Darkness Dominates - Chapter 16

Shortly after half five, Leola stepped onto one of Shaelnon station’s platforms. One carriage down, a hoard of Orryngton fans disembarked. Both genders made up the crowd of people wearing their team’s T-shirt.

The county’s rail network didn’t have an Idderton to Canroth service. Getting off here was the only way of catching a train to where the daggers were buried. The Orryngton supporters got louder as they sang their football club’s anthem. This boisterousness stemmed from their growing excitement. Since the kick-off was less than an hour off, their anticipation of their team’s match against Shaelnon increased. They were keyed up about the likelihood of Orryngton beating them three goals to one. Their side hadn’t yet won against them, but they were still optimistic about it happening. Their raised voices, however, exhibited high spirits rather than aggression. The supporters’ rowdiness irritated some of the platform’s commuters, but not Leola. She was busy thinking about the retrieval of those daggers.

“They could be anywhere in the grounds. Shit – what if they’re buried under Sudfield’s foundations?” she thought.

Glancing up at the train services timetable, she saw that the next one to Canroth was due a little under half-an-hour. With that amount of time to kill, she entered the platform’s cafe. None of the snacks on offer were appetising to her, so she settled for a coffee. It was cheaply priced, and Leola soon discovered why. She tried pretending it was tasty. The hot beverage was anything but. It was without doubt the worst cup of coffee she’d ever had. Daring to take a sip every few minutes helped to pass the time. She returned to the open-air platform minutes before the train arrived. In separate groups, the Orryngton fans entered different carriages. Leola walked through three of these, until she spied an empty seat. She was inches away from claiming it, but someone else beat her to it. The word ‘fuck’ was mouthed. Leola couldn’t see any other seats in the immediate vicinity to sit down on. Standing near one of the sets of automatic doors was all she could do.

Four minutes away from Canroth, a seat did become vacant. Leola felt there was no point in taking it, though. She couldn’t justify sitting down, only to have to stand back up, two minutes later. It was too brief a luxury to be worth it. In the dark about what buses stopped near Sudfield Hall, she opted to take a cab. Leola headed to the nearest taxi rank. All the drivers of the stationary vehicles were waiting for their next paying passengers.

From inside the third one along to the right, a male voice asked “Where do you want taking?”

“Sudfield Hall”

“Didn’t you watch the news on the telly? It’s a crime scene! Wait, you’re not one of those morbid tourists, are you?”

The taxi driver was immediately red-eyed. The constable guarding the tape barrier was too. This gave her a window of at least 2 hours to pinpoint the daggers’ location. Finding a spade, she displaced the soil and grass in Sudfield’s rear garden. She was several minutes away from that deadline when she found them. They were right underneath a rhubarb plant. Though it was safe her to touch the handle, she needed gloves in case she accidentally touched the blade. These she located in the garden shed – the same place she’d come across the shovel. Picking them up off a wooden surface, together with an oily cloth, she went back over to where Julian had buried them. There hadn’t been any rhubarb growing there when he did that. The two daggers turning up in that spot indicated how much Alvenshire’s land areas had altered over the centuries. Lifting them out of the ground, she wrapped them in the oil-soaked rag. This in turn was placed in a reusable shopping bag she’d fetched from inside Sudfield Hall. She quickly filled in the areas of the garden she’d dug up. Shortly after, Leola ducked under the police tape with the bag and re-entered the taxi. She’d given the driver a second red-eyed glance to get him to wait for her. He was on the receiving end of a third. This was designed to get him to drive her back to Alven for a reduced fare.

Despite hypnotising the cabbie into agreeing to that, Leola decided to pay the actual fare for such a long trip. One of the instructions he was mesmerised into following was him parking outside the ‘Red Moon’. When she left the taxi, the driver was paid handsomely for bringing her all the way here. Dealing with that left her mind free to ponder what she was going to say to Julian. Confronting him about what George had revealed was her current priority. Bag in hand, Leola employed the common method of entering the club. She stared at the dance floor, when inside. Navigating a route that avoided contact with the other vampires, she hurtled to the door behind the bar counter.

Julian, Catherine and Evelyn were gathered around the conference table when Leola barged in. The instant Julian demanded a reason for her interrupting she dropped the bag in front of him.

“Here are the daggers!”

“Where did you find them?”

“You should know, you buried them there, Julian – right after you killed Garalde, plus another of our kind!”

Silence instantly circulated around the room. Julian’s facial expression suddenly became neutral. Nothing that was on his mind could be read by Catherine or Evelyn. Leola was the only one who could penetrate his blank look. She made the conclusion she’d reached known to those seated at the conference table.

“You’re not going to deny it, are you?”

Those attending the private meeting immediately stared at Julian incredulously. He limited his eye contact to Leola.

“I was under orders” said Julian calmly.

“Whose orders”

“Garalde’s, Leola.”

Her expression morphed into the one on every face turned towards him. It was a good couple of minutes before anyone spoke. Catherine was the first to respond.

“Is this for real, Julian? Why would he make a decision like that?”

“Because the second vampire I assassinated was the one whose gluttony and stupidity triggered the events which started the Battle of Trenchwell.”

After another brief bout of silence, Julian said “Let me guess – George told you this!”

“You don’t sound surprised, Julian”

“I’m not, Leola. Who do you think told Lucy to inform you of George’s whereabouts?”

“You”

“Me”

“So, you knew he was alive?”

“Tell me Leola – did he come clean before or after you two had sex?”

She ignored the temptation to call him a twat. Her reply to his comment was more moderate than she expected it to be.

“Work it out for yourself, Julian”

“Getting Leola’s friend to play her is below the belt!” Evelyn said to him sharply.

He was surprised by her critical tone, but not wrong-footed.

“It was a necessary move” he calmly replied. The next part of his response was aimed at Leola. “My course of action serves to highlight your continual inability to stop your emotions guiding your decisions.”

While she pondered his assessment, Julian snatched the bag containing the daggers. He zipped back to his chair with it. Gradually, he removed them from the bag and unravelled the cloth they were wrapped in.

“Excellent! This problem you’ve made can finally be dealt with!”

“I’d have to lay out a trail so they can find me”

“That won’t be necessary, Leola.”

Guessing what Julian meant, she glanced at the golden ring on her finger. She caressed the emblem on top of it with her right thumb.

“Was this always part of your plan, Julian – get me to confront you, so you could justify my expulsion from ‘The Guild’?”

“That’s a question I’d expect from a 17 year-old, Leola! That’s always going to be the way your mind works. I granted you membership out of respect for Garalde, but I’m through with doing that. The mistakes you’ve made are proving too costly for this council.”

“Just answer me one thing, and then I’ll resign.”

“What’s the question?”

“Why did Garalde specifically command you to kill him?”

“He gave me that order to put me in charge of all who survived. He knew he’d failed our species. The vampire communities of old weren’t structured enough to ensure our survival. I decided to rectify that. This is why I’m the leader of ‘The Guild’, Leola. Now, hand over your ring, so I can give you the silver one.”

“If we’re following the exclusion procedures correctly, then I’m entitled to name my successor.”

“Very well, who do you wish to take your place?”

“Jennifer Stoneham.”

“Absolutely not...she’s only been immortal for less than 20 years. Candidates have to have been a vampire for half a century at least. Therefore, I’ll chose who replaces you.”

“I’d thought you’d say that, Julian.”

The next thing he knew, one of the Henford daggers had been thrust into his chest. Catherine and Evelyn stood up simultaneously.

“What the fuck?” the two female vampires said in unison.

Catherine’s astonishment veered off course slightly, directing itself at Evelyn. She hadn’t heard her swear before.

Leola watched him to start to cough up white bile. Julian staggered away from his chair and collapsed onto his hands and knees. Veins, the same colour as the mucus, formed on his face. His legs and arms quickly gave way. Leola placidly observed Julian lying still and lifeless on his front. With a quite hefty kick, she rolled him over and closed his eyes. Still enveloped in stunned silence, Catherine and Evelyn got closer to Julian’s body.

“You’ve killed him, Leola!”

“Don’t act all shocked, Catherine – you must’ve known this was going to happen.”

“What’s going to happen to ‘The Guild’ now, Leola?” Evelyn asked her, with panic in her voice. “It no longer has a leader!”

“It does”

“Who’s that then, Leola?”

“For the moment, Evelyn, it’s me”

“So this is a coup?”

“One that’s been on the cards for a long time, Evelyn”

“Okay Leola” said Catherine. “Since you’ve taken over ‘The Guild’, tell us your idea about getting rid of Julian’s body!”

She was about to come out with one, when her mobile phone sounded.

“Hello? Jennifer! Wait – you’re talking too fast! Slow down!”

Leola listened carefully to what DCI Stoneham was saying over the phone.

“Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”

“What did Jennifer want?”

“Lynette turned up outside Pippa’s house, Evelyn. She wounded her. Jennifer had to act. Councillor Trennell’s now one of us” she said to the socialite and the teacher.

From the backside of a stationary horse, excrement fell onto the cobbles beneath the carriage it was pulling. It tumbled sideways four times before coming to a stop near the pavement. When the horse began moving again, the front left-hand wheel almost flattened it.

Leola’s right shoe nearly trod on it as she attempted to cross the street; she skipped to the side of it and walked over to a long side alley. It separated Curtis Road – a church was on the left and a tailor’s shop was on the right. Between them was one of Alven’s principal venues for violent thefts and respectful men paying for what they couldn’t get at home. A few of these women were going about their illicit trade as Leola walked by. She stopped at the prettiest of them and took control of her will.

Two pints of blood were taken from her body when Catherine walked into this passageway. She smiled at Leola, who was surprised to see her.

“I thought you’d planned to stay in Germany for two years, Beatrice.”

“Julian sent a letter to where I was staying, summoning me back early. If he hadn’t, I would’ve extended my stay.”

“Did you see that carriage without horses that Karl Benz invented, while you were there?”

“I actually was taken for a ride in one.”

“What was your opinion of it?”

Expecting a positive one, Leola was astonished by her answer.

“My stallion, Thunderclap, moves faster. I am all for progress, but I doubt that such a contraption will take off.”

Leola gently pushed the young woman she’d fed from towards Catherine.

“Here, have a taste”

Licking her lips first, Lady Cullmore consumed three-fifths of her blood. The prostitute’s face was considerably paler afterwards.

“I think I might have taken too much. She’s lost a lot of colour from her cheeks.”

Leola kneeled slightly and listened to the mortal’s heartbeat.

“It’s slowing down. Do we turn her or let her slip into oblivion?”

Catherine didn’t hesitate in going for the first option. She was ready to make a new vampire, when Leola told her to wait. They both saw a gentleman in his late forties strolling this way. Lady Cullmore stood in front of the anaemic prostitute to keep him from seeing the state she was in. Recognising Catherine, he raised his top hat to her and wished her a good evening, addressing her by her title. He carried on walking to the other end of the alleyway. She waited until he’d turned a corner. Within five seconds, she’d created another immortal. Lady Cullmore then draped her over her right shoulder. Whilst doing this, she saw Leola’s ring was still silver.

“I thought Julian was going to make you a member of ‘The Guild’.”

“He still has more than a few hoops for me to jump through. Doubtless he will lay more down in front of me...but as for now, I am still a silver vampire.”

“Hasn’t he taken how many centuries you’ve been immortal into account?”

“I think he doesn’t wish to”

“I could talk to him”

“Your argument for me wearing a gold ring will have to be very convincing. The standard by which he measures viewpoints is very high.”

“My persuasiveness can overcome that obstacle.”

“Leave out anything he thinks doesn’t ring true. He can detect inconsistencies as if they are odours.”

It was two days after that when Catherine called at the first headquarters of ‘The Guild’. Julian greeted her personally.

“Your visit surprised me somewhat. I was expecting you to call round tomorrow afternoon.”

“That was my original plan, but I met up with Leola. She is still wearing the silver ring, despite her seniority in our species.”

“So, you are speaking on her behalf.”

“Why are you so resistant on her becoming a member?”

“She is of Saxon origin, Catherine. How I felt for seven centuries is still the way I feel about her now. Bronze is more suited to her upbringing. Be thankful I allowed her to wear a silver ring.”

“So, you still use her disapproval of her ancestry to justify not letting her join our council.”

“It is for the good of ‘The Guild’”

“You always quote that, whenever you refuse to shift your position on certain matters.”

“If I am unwilling to change my mind, I usually have an excellent reason.”

“You seem to forget, Julian, ‘The Guild’ only has five members, including you and I. Now is not the time to be exclusive about who can become a part of it.”

“Being exclusive about membership is the best way to maintain control of the vampires who survived.”

“If Garalde hadn’t been killed, he would be the leader of ‘The Guild’, and he would have made her his second-in-command.”

“I think you’re more prone to forgetting recent history, Catherine. ‘The Guild’ was my idea, not his. I appreciate you feel obliged to put a solid case for me making her a member. However, I am not convinced she would be an asset to the council I’ve formed.”

“How about you make a decision based on honouring Garalde’s memory?”

After six whole days of pondering Catherine’s suggestion, Julian accepted the argument it represented. Adhering to the swearing-in ceremony’s customs, Leola had to cut her wrists and drink the blood flowing from them. He’d made every member do that. This was an act Garalde had forbidden while he lived. His death paved the way for Julian to resurrect this ritual and make it a part of the ceremony.

Observed by Catherine and the three other members, Leola took the knife handed to her. She steadily cut the flesh on her wrists from left to right. One after the other, she raised them up and began feasting.

Julian had been counting the seconds that made up a minute. When he reached sixty, he said “Stop!”

Leola lowered her arms. The severed skin healed straight away.

All six immortals present at this ceremony were dressed in hooded dark red robes. Underneath them were their day clothes. On Julian’s command, each member of ‘The Guild’ removed their secretive attire. After the last one was collected, folded up, and stored away, Julian turned to look directly at Catherine.

“Fetch the box” he instructed her.

Opening a cupboard on the left-hand side of the room, Catherine removed it and brought it over to where Leola was standing.

“Please put your right hand on top of this casket, Leola.”

She obeyed Catherine’s order.

“Repeat after me...I invest my trust in the authority to govern all of my kind.”

“I invest my trust in the authority to govern all of my kind.”

Under a century and a half later, it was Jennifer’s turn to recite the ceremony’s opening vow. From behind her, Pippa and Darcy watched as a gold ring was slipped on their maker’s finger. Leola had excised the wrist-slashing ritual. The ceremony now only consisted of reciting the swearing-in speech, line-for-line, and putting on the membership ring. The removal of the blood-letting custom speeded up the process. After it was over, Catherine, the only other vampire attending, took out a rectangular box from the conference room’s left-hand cupboard. The lifting of the lid revealed two more rings – both silver. The actual stage of the ceremony was traditionally to give new immortals bronze rings. By this rule being altered, Leola’s influence was already starting to infiltrate ‘The Guild’. This was also evident by the ceremonial scarlet robes not being worn anymore. She’d created a dividing line between the end of Julian’s era and the start of hers.

Lady Cullmore told Councillor Trennell and Darcy to raise their left arms. The silver rings were immediately slid onto the appropriate fingers. Officially, ‘The Guild’ now recognised the two women of differing ages as vampires.