12
When Sebastian woke up, he banged his head on the lid of the tool box and groaned. It was the second time in as many days that he’d sat up too quickly, and there were now a pair of matching dents above his head.
Creaking open the lid, Seb was pleased to see that it was completely dark and the moon had already risen over the lake. He was getting better at this. In the early days, he’d almost been fried after getting up too early and finding the sun still high over his nest. Being a vampire sucked. Literally.
Hopping out of the truck, he wandered down to the water and was surprised to see no lights on in the little house. He figured Terry and his friends must have gone to the village, and began the long walk back around the lake. He stuck to the shadows once he reached the first cluster of houses, creeping quietly towards the main street. Seeing Dimitri’s truck parked outside the local tavern, he inched his way to the side of the building and peeked through the window. Inside, he could see no sign of Terry, but Dimitri and Jill were sitting at a table with a group of men the vampire clearly knew to be warlocks. Puzzled, Seb retreated and waited for them to come out.
The temperature was well below freezing, but Seb couldn’t see his breath in the frosty air. He really missed that. Pulling his hood low over his face, he knew he was all but invisible against the darkness of the pick-up, but he still marveled at how little most people actually noticed. Before long, he heard the door to the bar open and Dimitri’s voice sounded clearly across the parking lot.
“Why can’t you just come to our house?” he asked plaintively. “It’s bad enough to have you watching us all night, but I don’t see why we have to spend it in your fucking basement.”
“You’re lucky you’re not spending it with your creepy boyfriend,” replied a gruff voice. “The Chief doesn’t want you getting any brave ideas, so you and your sister are all mine until morning.”
“What a lovely thought,” said Jill sarcastically.
“Shut up Jill,” snapped Dimitri. “If you’d kept your mouth shut, none of this would have happened.”
“If I’d kept my mouth shut, you’d be waking up one morning with your own dick shoved down your throat,” replied Jill. “Terry’s gone. That guy in the church is a stranger who you’d never be able to trust, no matter how much you think you may know him.”
“You’re wrong,” said Dimitri hotly. “Terry hasn’t changed at all.”
“And you know this how, exactly?”
“I love him,” said Dimitri simply.
“Yeah, and he looked pretty happy to see you too.”
As they came into sight, Seb could see Dimitri flush and look angrily away. Moving quickly to the shelter of another vehicle, he watched as two large men pushed Dimitri and Jill into a low sedan before backing onto the road. They drove away in a spray of loose gravel as Seb emerged from his hiding place to cross the street towards the church.
When he got to the decorative picket fence, Seb spied a man leaning against the front door, lighting a cigarette beneath the outstretched form of Jesus on the cross. Seb averted his eyes and shivered. He knew the sight of a cross wouldn’t kill him, but they made him nervous. He still had a lot to learn about being a night creature, and suffered from having no-one around to teach him the ropes.
Slinking to the side of the building, he saw another warlock guarding the back door and knew he was at the right church. Abandoning any thought of entering through the normal openings, Seb looked up and examined the roofline. He knew he could squeeze in through the bell tower if he could just get up there without drawing any attention.
As a boy, Seb had been useless at climbing trees, but now that he was a vampire he could scale any structure in sight. Pulling himself easily to the upper branches of a maple, Seb surveyed the gap between the tree and the church roof, closed his eyes, and leapt into the void. He fell with a clatter on the icy surface and slid gracelessly to the gutter, spreading his limbs and gripping the tiles to stop himself from falling back to the ground. It was a noisy landing, but a family of angry crows took flight and the warlocks on the ground barely looked up. Shuffling carefully to the bell tower, Seb grasped the lip of the open frame and climbed inside.
When he finally emerged from the dark stairwell into the priest’s sacristy, Seb wondered whether he’d made the right choice. The place was full of holy water, crosses, and vestments which he suspected weren’t particularly good for his health. Hurrying through the main part of the church, he could see no sign of Terry and knew he must be somewhere below in the maze of rooms all churches kept for meetings, storage and Sunday school.
Terry was, in fact, still anchored to his chair in the church hall and could hear footsteps approaching. So could the warlock who sat on the other side of the table, arms firmly folded and eyes fixed attentively on his captive.
“That you Don?” he called, shifting slightly but remaining in his seat.
The footsteps stopped and there was a slight pause before a thin voice replied, “No, it’s John. I brought coffee.”
“John?” the warlock asked suspiciously.
“John Pyre. I work at the tavern. The guy upstairs came over and ordered coffee and burgers and told me to bring yours down because he didn’t want to leave the door. I don’t know what you guys are up to, but I’ve got to get back to work so either come and get it or I’ll leave it outside the door.”
“Just leave it.”
“No tip?” asked the familiar voice.
“Fuck off,” growled the warlock, getting to his feet while keeping a watchful eye on Terry.
Opening the door cautiously, the man looked up and down the hall before relaxing to bend and pick up a brown paper bag off the floor. He barely had time to register that it was nothing more than a balled-up pile of garbage when a shape dropped from the ceiling onto his shoulders. Seb pressed his fingers deep into the man’s eyeballs, gripping hard with both legs as his captive tried to shake him free. Howling with pain, the man staggered back into the room and Terry could see Seb grimly trying to bite his neck.
“Never mind biting,” yelled Terry, “that doesn’t work on a warlock. Just try to get him on the ground.”
The man was a hundred pounds heavier than Seb and even though he couldn’t see clearly, the battle was short lived. The warlock simply bent at the knees and hurled himself backwards, crushing Seb against the wall and leaving him in a crumpled heap.
“Nice vampire you’ve got there,” sneered the warlock. “I guess you’ll be having some company on your eternal journey.”
“Just leave him,” said Terry quietly. “He’s no threat to you and doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“The world’s going to be a better place with one less of those rodents flying around.” The warlock spat as if to get rid of a bad taste in his mouth. “It’s not like they’re good for anything.”
Terry felt a surge of rage and strained at his invisible bonds. He had been sitting quietly for hours, resigned to his fate and almost hoping the morning would come quickly. He had no family left. Jill had betrayed him, and sweet Dimitri wanted more than Terry could ever give. The most painful thing, however, was that Clyde didn’t trust him anymore, basically ordering him to stay away. He’d come back for Clyde, and if his lover didn’t want him, there really hadn’t been any point.
Yet here was this vampire, a lost boy with nothing in the world to call his own, willing to risk his life for a stranger who had shown him a little kindness. The injustice flared in Terry’s heart and he felt a burning anger wash over his body. He’d been a passive idiot, feeling sorry for himself these many weeks and ignoring what he knew to be right. It was time to take control of his life again.
The charm that had kept Terry captive broke like a thin pane of glass against the pressure of his determined will. He aimed a stunning charm at the warlock, who fell to the ground without knowing what hit him. Terry marveled at the power in his fingertips. He could feel the blood pounding in his ears and a strength he’d never known as he lifted Seb from the floor and threw him effortlessly across his shoulder. He felt invincible.
The warlock at the door received a blow to the back of the head because Seb’s weight made it awkward to summon a spell. Terry grinned as the man fell unconscious across the church steps. Sometimes the simple ways were best. He ran then, feet pounding against the snow as he raced towards the lake. If this was what it felt like to carry the dark stain, he thought, then bring it on.