Thicker Than Blood (Marchwood Vampire Series #2) (22 page)

‘
Thanks.’ He blushed, glad
she couldn’t see him.

‘
You know, Ben, we are
doing everything we can to get her back. You must believe
that.’

‘
I know you are. Thanks,
Leonora.’

‘
Take care, Ben. We’ll see
you soon.’

‘
Bye.’

*

Maddy began to walk. She could have jogged,
but she didn’t think she’d be able to keep that up for long. Thank
goodness there were gloves in her coat pocket – Zoe must have put
them in there. She had no hat, but the hood to her parka was fleecy
and warm protecting her ears from the gusting wind. It really was
freezing out here. Now that the sun was rising, hopefully it might
throw a little warmth her way. This place looked like the middle of
nowhere. Nothing but rocks and stones in freaky shapes. And the sky
was massive; a great billowing grey blanket pushing down like it
might smother her at any moment.

Heading due east meant walking towards a
distant towering wall of cliffs. Did that mean she’d have to climb
over the top? She’d try not to think about it until she got there.
Hopefully help would show up long before that. Here at least the
terrain was pretty flat except for a few rocky outcrops and stunted
trees. As much as she was scared and cold, Maddy found she liked
the noise of her boots crunching on the textured earth, the uneven
ground pebbly with large patches of frost. This was the sound of
her escape.

She’d checked the rucksack before setting
off. In it was bread, cheese, fruit, raisins, a bottle of water, a
box of matches and some unfamiliar bank notes – the local currency
she guessed. Hopefully, she’d soon find somewhere to spend it. A
nice warm hotel room and a phone call home would be her favourite
option right now. There had been no mobile phone in the bag. That
would’ve been too much to hope for, but Zoe probably hadn’t been
able to get hold of one.

When Maddy had unzipped the front pocket of
the rucksack, she had found a knife. A proper glinting sharp knife
you could do damage with. It had a serrated edge and measured about
the length of her foot. Knowing she possessed such a thing had
scared her and comforted her at the same time. She had run her
finger along the cold flat metal and then quickly zipped it back up
into its pocket. Maddy hoped she wouldn’t have to take it out
again.

Casting glances over her shoulder, she
squinted into the distance to see if she was being followed. No
sign yet, but they could come at any moment. She knew she shouldn’t
waste time stopping to check behind her, but she just couldn’t help
it. Occasionally, she broke into a little jog, but it was too
tiring to keep it up and each time she did she had to stop to
recover her breath. If only it wasn’t so cold. Each breath felt
like ice stabbing at her lungs. Maybe she should have some food.
She didn’t like to stop, but eating something might give her more
energy. Up ahead she spied a smooth-ish rock she could sit on.

It was properly light now and the top half
of the sun was peeking above the cliffs, diamond bright but barely
warm enough to feel. Maddy sat on the rock, closed her eyes and
tilted her face up towards it, willing some heat to thaw her body
out a little. After a moment, she gave up and unzipped the
rucksack. She reached in, tore off a piece of bread, stuffed it in
her mouth and began chewing. Her stomach gurgled in appreciation.
She followed that with a few bites of deliciously salty cheese and
a couple of swigs of water. It would be so tempting to gather up
some dead wood and light a fire to warm up by, but there was no
time and anyway the smoke would give her away to anyone chasing
her. She’d have to be content with this chilly breakfast.

No time to hang about, she needed to get
moving. Shoving a handful of raisins into her mouth, she stood,
swung the rucksack onto her back and began walking again. It felt
good to put her gloves back on and the food had definitely warmed
her up a bit. To her right, the wintry sun glowed. Without it, she
didn’t think she would be able to bear the cold. The cliffs up
ahead still looked as far away as they had when she’d first started
walking. Maddy bent her head into the wind and pushed on.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t come for her until
at least nightfall. With any luck she might have the whole day to
get as far away as possible. Maybe they wouldn’t have any humans to
send after her during daylight hours. Anyway, Zoe would put them
off long enough for her to reach safety. That girl was a
legend.

Madison trudged along, one foot in front of
the other, beating out a rhythm as she crunched over the loose
earth. Her legs began to ache but she ignored the discomfort and
kept going. She would see Alex soon, she knew it. Maybe even
tonight. It felt like months since she’d laid eyes on him, although
it must only have been a few days. The evening at the ice rink
seemed like a lifetime away. He must know she was here in Turkey
and when night fell he would sense her and come for her. But what
if he wasn’t here? He could just as easily be back in England, not
knowing where she was. The thought made her ill.

Maddy reckoned she’d been walking for
several hours now. The sun had risen as far as it wanted before
losing heart and sinking a little way back down again, behind her
to the west. She wanted to put her hand beneath the pale orb and
push it up higher in the sky. She needed more time. How was she
going to reach civilisation before nightfall? She didn’t dare think
of the alternative. She couldn’t go back to that dismal cell under
the ground.

Hunger gnawed away at Maddy’s insides, but
to risk stopping would be stupid so she ate on the go. A soft pear,
more bread and cheese and some water. It didn’t do much. She was
still hungry and now tiredness was creeping through her body too.
All that remained of the food were some raisins, a small crust of
bread and an apple. She could easily have gobbled the whole lot
down, but she made herself save the rest for later in case she was
stuck out here all night. The thought made her want to curl up in a
ball. If she was still out here after dark, she didn’t fancy her
chances.

What if she kept walking and walking and
never reached anywhere? She could die out here. It was cold enough.
She thought Cappadocia was supposed to be a major tourist
destination – So where were all the bloody tourists? Not here. What
she would give to see a group of hikers right now with backpacks
full of food and thermos flasks of tea. Her stomach growled again.
She began to feel faint. The balls of her feet felt raw and
blistered, her toes numb with cold. But she couldn’t slow down. By
now they might have realised she was gone. They might have sent
people after her. The thought made her stop daydreaming about food
and pick up her pace again. Maddy told herself to stop worrying. If
she just kept moving, she’d eventually find someone to help her.
She had to.

The sky bleached out, the sun intermittently
fading and reappearing behind a froth of icy sky. Please God, don’t
let it snow, she thought, picturing herself lost in a blizzard,
freezing to death. She heard the whine of the wind, but that
couldn’t be right because the air had become still and hushed. So
where was that noise coming from? Maddy suddenly felt a tremor of
fear. Holding her breath, she made herself stop walking and turn
around. Staring into the far distance from where she’d come, she
scanned the wintry landscape. Her eyes alighted on something – a
spot in the distance where a line of dust was being thrown into the
air. She saw another line adjacent to it. And another. Squinting,
Maddy concentrated on the dust clouds. The lines were moving
towards her.

With a thud of dread, she realised she knew
exactly what that whining sound was - The sound of distant
motorcycles. She told herself not to panic, to think rationally.
They might not be anything to do with her. But it was too much of a
coincidence that they were coming from the west and heading her
way. Her heart pounded. How long would they take to reach her? Ten,
fifteen minutes? Longer? She couldn’t tell. At the moment, they
were still specks in the distance. Her best bet was to hide
somewhere. She’d nearly reached the cliffs and the ground was
hillier here. There might be some kind of cave she could crawl
into. But the problem was, it would be dark soon. And when the
vampires came out to play, no cave would keep her safe.

Maddy breathed slowly in and out to quell
the panic. The bikes were still specks. Okay, she needed to get
further towards the cliffs. Maddy broke into a slow run, ignoring
her aching legs and the pain in her chest. If she ever got out of
this situation, she was going to get seriously fit when she got
home. She was almost at the cliffs now. The rocks at the base were
smooth and rounded, reminding Maddy of burnt meringues. If she
couldn’t climb up them, the only alternative was to go around and
there wasn’t time for that. Just a few more minutes and she would
hit the first set of big rocks. She put in a last spurt of energy.
Had they spotted her already? They probably had binoculars. Maybe
they were looking at her right now. Don’t think about that, just
keep moving.

Soon, the sand-coloured boulders forced her
to stop. They were too steep, blocking her way and trapping her
between the cliff and her pursuers. She stood for a moment, holding
her sides and gasping for breath. The motorbike whines were louder
now, deeper, more of a roar and she thought she heard a man’s voice
shout something. She skirted the base of the cliff, desperately
searching for somewhere to hide - a cave, a hole … anything.

Suddenly she spied a narrow gap between two
boulders. It wasn’t very large, but she should be able to squeeze
herself in. Once through, she saw it led upwards through the rocks.
It was a narrow path. Maddy couldn’t believe her luck. She began to
clamber gratefully along its path. The track was muddy, studded
with stones and thick ice. It looked as though it might be a
dried-up stream bed and she traced it upwards, zigzagging through
the cliffs. Patches of ice made her slip and stumble, grabbing at
the rocks to steady herself.

After a while, she stopped and crouched
behind a rock, peering down to see if they were still following.
Yes. She could see the motorbikes clearly now. There were four of
them, their riders wearing sheepskin coats and woollen hats. If she
hadn’t managed to find this pathway, they would have spotted her
clearly by now. They momentarily disappeared from her line of
sight, having reached the base of the cliff. Then she caught sight
of them again as they split off into two pairs and rode along the
edge. Presumably they assumed she had gone around and were hoping
to catch up to her. She prayed they would keep going and not double
back. But even if she lost the bikers, she still had the problem of
the fast-setting sun and an even worse set of pursuers.

Her only hope now was that on
the other side of these cliffs would be a town, or a village or a
hotel or something,
anything
, as long as it wasn’t more rocks and stones and
wilderness. If she could find someone with a phone, she could call
Alex and the others. She continued to climb up the ever steepening
track, her fingers and toes still numb with cold. She wasn’t
thinking about anything anymore, just the need to move as fast as
she could. The need to reach the top and see what lay beyond. She
could no longer hear the motorcycles. Good. That was one less thing
to worry about for the moment. She must be about halfway up the
cliff by now. She turned and looked back, instantly hit by a wave
of vertigo.

‘
Don’t look down,’ she
whispered to herself.

Turning her attention back to the track, she
rounded the next sharp bend and gave a short scream of terror.
There was a man blocking her path and he had a knife.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Cappadocia, 575 AD

*

The smell was awful –
foetid
and stifling - and all around her, groans and
whimpers mingled with the sound of children crying. She felt hot
and cold at the same time, and was so tired and stiff she could
barely move. Aelia opened her eyes and instantly panicked. She
couldn’t see! Was she blind? She blinked furiously, but everything
remained black. Stretching her hands out around her, she realised
she was wedged in between several bodies. She stifled a scream.
Were the bodies alive or dead? She sat up.

‘
Hello?’ she said, hearing
the fear in her voice. ‘Where are we? I can’t see
anything.’

‘
We’re in hell,’ came a
weary reply. A man’s voice, quite close to her.

‘
Were they demons?’ she
asked. ‘Before in the hall.’

‘
Demons, yes.’

‘
God, save us from this
horror,’ a woman moaned.

Aelia began to make out vague shapes, her
eyes adjusting to the darkness.

‘
Does anyone have a
light?’ she asked.

‘
Do you think we’d be
lying in the dark if we did,’ someone replied.

‘
Why are we still alive?’
Aelia asked. ‘Why didn’t they kill us?’

‘
They like our blood,’ the
man answered. ‘This is their food store. They’re saving us for
later.’

Not too late
then
, Aelia
realised. There was still time to put her plan in
motion.

‘
Why did they bother to
feed us?’ she asked. ‘Why the music and the dancers? Why was
everybody celebrating?’

‘
The celebration was for
them
, not us,’ the man said. ‘Only we didn’t know it, did we.
We’re being kept like animals, fed and watered and ripe for the
slaughter.’