Blood Martinis: The Gypsy Vampire's Curse

Ch. 6 ... Consequence

“It's not what you think,”Dylan said.

“What do you mean?”Kate asked, unsure if she should give him the benefit of the doubt. He just looked at her, his eyes pleading.“What's in the maze, Dylan?”

“I don't know where to start,”he said.

“A woman bit me,”she said.“She was delirious. She told me wolves were going to attack us and then she grabbed my arm and bit into my shoulder. I probably have rabies now.”

“Did you get any of her blood in your mouth?”he asked. The colour paled from his face.

“Gross. No. Of course not,”she said.“Why are people in cages?”

“They're not people, Kate. They're vampires,”he said.

“Right, vampires. A vampire bit me. Mm hm. Well, maybe let's just continue this conversation in the car, shall we?”she mocked.

“It's not a joke, Kate. My brothers and I, we're the wolves she was talking about,”he said. Kate took a step back.“We're werewolves.”

“You mean that you're the people she was afraid of,”she said.

“No, I mean we're werewolves. Kilian and our father hunt vampires. I was raised to do that. It's why I went so far away to university, and it is part of why I've come back,”he said.

“You're going to hunt people?”she asked.“You're going to cage them and hurt them?”

“Not people, Kate. Listen to me. They're not people. She wasn't biting you because she's delirious, she bit you because she's hungry,”he insisted.

Just then Kilian walked into the room and slapped the back of his hand against Dylan's shoulder. Kate froze.“We need to talk,”Kilian said.

Looking at the ground, Dylan begged her,“Please, don't go anywhere. Give me a chance. I promise, I'll explain everything. It'll be okay.”

With that he followed Kilian out of the room. After Kilian closed the door, Kate heard a skeleton key going into the lock. Did he just lock me in? She didn't know how to feel other than trapped. The fear started welling back up inside of her. Being around Dylan had calmed her, but now she saw the forest through the trees. She was caged, like those people in the maze only with better quarters. What did I really see? How do I explain it? My phone! She dug it out of her pocket and dialed 9-9-9.

“POLICE, AMBULANCE OR FIRE?”the voice on the other end asked.

“Police?”she said, uncertain. She heard a tap on the line as she waited to be transferred.

“What's the emergency?”the officer said as he picked up. She recognised his voice. It was Sergeant Michael McLean. He played poker at her father's house on Saturday nights.

“Mike, it's Kate Sheridan,”she said.“I need you to come to the Blackburn Estate.”

“How's the festival going? Did something get out of hand?”he asked.“People having a bit too much to drink?”

“No, Mike. It's the Blackburns- they have… it's a… do you know the maze out the back of their property?”she asked.

He paused for a moment.“Yeah, what about it?”he asked.

“They've got people back there,”she said.“They're locked up.”

He laughed.“Kate, it's a party. Things are bound to get a bit wild. Is your father there?”

“Yes, but it's not the party,”she said.

“Talk to your father, Kate. If you're too drunk, he'll bring you home,”he said.

“I'm not drunk,”she insisted.

“Then why are you calling me?”he asked, sounding annoyed.

“The Blackburns are keeping people in cages down the back of the maze. They're hurt. They must be running a fever because they're getting delusional. They look like they haven't eaten in days. Please, you have to help them,”she said.“Dylan said they're vampires. They think they're werewolves and vampire hunters.”

“Where are you, Kate?”he asked.

“Kilian has me locked in the bedroom upstairs,”she said.

“Good,”he said, and hung up the phone.

She couldn't believe her ears. He couldn't be in on this, could he? Is the whole town in on it? She pondered over this while trying to figure out what to do next. She was locked in a room. Who knows what will happen next? She needed to get out of there. She rang her father.

“Daddy, I need you!”she begged.

“Where are you, sweetheart?”he asked.

“Kilian locked me in the room at the top of the stairs. Himself and Dylan are outside the room now. I'm afraid of what they're going to do,”she said.

“What do you mean? What happened?”he asked.

“Brianna and I went into the maze,”she said.“There were people in there, and one of them bit me.”

“That's why you were bleeding?”he asked.

“I need you to help me,”she said.

“I'm coming,”he said.

She closed the phone and hid it in her bra, then snuck up and put her ear to the door. She heard mumbles, and footsteps up the stairs. Then Bennet's voice.

“What's going on up here? Where's Brianna?”Bennet asked.

“I found her in the kennel. She saw everything, so I had to take care of it,”Kilian responded.

“Kate was in there too,”Dylan said.

“Take care of it how?”Bennet asked.

“This isn't the time for arguing,”Dylan said.“We have to clean this up, before people start to notice.”

“I have a right to know what happened to my wife,”Bennet retorted.

“She's not your wife,”Kilian mocked. It sounded like Bennet was coming closer, maybe squaring up to him, but Kilian just laughed.“What are you going to do, Bennet? Are you going to fight me over this? Are you finally going to stand up for yourself?”He must have stepped back.“I thought not.”

Sounding dejected, Bennet said,“I'll go mind the festival. The noise from it should help obscure things.”He headed back down the stairs.

“We'll take care of things here,”Kilian yelled after him.

Kate stepped back from the door and grabbed her bag off the bed. The key turned in the lock, and Kilian and Dylan let themselves back into the room.

“I've called the authorities,”she said.“They're on their way. So is my father.”

“It's okay,”Dylan said.“You don't need to be afraid. We'd never hurt you.”

“Yeah, right,”she said.

“You've just got to listen to me,”he said.“I promise you, I'm telling you the truth.”

“That you're werewolves, and those poor people out the back are vampires? And you're, what, caging them to save humanity?”she mocked, walking toward the door.“Even if you were, and they were… what excuse is that?”

“I'll go with you,”he said. She stopped moving to consider.

“Who put them there?”she asked.

“It doesn't matter,”he said.“I'll take you away from this. You can come with me, and we'll leave. You'll have some time to cool down.”

“Time? What will change in time?”she said, finding her resolve. She walked past him and went for the door, but Kilian blocked it.

“Sweet girl,”Kilian said looking into her eyes.“You never saw anything inside the maze.”He was more brutish than she had remembered. She wasn't about to start arguing. He moved aside, and she walked through the door.

Walking down the steps with her bag in hand, she gripped the rail. This was all too much, it was too weird. She needed her father. She needed to return to normal. She needed to get out of there and away from these people. She needed to run, but she didn't want them to change their minds about letting her go.

“Kate, let me walk you out,”she heard Dylan call down the stairs as her foot stepped off the last step. She kept walking. She noticed someone come in the side door that led out to the garden where the festival was still loud and happening. Then the front door opened, and her father came in. The figure to her side, veiled in darkness, approached quickly. Something about it reminded her of the man she saw in Dublin. She hurried toward her father, as Dylan and Kilian came down the stairs, and that's when the man pounced.

“Get off me,”Kate insisted as the cloaked figure grabbed her side.

Dylan shouted,“Let go of her,”while taking the steps two at a time.

She saw her father and the two boys now dashing toward her before the man finally pulled her out the side door. He had her around the waist and had thrown over his shoulder. It was as if she were a rag doll flopping lifelessly in his arm. She could no sooner right herself than she could find air to scream, as she was strapped into his fireman hold. She had no control. He ran, with superhuman speed, up the grassy field between the festival and the circular drive at the front of the house. The bouncing was making her dizzy. They reached the wall and he jumped, with her on him, over the eight-foot-high cobblestone and concrete as if it were nothing. In the air, she caught sight of Kilian and Dylan not thirty feet from their heels. As they sprinted through the trees, on the other side, they fell further behind. Eventually she could no longer see them.

Her head ricocheted off branches, and occasionally they stuck into her back before bending so unreasonably far they would finally break. It had been a while since she could see Dylan or Kilian. Sometimes she thought she heard their voices, but that could be the ringing in her ears. Then he stopped, in such an isolated place in the woods. He threw her against a tree. There was nothing to be seen but trees. Birds and crickets were quiet, like they too were afraid of this beast.

“I know about your mother,”Vincent whispered in her ear.“I know you can't be compelled. So, this is going to hurt.”

Every muscle in her body tightened, as he sunk his teeth in and ripped at her neck. It made her want to throw up. He pulled away and her blood dripped off him. She could feel it gushing, warming her shoulder and chest.“Help,”she tried to screamed, but was so terrified she couldn't get the sound to push past her lips.“Help,”she squeaked again, and he covered her mouth with his hand.

“Kate, where are you?”she heard Dylan's voice in the far distance. She tried again, but it was still too muffled for him to hear. She bit down on the man's hand, and could taste blood in her mouth; so much she was choking on it.

He slapped her, with the hand that had been on her mouth. Finally, she cried out. The man picked her up, and ran further into the woods. She needed to fight. She knew it. If she didn't fight, she would die. She didn't want to die, but the idea of making him angrier petrified her. He was already so violent and so strong. He slammed her back against another tree. This time it cracked, or was it her? The side of her chest burned with sharp pain, and she would have fallen to her knees had he not been propping her up with one hand gripped around her neck. She knew her ribs must be broken, and possibly her right leg, but that wasn't what concerned her. Her head was warm and moist, with a pulsing headache and she could no longer see. She was clinging to life, but losing the battle, and knew the end was near.

“Please,”she choked out. He let go of her and she hit the ground.

“Please, what?”he mocked, as she pulled herself forward on her elbows with all her might. She didn't know where to go, but away.

“Help,”she tried, with the softness of a mouse.“Help me, Dylan.”

“He can't help you,”Vincent said.“And he wouldn't want to anymore.”

She had wanted to live, but now she wanted to succumb to the pain. Everything hurt so badly. There wasn't any way her body would forgive this and heal. There was too much damage and she knew it. She's be broken, maybe paralysed. She rolled onto her back and allowed herself to breathe, relax, and let go.