattling, and they are not mine. Looking at the wall where Jackston should be cuffed, I see only two chains swinging lightly, though only half the length of the ones that held us prisoners. The other half of them is hanging off the wrists of the being having impaled Ariane through her back with its claws. I think that she is as shocked as me to see what suddenly gave Jackston the strength to even move. Drops of pale blood remain on his cheeks, too far away from his mouth for him to lick them off.
Jackston pulls her to her feet before giving her a chance to keep track of what is going on. In the meantime I am coughing, relieved of having the pressure removed from my throat.
Ariane’s face is blank when Jackston rams his claws into her chin and out of her forehead. She gasps just as the claws impale her mouth.
“We are now,” I say coldly as I get back on my feet.
Jackston’s eyes are as misty as Amaddeus was when he was dying, but I doubt that Jackston is dying, far from it in fact. I admit myself not caring whether it is the monster in him, or Jackston himself doing this. It brings me satisfaction either way. I find a dagger hidden within Ariane’s robes. I recognise its shape from my wounds and recall her last words before leaving me to ‘die peacefully’.
“Ariane,” I say softly. “If our blood triggers the poison, and our blood is part of your blood – shouldn’t your blood trigger the poison too?”
I wide grin spread on both mine and Jackston’s lips. A horrified expression replaces the smug face I have had to endure for hours. Her lips move, but no words come out.
“Please… don’t,” I watch her mime.
“Upon closer consideration; you were right,” I grin. “Vampires are not capable of forgiveness.”
A swift cut slashes her throat open and welcomes a pale cascade of blood. To my surprise it evaporates the moment it leaves her body, just like the rest of her appears to do. Her body fades into nothingness, leaving not even ashes behind as proof of her demise. Jackston’s claws are soon holding on to nothing, which put a perplexed expression on his face. I pat him gratefully on his back.
“Thanks… old friend,” I whisper, the last words more honest than expected.
When he turns to me I look at a face I admit myself having missed; Jackston’s face, instead of a monster’s. His claws is withdrawing too as I linger in amazement at the change before me. When he is completely turned back he is burdened with shame.
“I’m sorry, Theodore,” he says remorsefully.
“So am I, Jackston – so am I,” I reply gravely, though a faint smile of hope spreads on my lips.
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Chapters
Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
11 | 12| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Epilogue
