Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) (18 page)

‘
In all, over twenty thousand men, women and children
descended into the bowels of the earth. And so, the exodus from
above ground was complete.’

‘
What a tale,’ Alexandre said. ‘Imagine moving lock stock and
barrel under the ground, away from the light of day. Thank you for
retelling it. I am grateful.’

‘
That is only half of the story,’ said Asil
Rais
. ‘Children, it is
late. You must go to your beds now.’

‘
But, Father,’ Yunue said. ‘I do not know the
ending.’

‘
The end of this story is not for young children,’ Asil
Rais
said to him. ‘When
you are grown, you may hear the ending.’

‘
I know the ending already,’ Yusue taunted him. ‘And there is
lots of blood!’

‘
Yusue!’ his father said. ‘Bed. Now.’

The children
reluctantly said goodnight and left the room with their mother, who
also bid the guests goodnight.

‘
We should very much like to hear the second part of the
legend,’ Alexandre said. ‘But if you are tired and wish to retire,
of course we would not presume to keep you. Maybe you would
continue tomorrow?’

‘
That is thoughtful,’ Havva replied. ‘But I do not sleep much
these days. Three or four hours a night is usually enough for me
and so if you really want to hear the rest of the tale, then now is
as good a time as any. As long as you do not suffer from
nightmares.’ At this she laughed her wheezy laugh. ‘But let us have
tea, I am thirsty and another of your baklava would be
good.’

They retired to a comfortable sitting room. The lamps were
lit, casting a hazy latticed glow across the room and a large water
pipe
was set up on
the floor, its crystal bottle glinting in the lamplight.
Servants brought in tea and pastries and
t
he three men
smoked and drank tea whilst listening to the rest of Havva’s
tale.

‘
Those unfortunate people were not alone below the ground. The
night they descended into the earth, they were accompanied by
others.’

‘
Others?’ Isik asked.

‘
Yes,’ Havva continued. ‘The strangers who had arrived all
those months ago were not as they seemed. They had spoken the truth
when they talked of an invasion, but it was an invasion of their
making. For you see, they had carefully planned the whole thing.
When the city was finally complete, they sent word to others of
their kind and they all descended into the earth together, along
with the villagers.’

‘
I
do not understand,’ Isik said.

‘
Demons, my friend,’ Asil
Rais
said. ‘Demons.’

‘
Thank you, Asil,’ his Grandmother snapped. ‘Whose story is
this?’

‘
I
am sorry, Great Grandmother. I am spoiling your tale.’

‘
You most certainly are. But my impatient grandson is right.
They were indeed foul demons. Demons who could not stand the light
of day, for the sun’s rays would kill them. Demons who lived on
blood alone.

‘
Before the city was built, they had led solitary existences,
coming out at night and feeding quickly, when and where they could.
They killed with no mercy, taking human blood as we take bread or
water. But their lives had always been lived in secret. They were
never able to live freely, but forced to roam singly or in pairs
for they could not draw too much attention to themselves for fear
of persecution.

‘
Until one day, one of their kind devised a plan to give them
everything they desired with no need to hide in the shadows
anymore. It was a plan to signify the death of thousands of
innocent humans; the humans who would follow them down into their
underground lair and give them access to what they
needed.’

‘
So the travellers were the demons?’ Alexandre
asked.

‘
Yes. The villagers did not know it but they had built their
own prison, their own hell. They had been duped into building a
trap for themselves. Once down there, away from the sun’s
protection, no one could help them, God rest their
souls.

‘
They were slaughtered with abandon, but even worse, many more
were kept alive to breed and ensure an eternity of blood to satisfy
the thirst of the evil ones. There is no happy ending. This is our
terrible history and we ignore it at our peril.’

‘
But forgive me,’ Alexandre said. ‘You said this is your
‘history’. Surely you cannot believe this is true?’

‘
We ignore it at our peril,’ she repeated.

That night, Alexandre and Isik slept
in the guest quarters, above the stables. Long after Isik was
snoring, Alexandre lay thinking of the chilling tale. He could hear
Havva’s rasping voice in his head, recounting the ancient words and
he shivered despite himself. H
e laughed
inwardly at his fears.
She has unnerved
me
, he thought.
That lady and her tales of underground
demons
.

*

The following morning, after a lavish
breakfast of fried eggs, sausages and fresh-baked
bread
, Alexandre and Isik prepared to take
their leave of the Sahin family. Alexandre was sorry to say
goodbye, for in the short time he had been there, he had already
grown fond of them.

Yusue reminded
Alexandre of his earlier promise to show them his weapons.

‘
Another time, Yusue,’ his father said, ruffling his eldest
son’s hair. ‘Monsieur Chevalier is a busy man.’

‘
I am not too busy to keep my word,’ Alexandre replied. ‘If
your father agrees, we shall have a quick weapons training school
in the garden.’

Three small
faces swivelled round to look at their father, eyes wide, waiting
for his consent.

‘
If it is not too much of an imposition on your
time.’

‘
Come, children,’ Alexandre held Aysun’s hand and the two boys
followed behind as they walked out through the front door. ‘But
remember your father’s warning,’ Alexandre said. ‘If you touch any
of these weapons without permission, you will turn instantly into
black beetles and be forced to live under a rock for the rest of
your days.’

A small crowd
of village children gathered to watch. Isik showed them the
gleaming curve of his scimitar, slicing up a cucumber with its
deadly blade. He then pulled out his knife and threw it with
confident accuracy into the trunk of a walnut tree where it
embedded itself, quivering in the morning sunlight. This earned him
a round of applause and he bowed theatrically.

Next,
Alexandre demonstrated how the musket and pistol worked. He removed
the bullets and let the two boys pretend to fire them. They charged
around playing soldiers and bandits until Isik said they really
should head back. Alexandre picked up little Yunue and swung him
around, he kissed Aysun’s soft cheek and shook hands solemnly with
Yusue. Finally, he mounted his horse, alongside the Turkish guard
and waved goodbye to the little household with promises to
return.

As they left
the village behind, Alexandre could not believe they had only
arrived yesterday evening. He felt as if he had been there for at
least a week.

‘
I am afraid we must inform the others we have failed to find
the entrance,’ Isik said.

‘
I think we should look for ourselves, before we head back to
disappoint them.’

‘
That was not the plan.’

‘
No, but how far is ... What is the name of the
village?’

‘
Zelmat.’

‘
How far away is Zelmat? My father knows we may be away for a
few days. We could use the time wisely and there is nothing to be
lost by looking.’

‘
It is almost on our way back, not too far from
camp.’

So instead of
heading straight back, they took a detour and rode towards the
village that Havva Sahin had named in the legend.

Alexandre
realised he was enjoying himself. It was like playing at
detectives, finding clues to solve a mystery. It made a welcome
change from the prod, prod prodding of sticks in the ground and
trying to find non-existent entrances at the back of caves. He did
not believe he had ever before felt this sense of purpose and
excitement, not since he was a child playing make-believe games
with his friends. Today he felt alive.

They rode hard
and the morning sun burned hot. They were forced to stop several
times for the horses to drink and to splash their own faces in the
welcome streams which bubbled along the way. They reached the
outskirts of the village by midday and found a shady spot to sit
and share the large packed lunch that Nuray Sahin had pressed into
Alexandre’s hands before they left.

The cavern was
supposedly situated to the south of the village. It should be
somewhere close by. Alexandre itched to start his search, but he
knew he could not deny his companion rest and a meal first. He ate
quickly, not even tasting the food. He was too wrapped up in
thoughts of discovering the entrance. At last they remounted their
reluctant steeds.

‘
I know, girl,’ Alexandre patted the mare’s neck. ‘It is hot
and you are still tired, but you can rest again soon.’

After several
fruitless hours searching back and forth along the fast-flowing
river that cut through the valley, Isik rode up to Alexandre.

‘
My friend, I know it is disappointing, but maybe we need to
accept it is just a legend and there is no cave. Or that it has
indeed been lost to time.’

‘
It must be here,’ Alexandre’s eyes narrowed in frustration.
‘The place was named. The location was specific. It must have been
based on
something.
’

‘
Let us rest for a few minutes,’ Isik said. ‘I will light a
fire and make us coffee and we will talk of what is to be
done.’

‘
No. Please let us keep looking for a while longer. It has to
be somewhere.’ Alexandre looked away across the land to the small
figures in the distance, moving about the vineyard terraces. ‘We
should head away from the river. Over there.’

The Turk
sighed and gave his horse’s flanks a gentle kick. He said nothing,
but cantered off in the direction Alexandre had pointed. Alexandre
followed.

They found
nothing. No caves or columns. The land flattened out and became
less rocky and more desert-like. Alexandre stopped and jumped off
his horse. He kicked the ground in frustration, sending dust and
stones skidding up into the air. He picked up a pebble and hurled
it with all his might. He remembered doing something like this as a
child – sending smooth round pebbles skimming across The Seine with
his father.

He bent down
and picked up another stone, rubbing his thumb across the polished
warmth, before sending it spinning into the distance. Why were
these stones so smooth? What had polished them like this? One
usually found these sorts of stones in a river … Could that be the
answer? Could it really be as simple as that?

‘
The river!’ he shouted.

Isik headed
over towards him.

‘
Isik!’

‘
What is it, my friend? Are you well?’

‘
I am fine and I think I may have solved the mystery of the
missing cave.’

Isik wrinkled
his forehead.

‘
These pebbles are round and smooth.’

The Turk’s
frown deepened.

‘
I am not mad,’ Alexandre laughed. ‘Do you not understand?
They are river stones. I think this used to be a river bed. But the
river is no longer here.’

Isik did not
change his expression.

‘
I think the river must have changed its course or perhaps
been diverted closer to the villages to irrigate the fields. Can
you not see? The cave was in the valley, but the river was diverted
there … and so now the cave is underneath the river. I am sure of
it.’

‘
I do not know about that,’ Isik said.

‘
I am right,’ he insisted. ‘You will see. I will prove it. Did
you say there were five columns? Five ... what do you call them?
Fairy chimneys? There are many of them in the area and I have seen
how tall they are. The columns could now be protruding from the
surface of the river. We must look.’

Isik rode with
Alexandre back towards the village of Zelmat.

The river ran
deep and wide with a steep pitted rock face on the opposite side.
Alexandre stared hard at the unbroken surface of the river, willing
himself to see the tops of the five columns poking out. Nothing.
They kept up their search all afternoon.

‘
It is dark, we should set up camp,’ Isik, the voice of
reason, broke through into Alexandre’s thoughts.

‘
You are right,’ he sighed.

‘
We can try again tomorrow morning,’ Isik said.

‘
Thank you for humouring me,’ Alexandre said tiredly. ‘You
must think me a fool to keep hoping.’

‘
Not at all. As long as there is life, there is
hope.’

*

The following
morning, as dawn spread its soft yellow light across the river, the
two men resumed their search. They searched all day and Alexandre
was grateful to Isik for going along with him even though it was
obvious he had no faith in this quest.