Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 73

I listened and watched closely as she read to herself as if from a bizarre recipe book.

"Let's see, two sprigs of rosemary, Lillian's blood, hair from a horse's mane and the sinew from a horse's leg, the hair from Lillian's head and a few tablespoons of pure spring water from the Pantheon Mountains... yes, I think that's about it."

She placed all of the ingredients into a small bowl and mixed it up with a wooden spoon before placing it over the fire that Charlie had been busy preparing.

It was a surreal experience, watching this old Vivian becoming more and more excited as the recipe developed. She became almost childlike, skipping around the fire clapping her hands in antic.i.p.ation. This was a Vivian I had never seen. The only Vivian I had ever known was sombre, strict and mean... and beautiful.

It didn't take long until the ingredients began to boil. I could hear the pot bubbling away. Vivian removed it from the fire and sieved it into a wooden chalice before picking it up and turning to me.

"Cheers, Lillian darling," she laughed, before placing the cup to her lips and drinking it all hungrily without even taking a breath. She then threw it to the floor and wiped her lips with the back of her long black sleeve.

"Time to change," she added before she took off the long black cloak and revealed her naked body.

Not a pretty sight, the old hag was covered from head to toe in deep set wrinkles, and her skin hung in folds all over body. This was the body of an ancient woman, not the Vivian I remembered.

She didn't stand naked for long. She stepped carefully into a crisp white gown that Charlie held open for her. All the time she maintained a wicked smile on her lips. The smile of a mad woman.

Even though she was barely recognisable, seeing her in white reminded me of the times we had lived together. She had never worn any other colour. She always presented herself, from head to foot, in white. White trousers, white blouse, white pumps, sometimes even a white head band. Every day, something else white. She had long white dresses, skirts, jeans even.

She had presented herself so beautifully, while at the same time had presented me in such an ugly way. Dowdy, old, used clothes that didn't fit properly. In yellow, the one colour that did nothing for me. The one colour that made me look ugly. That's what she had tried to do. She'd wanted to make me look uglier so that she could feel even more beautiful. Me, Mellow Yellow. It had all been done on purpose.

As she stood there, looking at herself in the mirror waiting for something to happen, I noticed the raven had managed to sneak closer to me. It stared at me and I could see something startlingly familiar in its eyes. Then suddenly, it winked at me and I knew exactly who it was. Jo. She often winked at me. She had finally made the transformation. But how had she known where to find me? And then I thought of the owl. And if the owl knew where I was, it would undoubtedly know where Gabriel was. I smiled at her and winked back to tell her I knew her true ident.i.ty. Relief flooded through me and I felt as if I could finally make my escape, but before I did, I eagerly waited to see what would happen to Vivian.

She stood smiling at herself in the old full-length mirror on the wall, waiting for her own transformation to begin.

After a few more minutes, I could see for myself that it was working. Her saggy skin began to tighten up and the colour of her hair slowly began to change from grey to bright red. Her sallow eyes began to gleam and her lips, and not to mention her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, plumped up. All age spots disappeared and I began to see the Vivian that I remembered. Except she appeared to be even more beautiful than before.

She breathed in a long happy breath and sighed out in happiness before she began to laugh uncontrollably.

"I'm back and I'm even more beautiful than before," she giggled, as she touched her face and her neck and then her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and bottom.

"Why didn't I think of doing this before? I should have used your blood from day one. Instead I wasted years on that father of yours, and before that I wasted years on Walter, when I could have used the blood from his d.a.m.ned daughter. And I let her go. How stupid of me," she said to herself as she continued to admire herself in the mirror.

As she said the words, I thought of Rose. How her husband and daughter had disappeared all those years ago, when in fact they had been kidnapped, just like my father and I had been. And they had been used for the one single reason: to achieve her own flawless beauty. It disgusted me.

But Vivian had just let it slip that she had let the daughter go. Just when I thought I could make my escape, I discovered something new. Something else I needed to find out more about. And I needed to find out the truth for Rose.

Just as I began to think of ways to investigate what had happened to Walter and his daughter, Lori, Vivian shrieked.

"What is this?" she cried turning to me, "What is happening to me? Lillian what have you done?"

I watched, stunned in silence as whiskers began to sprout from her cheeks and out of her ears. Her hands and feet began to mutate and suddenly I knew. She didn't know the truth about my own transformation. She didn't know that I was capable of changing into a mountain lion. The combination of my feline and raven genes must have been affecting her in ways she could never have foreseen.

I couldn't help but smile at her affliction.

"How... is this possible?" she sobbed as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Part woman, part cat. Not at all attractive.

"How could I have been so d.a.m.n stupid? The girl, Neleh, she was your sister. I thought I'd just miscast a spell on her the day I killed her. But I hadn't, had I? She'd really changed into a cat herself. No!" she cried while I nodded, smiling.

"But that means..." and before she could finish, I transformed myself into a mountain lion, breaking the cage into a hundred pieces right in front of her eyes. I pounced on her and pushed her to the ground, ready to get the revenge I had craved ever since I had learned the truth.

"Lilly!" yelled another voice as I saw a very naked Jo had changed back into human form and had managed to throw Charlie to the ground too. He had hit his head on a rock, knocking him unconscious in the process.

"Lilly... no. Let the Elders deal with her," she shouted as I held a razor sharp claw close to her jugular vein. "Lilly, you're not like her. You're not a killer," she said, but I couldn't move. All I could think of was Serena and Neleh, the years I'd spent practically a prisoner in my own home, my poor father and Sammy, Walter, Rose and Lori and what she had put us all through. And Gabriel. Poor Gabriel, wherever he was. She had done all of this damage just so that she could be beautiful and young. I wanted her to die more than anything but, as I looked up at Jo's face, I knew it couldn't be by my hands. She was right, I wasn't a killer. I wasn't anything like her. I wasn't a monster.

I leaned back away from her and instead pulled her up and pushed her hard against the cave wall, winding her. Jo took over. Finding some rope, she tied Vivian up so there was no way she could release herself. Not even a witch could escape. But Vivian didn't even struggle, she was too busy sobbing about her appearance.

I made the transition back to my human self, using the breathing techniques Rose had taught me. After a moment, I was human again. Both Jo and I managed to clothe ourselves using items from my backpack.

Jo gave me a long hard hug afterwards, all the while the other raven just sat outside, perched quietly on the same branch the owl had been on earlier that day.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Lilly. We were all worried sick," she said.

"But how did you know?"

"Both Sammy and Meredith felt something was wrong so we contacted a close friend, one of the Elders, who sent someone to search for you," she said.

"Let me guess, that someone was an owl?" I asked and she nodded, "so you saw him then?"

I nodded and then suddenly remembered Gabriel. I asked her if he was okay and she rea.s.sured me that the owl had witnessed everything and had gone to get help straight away.

"Gabriel was in quite a bad way, but I'm told that he's recuperating well with the Elders. They sent one of their raven friends to tell us what was going on. But at that stage, we didn't know that Vivian was involved. So I'm so relieved that you're okay Lilly."

"Thank you for coming so quickly. But how? When did you learn to transform?" I asked.

Jo explained that the family's only chance of getting someone here quick enough was for her to change into a raven. "I couldn't wait for it to happen naturally so Rose helped me make it happen for myself, that was this morning," she said proudly.

I was amazed at her transformation, and even more amazed that she had taken it upon herself to come and help us.

"Sammy wanted more than anything to come and help but it's daylight. It was too much of a risk. We practically had to tie him up to stop him from following me," she said as I imagined him getting angry at not being able to do anything.

"A few of the Elders are on their way now. They should be here soon. Come, let's wait for them outside."

Before we walked outside, we tied Charlie up and dragged them both out into the sunlight where we sat on a large boulder as we awaited the arrival of the Elders.

As we sat, I saw that the other raven and the owl were waiting patiently with us and so I stood up and walked over to them. Bowing my head, I thanked them for all their help, "I don't know if you can understand me or not, but I just want you to know how grateful I am."

Both birds nodded their heads at me and I knew then that, through some kind of magic, they could understand my every word.

"I know Meredith can occasionally read minds but I thought that was just when we're close," I said to Jo as I returned to her side, "how was she able to do it this time?"

"This is the first time that she's been able to pick up on something so far away. I think the fact that Sammy was picking up on the same feeling helped," she answered.

"So were your mum and dad okay with you coming all this way to help?"

"They were obviously really concerned about you and Gabriel. They were worried sick when I told them I wanted to come but they understood that it was something I had to do. They were really proud that I finally changed though," she said.

As we sat chatting to each other awaiting the Elders, I was developing a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had been trying to ignore it but it just wouldn't go away. Some of the things that Vivian had said had crushed me and no matter how hard I tried to push them to the back of my mind, I struggled to maintain them there.

As I watched Vivian still sobbing to herself, I thought of the evil things she had done, not just in my lifetime but way before that too. She had taken the two loves of Rose's life and ruined any chance of her finding love again.

Rose had no idea what had happened to Walter and Lori, but now it seemed that her husband was probably dead and her daughter could be anywhere in the world, probably never to be found again. She was just a baby when she was cruelly ripped from Rose's life just as I had been when I had been taken, so she would probably have no idea as to the true ident.i.ty of her real mother.

Rose would need answers and Vivian was the only person who would be able to give them. Once she was handed over to the Elders, perhaps the answers to these questions could finally be resolved. I hoped so. Not just for Rose's sake, but for Lori's too. Wherever she may be.

I worked out that Lori would be in her late forties now. Perhaps she had children of her own. I hoped Rose would find her one day. She deserved to know the truth. Just as I had deserved to find out the truth about my life. But my father had escaped Vivian's clutches and left me behind. He'd abandoned me and now I didn't know if he was dead or alive.

If he was dead, was he finally resting in peace with his beloved Serena and Neleh? If that was the case, wouldn't he have come to me in a dream, just as they had before? Perhaps the Elders would be able to help us solve the mystery.

As I sat there with Jo, my mind quietly wrestling with itself, I noticed a small group of people approaching in the distance. The owl and the raven immediately withdrew from their branch and flew towards them. We knew it must be the Elders and so we stood up and waited for them to come closer.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

They were a group of five; three men and two women. An odd-looking bunch, but I wouldn't have expected anything less after Gabriel had told me a little about them.

The eldest was an old white-haired man who ambled along slowly with a walking stick. What I noticed most about him were his ma.s.sive grey eyes. They made him look more like a caricature than a real person. But they were friendly eyes that twinkled and smiled at us, even though his mouth, initially, did not.

Walking slightly behind him was a younger man, of about 40 years, with red hair and green eyes and covered in freckles. His pale, almost translucent skin suggested he didn't venture out into the sunlight very often. But again, he had a friendly and, despite the colour, a warm face.

The third man was barely 20 years old and I knew he was a changeling I guessed a werewolf. His strong attractive features and golden eyes gave him away. He was quite tall but very stocky and, although wolf-like, I wasn't afraid of him. I could tell he was trying to appear fierce but I could see right through him. He was a softy at heart.

The eldest woman was probably in her 60s and she commanded a certain presence. She was more striking than beautiful and had shoulder length grey and black hair. I could imagine her as a school teacher, strict and bossy. A little bit intimidating.

And the last woman was a bit of an enigma. Her face and body suggested she was around the same age as me yet she had grey hair, short and spiky. For some reason I was drawn to her, there was a certain familiarity to her. I could tell she was feisty, rebellious... fun.

"Lilly, my dear child. We are so relieved to find you safe and well," said the old man with the large eyes as he held out his arms and pulled me into a gentle hug, "your grandfather is also safe and recovering well, so you need not worry too much about him now. h.e.l.lo Jo. It's good to see you again. You won't remember me though as you were just a toddler when we last met," he chuckled, hugging her softly too. "I am one of the Elders. I am Finley. We came to help but by the looks of it, you are not really in need of any a.s.sistance. You appear to have everything tied up rather well," he said, with a wink, as he approached the two sorry creatures and gave them a prod with his walking stick.

When Vivian lifted her face from her knees, Finley did a double take before turning his attention back to us. "Oh, let me introduce you to the others," he said as they all stepped closer as if they had been awaiting his instructions.

"Rupert here is our newest addition to the Elders," he said as the red headed man stepped forward and shook my hand. "Good to meet you Lilly... Jo," he smiled, shaking Jo's hand too before stepping back.

"And this lovely lady is Ursula. She has been with us for many years," and the older, slightly frightening looking woman stepped forward, nodding her head at us both before stepping back.

"And our other friends here are not members of the Elders but were with us when we heard about what was happening and they wanted to come along and offer any a.s.sistance. I think they're perhaps a little disappointed at missing out on all the action," he laughed.

The two stepped forward and smiled at us, clearly pleased to see some younger people.

"Hi. I'm Tabitha and this is my boyfriend, Zoltan," said the young woman with a grin, "we had hoped to get in on a bit of action. There hasn't been much going on lately," she laughed and I felt immediately at ease. So these were the people Charlie had seen arguing at Christmas. Zoltan stepped forward and shook Jo's hand and then he turned to me to shake my hand but as our hands touched, he let out a deep snarl and s.n.a.t.c.hed it back.

I immediately felt defensive and took a step backwards, pulling Jo with me.

"Don't worry about Zoltan. I got the same reaction from him when we first met too. You've probably realised that he is, in fact, a werewolf?" asked Tabitha and I nodded, "Well sometimes the wolf overpowers the man and that kind of thing happens," she laughed, "but you'll find that he's pretty harmless... to us, anyway."

He turned to look at me and smiled apologetically. I forgave him easily.

While we had been talking, the others had been into the cave to investigate what was there. I heard them whispering to each other about how they had not known of the cave's existence. How a witch had been under their very noses and they'd not seen what was going on. It perturbed them, which in turn, worried me a little.

When they came back out into the sunlight, Rupert pulled both Vivian and Charlie up from the ground, ensuring the ropes were tied tightly enough and then we prepared to set off back to the Elders' home. I grabbed Gabriel's and my backpacks and we soon began our hike back up the mountain.

Jo walked ahead with Finley and Ursula; Vivian and Charlie were pulled in the middle of the group by Rupert, and I walked behind with Tabitha and Zoltan.

Tabitha was eager to know what had happened and so as we walked, I relayed our adventure to her. When she commented on my British accent, I also told her about my life before and how I had managed to find myself in Canada in the first place.

She was intrigued by my tale and impressed that we had managed to capture the evil witch. "I would have probably killed her," she said.

"Well, I was pretty close but, as Jo told me at the time, I'm not a killer. Vivian needs to take full responsibility for the evil murderous things she has done. The Elders will make sure of that," I answered.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. You've got more self control than me though," she added.

"I doubt that. I'm sure had it been you, you would have been able to stop yourself."

We continued to tell each other about our lives and I discovered that Tabitha had been raised in New York but had moved to Canada as soon as she was old enough to fend for herself.

"I always felt like I had some connection to this part of the world you know," she said.

"Well, it's not difficult to connect is it? Just look how breathtaking it is," I said as we stopped momentarily to take in the utter magnitude of the view surrounding us. Tabitha laughed then and agreed with me but I knew she had meant it in a different way. There was some kind of pull that brought her here. She didn't know what or why but she wanted to find out.

"But how did you find the Elders? How did you know about... you know... all this supernatural stuff?" I laughed, not knowing of a better way to describe it.

"My mother told me actually. She had a lonely childhood, brought up by a strict mother and a father she rarely saw. When her father took off one day, her mother went crazy and started casting crazy spells. My mother freaked out and managed to run away. But after a few days, she decided to go back and when she did, she found nothing. Her mother had gone too. She'd just upped and left. Never to be seen again," she explained.

"So that's how your mother learned?" I questioned, thinking it wasn't really enough to make you believe. But Tabitha shook her head, "Oh no... G.o.d no. It was when her father returned one day that she finally understood about it all. He was different. Mum told me that he actually scared the h.e.l.l out of her. He was so incredibly pale and his eyes would change colour from yellow to red. He told her that he had been made a vampire."

"Oh," I exclaimed, "well, that would do it."

Tabitha smiled, "My grandfather was a vampire. He told my mum he loved her more than anything else in the world but that he had to go away. He said it was too much of a risk for him to stay near her. He couldn't bear her being in danger."

"Wow, that must have been hard," I whispered.

"She knew he was telling the truth and so she accepted it. She started doing loads of research into the supernatural, paranormal... whatever you want to call it. Eventually she started discovering all kinds of freaky stuff. So I learned all about it from a very young age, I guess."

Her mother had never married and still lived in New York. Tabitha was the result of an intense affair she'd had with a very wealthy man who had adored her. "But my mum didn't want to settle down, she likes her own company and she likes to travel a lot... for research purposes. My dad never married either, so occasionally they get together. He's been very good to her, and to me. He's a good man," she said.