“Get serious.”
“Honesty is thebest policy. Besides, it has taken us two nights t’get here. Youcan’t just give up now we’re at the end of the line.” Shepassed through the iron gates, turned, and looked up at me. “Getin here, and when you see her, just apologize for being a shitefriend and tell her you’re in a fuck load of trouble and she is theonly one you know who will be able to help you. Get on your kneesand beg if you have to.”
“So, leave out thatI’m a Vampire?”
“Just until sheinvites you in the house. Then again, she has been doing this foryears so might also know straight off that you’re a Vamp or shemight not recognise you ... Either way, the fact that you’retopless and in chains might clue her in. So maybe stand a couplefeet back from the door so you have room t’move encase she has aweapon at hand.”
Elle would have morethan one reason to not be happy to see me, the fact that it hadbeen years since we’d last seen each other being the main one, butme being a Vampire and showing up at her door begging for helpafter years of not seeing her ...
“Maybe it was amistake t’come here.” I stepped away from the gates. “Maybe Ishould figure this out myself.”
“Figure what out?You don’t know any other Vampire so you have no one t’guide you andhelp you get t’grips with ‘life as one of the undead,’ the Vampireswho are aware of you want you dead because they sure as hell didn’tsee you as an equal ... you were their prisoner, remember? I’m theonly person who firstly, knows Vampires exist so I at least won’tthink you’re crazy, secondly, show me the folder and I mightactually know how t’find out answers about why Vampires have afacility and are doing experiments.”
“If the realyou chooses t’help me.”
“There is only oneway of finding out, and that means being a big brave Vampire andwalking down this drive.”
For weeks, all I hadthought about was whether I would get out of that facility ... andhow insane everything was, but I had never thought past that. Neverthought about what I would do if I was back in the real world. Icouldn’t go back home to my family, because even though I wouldlove to see them, and they would be happy to know I was okay ... Iwas dead. What kind of a life could I have? Would I be a danger toanyone? I didn’t have the urge to go killing anyone or anything,but would that change? I hadn’t drunk any blood for the last twodays, and I felt fine. I had no idea what else I was capable of andno idea what I was supposed to do now with my newfound freedom.
“I thought youwanted t’find out why this has happened to you?”
“No, you want to findout why this has happened to me. I don’t know if I want toknow.”
“You werekidnapped, technically murdered, turned into a—”
“I know what hashappened t’me, Elle.” I lifted my arms, rattling the chain to mycuffs, the folder still in my clutches. “You don’t have t’keepreminding me.”
“Don’t you wantanswers? Don’t you want t’know why?”
I didn’t know what Iwanted. My focus for the last few nights had been getting far awayfrom that place ... had been on finding Elle, the real Elle,because she was the only one in the world I knew I could trust withwhat had happened to me. I had questions; I had a shitload ofquestions. Things that didn’t add up to what she had told me whenwe were young; things I couldn’t wrap my head around. Surely, Ellewas the perfect person to ask? I knew she was, but now, standingoutside sanctuary, I felt unsure.
“I can’t do thistonight. I need time. I need to think.”
“You’ve beenthinking the last few nights.”
“No, I’ve had youchattering at me for the last few nights, keeping me locked in thatcell.” I tapped my head. “I need peace and quiet. I need you t’goaway.”
Arms folded, she gaveme a shrug. “Fine, but just remember without me, you’re now allalone in the world.” She started to fade, like the sand in anetcher sketch, only I wasn’t shaking her to erase her. She was justblinking out of view. “So, make sure you use your quiet timewisely and figure out what the fuck you’re going t’do.”
My gaze remained onthe space which she had currently occupied. Silence engulfed me asI stood in the darkness. “What the heck am I goingt’do?”
*****
~ Danielle ~
Wednesday14th October, 2015
6:33am
Glendalough MonasticCity hadn’t been an active place of worship in almost a century,and despite it being a tourist attraction, not to mention theperfect backdrop for a scene right out of a hammer house film ...there was an echo of something sacred here amongst the crumbledwalls and headstones. A security and peace I had never feltanywhere else. Some might have found it strange to sit amongstgraves and be at peace, but I suppose it was ironic that I feltsafe here in the ancient Celtic cemetery, at home amongst theresting dead.
I had visited thissite often in my childhood, ever since I had been dubbed old enoughto go exploring on my own. The Round Tower and the accompanyingbuildings had been mine and Nathan’s favourite place to explore aschildren, and after he left, I’d kept the ritual up, visiting thesite at least once a week, once the gates had shut, sneaking in andclimbing the wall to watch the sunset.
However, workingevening into night had its drawbacks which meant some days, I hadto watch the sunrise instead, which was why I sat on the highcrumbled wall of what remained of the Friar’s House, my back to theRound Tower, huddled in layers with a flask of hot coffee cradledbetween my gloved hands.
It was an odd ritual,perhaps morbid, but I had never made my mind up whether I believedin God, and for years, I had come here to unburden my soul, firstto Nathan, sharing secrets and stories, and once he was gone, toanyone who would listen. I figured, at the very least,
