Lilah (21 page)

Arianne

It was a long way back from the
castle and as we were to leave I thought of my young friend. There was a part
of me that loved her still, the part who watched her grow from a small child.
But there was a part of me who saw a threat somewhere ahead. I saw the way she
looked at Gabriel. I would need to keep a close eye on her and by becoming more
powerful I could control it.

‘Gabriel,’ I touched his arm lovingly.

‘He flinched ever so slightly. He seemed wary
these days: slightly on edge. He had been so
confident
yet somehow I felt more in control. Who would have thought that I could yield so
much power? I sensed that Lewis thought that too, which gave him cause to hate
me. Another one I would have to watch.

‘I want to see Lilah.’ He looked unsure. He was
very protective of the girl. The innocence of her was starting to get on my
nerves.

‘Very well,’ he said. Ever since the incident
with the wolves he had not been able to deny me anything. Guilt was good when
it was in my favour.

She responded to my knock on her door. Gabriel
followed but I asked him for privacy. Again a look of concern crossed his face.

Lilah stood to greet me and just for a moment I
had a flooding wash of affection as I remembered the trusting child who would
wrap her tiny arms around me. This girl had shown devotion to me her whole
life. Her departure had left a wound that I couldn’t repair. Perhaps my
jealousy could be overlooked for even her eyes said she still loved me.

‘Lilah,’ I said. ‘I wish to make amends to
repair our broken friendship. I do not like that we have been apart.’ Those
words sounded hollow even to myself, but they seemed to work and she yielded a
little.

‘I’m sorry. I have not been too receptive to
your arrival here.’

I put my arms around her in ardent embrace. She
had grown lovelier in the year that had passed. Her dark brown hair was coiled
upon her head. She did not wear adornments on her ears and neck, nor rouge on
her cheeks. But she had no need to. Her lips were full, and the chestnut colour
in her eyes seemed to attract all the light in the room so that from any angle
they shone a pale gold.

We sat together
on the
chaise longue
near the tall windows. Lilah’s plain dress modestly
covered her breasts. We were so different, she and I, for she did not embrace
her newfound womanly gifts nor did she like lace and
paint
brushes
. But not even paints could disguise my scar.

‘Tell me what happened,’ she said, tracing a
feathery finger down the line of my face. There was no disgust in her look just
a slight worried frown.

I told her of the wolves and how Gabriel saved
me. She looked horrified covering her mouth at times.

As we talked for over an hour she told me more
of the time at my father’s house. I enjoyed the vision of Gabriel killing both
my brother and father
;
though I did not show it. I
faked slight melancholy. But when she mentioned my mother, I felt nothing but
hate. I was, however, not totally hateful of all my family. I was glad that the
last surviving sister would grow up to a normal life that I did not have.
Again, a jealousy crept in.

I thought of the time Lilah had spent with
Gabriel and whether there had been any strong bond there. Had he kissed her?
She was too young. Stop it! I had scolded myself for there was no reason to
feel this way.

I looked around her room and in her wardrobe,
suddenly envious that she had a glorious room in this castle while I had been
living in a broken down house only fit for vermin. Oh yes, it was novel at
first but I deserved more. I went through her cupboard and told her what
dresses I liked and we reminisced about the children.

She asked me if I missed it and I lied in
saying yes that I did and would never have left if Sister Gertrude and I had
seen eye to eye.

‘Perhaps you can go back…’ she said but her
words trailed away and her eyes were downcast. We both knew that my wonderful
nights with Gabriel meant that I was no longer one of the sisters. I felt the
urge to laugh. Imagine if I had never known what it was like to lie with a man
who desired me, to have someone look at my body with such admiration, to have
my glorious hair free from cover. I turned to examine myself in a looking glass
to confirm my thoughts but froze at the image.

All I could see was that ruinous scar, the one
that had taken my beauty.

Lilah came to stand beside me.

‘Are you worried about the scar?’

I ignored her.

‘Don’t be,’ she said. ‘You still look beautiful
to me and to Gabriel.’

I turned and gave her my brightest smile. I
would play along. Of course it didn’t matter. Our friendship went far deeper
than such trivial concerns and on and on I went. She seemed pleased with my
attitude.

‘Now my dear,’ I said. ‘I did come to see you
today not just to spend some wonderful time with you but to tell you some
exciting news.’

She sat at the edge of her seat, eager but
cautious.

‘Gabriel and I are getting married.’

‘Oh,’ she said looking away. ‘That’s wonderful,
but…’

‘But?’

‘Well the two of you have so little in common.’

‘Did you think that we cannot live together?
Let me tell you there are no differences between a strigoi and a human when
they are between the sheets.’

She blushed at this point and I wondered then
at exactly how much experience she’d had. Her talk of Emil was tender but it
was inconceivable that she was anything but a virgin.

She thought a moment then came to a conclusion.
‘Well then I wish you both well,’ she said and it could not have been more
sincere.

‘There is one more thing I need to tell you.’

She frowned and I felt like a vulture picking
over the bones of the dead. I admit that I did somewhat enjoy the moment.

‘I am to become one of the strigoi.’

She looked confused. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘Lewis will make me one of them at the next
full moon.’

‘But you are not a witch?’

‘But there is a way of making me a strigoi,
bypassing the mediocre step of being a witch.’

‘No. I have read about this. I have read that it
is rarely successful, that such a rite can turn you into a beast. You will have
none of the healing powers that I have; all you will be is immortal, feeding on
blood. Don’t you know about the strigoi?’

I was insulted then.
‘Yes,
you silly girl.
I know that Gabriel kills the degenerates for their
blood. It does not worry me.’

‘You have seen him?’

‘No. He has not seen the need.’

‘Arianne, I watched him drain the blood from
your father’s neck. Remember how you used to tell the stories told by your
brothers to frighten you of the
beasts which
steal the
lives of people during the night? Well these are those creatures.’

‘You are a hypocrite, Lilah. You live in all
these comforts among them, aren’t you just as guilty.’

‘But I am connected somehow. You have no excuse.’

‘You are not like them. You will never cope
here. I would suggest it is you who leaves here and finds another life for you
will never accept their way of life.’

‘I know it is their nature, that they cannot
help it. I know that perhaps my own parents or grandparents had the dark
skills. I cannot change who I am but you, who has a choice, is choosing this!
Are you not even aware of the risks?’

‘Of course!’

‘So you know you could die.’

Gabriel had told me this but to hear it from
Lilah put an element of doubt, which I resented.

Lilah stormed off out of the room in search of
Gabriel. I followed her. There was no way this girl would get in my way. The
hallways were long and magnificent but there was no time to examine them today.
I could not lose sight of Lilah. I was there when she found Gabriel in the
stables. ‘Gabriel you cannot allow this.’

Gabriel looked at me. ‘She has made up her
mind,’ he said calmly and I sent him a secret smile.

‘You know that she could die. Very few have
lived and those who do can come back changed.’

‘I know all this as does she.’ And he reached
to touch my hand.

Lilah looked at his touch, a delicate union.
Her face screwed up and I thought she would cry but instead she turned and ran.

I had been foolish to trust her. We may have been
friends once but I no longer needed her. Gabriel looked at me and I made a
melancholy face to mask the excitement I felt.

‘Are you alright?’

‘Yes,’ I said, and forced a tear from my eye.
‘I thought we were good friends but I have lost her.’

‘You haven’t lost her, my darling. It is just
that she cares.’

‘No, I don’t believe that. I think that she is
jealous. Jealous that I will have everything she has.’

A shadow of disquiet spread across Gabriel’s
perfect face. I cupped my hand around his neck, and with my thumb gently rubbed
his smooth flesh. He seemed to relax, closing his eyes to imagine us together
later that evening.

We galloped past the castle. It was truly a
spectacle. The large beasts guarding the entrance were majestic, the stone
steps leading to the large doors told of expense. There would soon be
legitimacy for me to live there where I would be treated like a queen. No more
squatting in the squalor of our rundown house, which Gabriel seemed to think I
found adequate. They say a strigoi can read human thoughts.
For
some reason I am made such that it does not work on me.
Perhaps there is
a little bit of witch in me from long before. No matter. This would soon be my
home and perhaps it would be too small for both Lilah and me.

I touched the
scar and imagined that once I had successfully made
the change
–
something I did not doubt – my face would be returned to perfect once
more.

Lewis

Lilah knocked on my door requesting an
audience. I was annoyed at her presence. I did not like to be disturbed when I
was travelling through my memories. It was one of the few times I found peace
these days. I dreamed of the times when my parents walked freely as strigoi,
when we were respected rulers and
land owners
. We were
a higher order in the civilised towns and hunters in the barbarian lands
outside the city. And then our numbers grew less and the strength of which
declined. Famines came, then ice and for a period chaos reigned. It was only a
matter of time before the barbarians who had the brute strength to live through
anything rose up to demand more. And it was only time before the civilised
towns grew fearful.

But long before the time of the revolts I lived
in a place of gold on a cliff top overlooking the sea. I played with my
brothers and sisters. I had watched my mother die – she had never taken
the vows of the strigoi.

‘I am sorry to disturb you, Master, but I must
remind you that if it does not work effectively, she could die.’

‘Yes. That is the risk.’

‘So you will disallow it.’

‘You cannot tell me anything witch child!’ but
even as I said
this the
word was superfluous. She was
no longer a child.

‘You can stop this, I beg of you.’

‘Do not beg, Lilah. It is uncomely.’

She sat down distraught, her face in her hands.
I did not care for such mortal traits as these but something touched me about
this. I had never encountered a being so concerned with the welfare of another
especially one as shallow as Arianne.

‘Surely you cannot care for the girl. As far as
I can see, she cares naught for anyone but herself.’

When she raised her face I was shocked to see
her tears. ‘She has been my friend since I was small. She took care of me.’

I laughed then, which seemed to shock her.

‘Please do not mock me and make this such a
small thing.’

‘Lilah, this human does not share your feelings
of care. She feels very little towards you.’

‘That is not true. Arianne was a loving person
who took care of many.’

‘Was. That may be true. But she is changed now.
She is no longer balanced, which is perhaps why I cannot read her thoughts. If
she dies, perhaps it will be better for all of us.’

‘You cannot say that,’ she said standing. I had
never seen her so angry.

‘Calm yourself. It will be done. I have
promised Gabriel and I cannot go back on my strigoi word.’

‘But…’

‘Silence!’ I shouted and she jumped to cover
her ears. I did not like to use my voice to hurt her. She was trembling now
aware that she had lost any fight.

‘Then can I ask one thing of you?’

I
nodded,
keen to be
rid of her and the empathy that had crept in. I must remain in control as
master of the coven. My ability to rise above the smallness was what kept our
circle in check.