What Kills Me

  “If Zee is special, maybe she can survive even that?” Jerome said.

  “Why don’t we test that theory,” grumbled Lucas.

  Noel shot him a look. “Did anyone see you escape?”

  “No. I don’t think so,” I said.

  Noel stood and paced the room. Outside rain began to fall. “It won’t take very long for the Aramatta to find her. They’ll search the entire coastline. They’ll track her here.”

  “What’s the Aramatta?” I asked.

  “The Monarchy’s guards,” Jerome said.

  “We’re going to have to move quickly,” Noel said.

  Jerome looked frightened. “What are we going to do?”

  “We have to leave.”

  “We can’t just leave our home,” Lucas said, his voice rising.

  “It’ll only be for a short time,” said Noel. “Until we can figure something out.”

  “Why do we have to go?” Jerome asked.

  Noel glanced at me. “Because Zee isn’t safe here.”

  “This is crazy!” Lucas shouted. “Father, we don’t even know her.”

  “Noel, it’s okay,” I said, standing. “I’ll leave. I don’t want to cause problems.”

  “Zee, sit down,” Noel said. “Lucas, we took her into our home. We agreed to take care of her.”

  “I never agreed.”

  “Well, I did. I promised Zee that she would be safe with us.”

  “So what? You’re going to risk our lives for a stranger?”

  “What do you propose, son?” Noel looked intently at Lucas. “That we send her out to be slaughtered? That we stand by and do nothing when the Aramatta come to kill her?”

  Lucas looked wounded. Without warning he whirled around and punched the wall. A stone chunk broke off. I felt sick with fear and guilt. Noel had offered me shelter, and in return I had brought chaos and disaster into his peaceful home.

  “Don’t worry, Zee,” Noel said. “It’ll be okay.”

  I didn’t believe him.

  “I’m so sorry about all of this,” I breathed.

  “It’s not your fault,” he said.

  “Maybe they won’t come here,” I said.

  “They will.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “We know them well. We served as their weapons makers.”

  Noel sent Jerome outside to lock up the workshop and check the property while he and Lucas went downstairs to gather supplies. Upstairs I did a nervous dance. I couldn’t stop shaking, fidgeting, pacing. I kept looking out the windows. They returned with backpacks and weapons. Across his back Lucas carried two shorter blades, similar to the swords that the soldiers carried. His father gripped a huge weapon, a sword on steroids.

  “It’s a broadsword,” he said, catching my bug-eyed look.

  “For chopping heads?” I said, with a weak smile.

  “That’s right.”

  “What can I do to help?” My teeth were chattering.

  Noel handed me a lit lantern. “You can light the way.”

  “Where will we go?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry about that,” he said. He gave me a backpack and I put it on.

  “Father,” Lucas said. He had gone rigid. We listened to the rain pelt the roof. Then I heard something else. I heard the snapping of branches.

  Lucas heard it too. He dashed for the front door and threw it open. As I ran toward the door, I saw Jerome in the distance. His back was to us as he faced the forest. His white T-shirt was translucent in the rain.

  “Jerome!” Noel shouted.

  Suddenly, the forest began to move. It was as if the shadows of the trees were coming alive. Soldiers emerged from the murk. The rain fell in narrow slits and splattered against their leather gear. They pulled their swords out of their scabbards.

  “Jerome!” Lucas screamed. Panic broke his voice.

  God no.

  Jerome took a step back. A soldier approached him with a weapon. Jerome turned as if to run away. The soldier lunged forward. With one sweep he sliced Jerome’s head from his body.

  Chapter 15

  I was on my knees, screaming. Screaming so hard I thought my throat would explode. Lucas’s face was contorted, grotesque with bared fangs, fighting to break free of his father. Noel wrestled him back from the door, back into the kitchen. Noel was shouting, holding Lucas by the neck and shaking him. It was like we were being wiped away by a tidal wave, thrashing, screaming, drowning. Everything was noise, thunder, until Noel grabbed us both and pulled us close.

  “Listen to me!” he yelled. “Lucas, take Zee and run. Do you understand? Run. Go now!”

  “No!” Lucas yelled back.

  “Go now!”

  I stared at Noel. “What about you?” I cried.

  “I’m not leaving you!” Lucas shouted at his father.

  Noel held his son’s cheeks and pressed their foreheads together. Lucas gripped his father’s wrists and squeezed his eyes shut.

  “GO!” Noel screamed. He threw Lucas back and spun around, drawing his sword as he faced the door.

  The general was already standing inside. Six of his soldiers slipped in after him and unsheathed their own swords.

  “Swordsmith,” the general said.

  Noel and Lucas appeared stunned to see him.

  “General,” Noel said. Lucas bristled.

  “Put down your weapon,” ordered the general.

  “Your warriors murdered my page, my lord,” Noel said. “I have reason to be armed.”

  “Do not make me warn you again.”

  “You attacked without provocation. I demand to know why your soldiers killed my page.”

  “You are in violation of the Monarchy’s laws,” the general said.

  “What law?”

  “You are harboring an illegal vampire.”

  “We were unaware of any such crime,” Noel said.

  “Don’t play with me, Swordsmith,” the general growled. He pointed at me. “That creature right there is a fugitive of the Monarchy. You were preparing to move her.”

  “Zee has done nothing wrong,” Noel said.

  “That is not for you to decide. Stand down.”

  “I can’t allow you to touch her,” Noel said. “You won’t take anyone else from me.”

  “Then you leave us no choice.” The general signaled to his men. “Kill them.”

  The soldiers attacked. Lucas pushed me aside and reached back for his swords. He spun away as the first soldier thrust a sword at him, the blade grazing his ribs. With one motion, Lucas unsheathed his swords and slashed the soldier across the face. Two more came at him from different sides, moving so swiftly I gasped. As Lucas fought them, the soldier with blood seeping from his face vaulted over a chair toward me. I stumbled back against the fridge, the lantern against my chest as my only weapon. The cut on his face sealed up before my eyes.

  I screamed as he approached me. Suddenly, two blades appeared on either side of his neck. It was Lucas. He scissored off the soldier’s head, which popped off and thumped to the floor. Still screaming, I kicked it away.

  Noel had destroyed the other vampires; their headless corpses were sprawled in the living room among broken furniture. With a roar Noel charged the general. The general waited, motionless. At the last second, he pivoted his body to avoid Noel’s falling sword and then punched him in the face. When Noel stumbled back, the general drew his own weapon.

  “Father!” Lucas yelled. He moved to help Noel but more soldiers rushed toward him.

  Noel licked the blood from his cut lip.

  “You’re no match for me, Swordsmith,” the general said.

  “We’ll see.”

  Their blades clashed, and the force of the general’s strike threw Noel off balance. He ducked the general’s sword and rolled across the floor, trying to slice the general’s shins. But the general jumped, his weapon raised like an ax. He slammed the blade down, missing Noel’s face by an inch. The strike broke through the wooden floor, lea
ving a huge pit. The house quivered. Noel leaped to his feet. He kicked the dining table at the general, who split it in half with his sword.

  They hunted each other around the living room, a faint smile on the general’s lips. Then Noel rushed at him, slicing the air with his blade, but the general deflected his blows. As Noel raised his sword above his head, the general lunged forward and grabbed Noel’s elbow with one hand. With the other, he rammed his sword through Noel’s chest.

  NO.

  Noel’s sword fell. The tip of the general’s sword stuck out of his back.

  “Father!” Lucas screamed. Three soldiers converged on him. He bent backward, fanning his swords out and beheading two warriors behind him.

  The general tore his blade from Noel’s torso. As Noel started to fall, the general swung his weapon at his neck. I squeezed my eyes shut.

  Lucas’s cry of anguish filled the house.

  Chapter 16

  Lucas stabbed both of his swords into a soldier’s eyes and then lobbed off the top of his skull. He then glared across the room at his father’s killer. His face was wild.

  More soldiers were converging on the house. The general smirked and slid his sword back in its sheath. His warriors formed a line in front of him. My eyes darted from Lucas to the soldiers.

  “Drop your weapon or suffer the same fate as your father,” the general warned.

  “Go to hell,” Lucas said.

  He’s going to be killed. We’re going to be killed.

  Desperate, I searched the room. The back door was open, but we would never make it. Then my eyes found the plastic bottle. I had left it by the sink.

  Fire.

  “Cut him down,” the general ordered.

  I inhaled, summoning courage and shoved myself away from the cabinets. Before Lucas could advance, I snatched up the container and threw it in front of the general and his men. It slid on its side, spilling its liquid across the floor. The general and I locked eyes. His mouth started to open. Then I tossed the lantern at them.

  Grabbing Lucas’s arm, I bolted for the back door. From the corner of my eye, I watched the lantern’s twirling descent. I had one foot outside when it exploded.

  I felt the heat against my back, but in an instant the rain was on me. The cries of the vampires inside the house grew faint as Lucas and I ran. We ran into the darkened forest in a frenzy, destroying shrubs and branches in our path. I followed Lucas as we wove through the trees, skidded down hills, and sailed over creeks. The ground gave way under our feet, our heels tearing up the sod and grass. I was sure the soldiers were right behind us. Lucas did not look back. I kept blinking water out of my eyes; some of it streamed into my mouth and it tasted like blood. I realized then that I was crying.

  Lucas made a sharp left and I struggled to follow. We streaked across a clearing and through a thick mass of short trees toward a low, rumbling sound. We burst through some bushes onto a gravel road. Ahead of us a truck was speeding away. In seconds we caught up to it and grabbed the back. Lucas pulled back the tarp covering the cab. I jumped inside first, my wet body rolling in between wooden crates of leafy green vegetables. Lucas hopped on, landing in a squat position.

  Our eyes met. Lucas looked crushed and turned away. There were no words. None existed to describe such horror.

  ***

  The storm passed. Or else we outran the clouds. More than an hour had elapsed since the truck had veered onto a paved, busy road. We rumbled along, curving around mountains, the smell of rain, earth, and greens in my nostrils. Lucas sat with his elbows on his knees, the backpack by his side. He stared straight ahead, his face stoic. I hugged my knees to my chest; my clothing was still damp but I didn’t mind the cold. I took a breath to indicate that I was going to break our silence.

  “Lucas,” I said softly. “I’m so sorry about your father and Jerome.”

  He didn’t even blink.

  “I know that if I had never come, none of this would have happened. I’m not asking you to ever forgive me. I just want you to know how sorry I am.”

  I didn’t expect him to answer. I stared at Jerome’s runners. He had tied the laces so tight that the shoe looked as if it had a waist.

  “You interfered back there,” Lucas said. “You should have let me kill them all.”

  “I didn’t want you to die.”

  “I should have died with my father.”

  “He would have wanted you to live.”

  “How do you know what he would have wanted?” he spat.

  “I’m sorry.” I’m saying all the wrong things.

  Another hour passed before Lucas spoke again. “Dawn will come soon,” he said, startling me.

  “I can help you find some shelter, and then I’ll leave you alone.”

  “No,” he said, without looking at me. “You’re taking me to find this cleric.”

  “Uther? Why?”

  “He might be able to tell us what’s going on.”

  I nodded. Uther will know what to do.

  “They sent the general and an entire brigade for one vampire. Why would they do that? It doesn’t make sense.” He looked at me for the first time since we got in the truck. “What don’t I know, schoolgirl?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve told you everything. I swear.”

  He turned away. “I need to know what my family died for.”

  I hung my head. They died because of me.

  He lifted the tarp and peered out. “We’re passing a nearby town,” he said. “We can find an inn or a hotel there. At dusk, we’ll travel to Rome.”

  He gave me a nod and parted the tarp. He jumped out as the vehicle rounded a corner.

  “Wait,” I said. I scuttled to the edge and flipped up the tarp. Lucas was standing in a ditch. Oh geez. I threw myself out. I expected to crash onto the pavement, the concrete scraping off patches of skin. Except that time seemed to slow while I was in mid air. Landing with one foot on the street and letting the momentum carry me forward, I put my right hand down and did a frontward flip. I stood and turned to look at the truck speeding away. Then I looked back at Lucas.

  “Did you see that?” I asked. I pointed over my shoulder with my thumb.

  “See what?”

  “See me not fall out of the truck? I did like, a flip or something,” I said.

  He rolled his eyes and walked by me.

  “That was amazing,” I said, to no one in particular.

  We jogged down the street and I glimpsed the town from above. It was on the sea, but I had heard and smelled that from the truck. All the buildings were about the same height and white with brown, clay-tiled roofs. Few lights were lit.

  Lucas checked over his shoulder.

  “Do you think they’re close?” I asked.

  “Perhaps. But they will also be looking for a place to hide in the day.”

  We roamed the empty streets. A tabby cat lounging at the base of a palm tree watched us and hissed when Lucas neared. Lucas stopped to read a sign outside of a row of buildings. I followed him through an archway into a small, bare courtyard. We climbed a narrow staircase to a door flanked by planters filled with pink flowers.

  A curly-haired man at the counter removed his glasses as we walked inside. He was wearing a light blue shirt with stains under the arms; his spicy body odor and his woody aftershave stung my nose. I examined the valleys in his forehead, the pits that were the pores dotting his cheeks, and the bluish, puffy skin under his eyes. Tiny pools of oil had formed on his bulbous nose. I was amazed at the detail I was seeing. The man raised his bushy, triangular-shaped eyebrows, and when he smiled, more lines ran across his face. His skin seemed to shift over his skull like bunching panty hose.

  The room filled with the man’s heavy breathing and a deep drum beat.

  Heartbeat. The more I focused on it, the louder it got.

  I was staring. Lucas nudged me.

  “Hello,” I said. The man flinched.

  “Shh,” Lucas said.

  I realized that I was
shouting over the sounds. I could even hear the squelching of liquid in this man’s veins.

  “Sorry,” I whispered. “We’d like a room for the rest of tonight and tomorrow please.”

  The man nodded.

  I found his gestures to be extremely jerky and abrupt, like a skittish bird. He turned and pulled a key from a hook on the wall. A network of veins ran along the inside of his arm and pooled in the fleshy part under his thumb. I became fixated on that part of his hand; it was white, blue, and fat like the belly of a fish. For some reason, looking at it made me want a steak. I shook my head to clear the craving.

  “You American?” he scratched his head and it sounded like Velcro tearing apart.

  “We’re from Canada,” I said, again, a little too loudly.

  The man wagged his finger at us. “Married?”

  “Oh no,” I said.

  “One bed,” the man said, dangling the key.

  “Actually, can we have two beds?” I asked, leaning over the counter.

  “One is fine,” said Lucas.

  I gaped at him before turning back to the man and forcing a smile. Lucas dug into his backpack and handed the man some cash. I made a basket out of my hands and the man dropped the keys and some change into them.

  “Goodnight,” I called.

  “Buonanotte,” he said.

  We climbed four flights of stairs and found our room. Room nineteen.

  I flicked on a light switch, which illuminated two lamps on either side of the bed. A few crushed mosquito carcasses were stuck on the cream-colored walls. A man in a neighboring room was snoring.

  “That guy downstairs was loud,” I said. “How do you concentrate with all of the noise?”

  Lucas dropped his bag on the bed. He spoke without looking at me. “Your senses grow more acute as you get older but you’ll learn to block things out.”

  I removed Jerome’s soggy runners and held them in my hands. The image of his death flashed in my mind and I fought a wave a nausea. Instead, I pictured us in the field.

  “Now it’s just Noel and Lucas.”

  “And you.”

  “And now you.”

  His mischievous smile.

  Now it’s just Lucas and me.

  Lucas’s eyes were also fixed on the runners. He clenched his jaw. He removed a small black satchel from his bag and shook out a thin, flat stone. He snapped off the harness that fastened his swords to his back. He pulled a sword out of its sheath and began rubbing the stone on the blade.