Chronicles of Darkness: Shadows and Dust (26 page)

         Meanwhile, the other
tried to pull the dagger from her hand, mumbling curses, but the blade stuck
fast to the wall's joint.

         Helena stepped in front
of her and the vampire hissed, "My teeth will pierce your throat,
huntress!"

         "Is that so? Want to
know what I think? I think that you are in no position to make such threats.
Correct me, should I be wrong."

         As an answer, the vampire
spit at Helena's feet.

         "You and your kind
caused a lot of trouble for me tonight," Helena continued. "I'm
covered in blood. I also have bite marks on my throat, which I don't like in
the slightest."

         "Pull the dagger out
of my hand!" the vampire demanded. "I will show you how much more
trouble I can cause!" Black fire started to blaze in her eyes again.

         Helena pulled the other
stake from her coat pocket and rammed it into the screaming vampire's heart.
"Sol invictus!"

         The gray ash floated
softly to the ground in front of the huntress' boots. She pulled the dagger
from the wall joint and put it away. The huntress turned around and listened
carefully to the sounds of the night. Her ears couldn't pick up anything
unusual. Helena was relieved. "God will have mercy on your poor souls and
treat you as what you once have been... humans."     Then she left the
horrible place to return to the castle as fast as possible, in order to see if
her children were safe.

         Chalice's carefully
planned arrangements went smoothly, just like her Master had wished. The house
was at her disposal and nothing would interrupt Azrael's rendezvous with the
D'Ardenne twins.

         She lit a small flame under
a little silver bowl with a dark brown, bitter powder - opium. She waited until
the drug was smoldering above the flame. Then she blew out the fire and placed
a curved glass carafe over it. White steam rose and filled the room.

         The blonde woman offered
the tube-like pipe to Azrael, who took a big drag, before giving it to
Véronique and Valérie.

         Chalice knew from her own
experiences about the opium's numbing effect, but the girls wouldn't live long
enough to get addicted to the drug. She also knew about the danger if too much
was consumed, leading to deep sleep with strange dreams and hallucinations. In
the worst case, the consumer could die from it.

         For awhile she studied
the twins, observing their first reactions to the drug. Intoxicated by the opium,
they lost their inhibitions, submitting completely to the vampire's desires and
demands.

         Chalice left to carry out
her work. Like every night she prepared everything with great caution. She
returned with a silver tray, laden with sweets and colorful candy.

         Superior, Azrael beckoned
her to come closer and said, "See, my beauties, all this is for you. Dig
in."

         Giggling and fooling
around, the girls grabbed for the sweets, before Chalice had time to put the
tablet on a small table.

         Gradually, she became fed
up with the orgies that her Master loved so much. She couldn't understand why
he didn't just drink their blood, without turning them into libidinous slaves.
Chalice's gaze darkened, and she pulled back her hand when one of the twins
tried to grab her.

         "Come to us,"
Véronique said. "It will be so much fun."

         "Yes, Chérie, come
on!" Valérie cried, dissolving into mad giggling and falling back into the
couch's pillows.

         Her twin sister joined in
the silly laughter.

         "Yes, why don't you
have some fun with us?" Azrael asked maliciously, because he knew Chalice
couldn't stand the situation.

         "No!" she
declared firmly.

         "Ohhh... what a
pity," the girls sighed disappointed in the same breath.

         "Oh well, that
leaves more for us, sister," Valérie added, tracing Azrael's beard with
one finger.

         Chalice fixed glassy eyes
on her Master, so she wouldn't have to look at the only partially covered
twins. Walking backwards, she reached the door and fumbled for the handle, her
expression dark as she left the room. The blonde jerked the high, white doors
close and took some deep breaths.

         "Oh, Monsieur, you
are so passionate," she grumbled, mimicking the twins, and crossed her
arms. She leaned her back against the wall and slid slowly to the floor,
hugging her knees to her chest. Chalice stared ahead, while fiery jealousy
burned in the pit of her stomach.

         Sighs and passionate
moaning drifted from the room behind her.

         She pressed her palms
over her ears. She couldn't and most of all didn't want to hear how her master
coaxed cries of lust from the D'Ardenne twins throats. "His dark powers
only long for your souls, girls. He is not interested in you. He only wishes to
steal your souls. And what he wants... he always gets." A confident smiled
formed on her face. "He left me my soul. I am special to him. Yes, that I
am, I alone am special to him." Chalice began to relax, knowing of her
irreplaceable role in Azrael's life. "I am the one and only, his
chosen." She tilted her head towards the closed door, adding more
self-confident and louder, "I am his soulmate. Yes, that's who I am. I
alone am his true soulmate."

         Still, she could hear the
lustful cries of the twins and the passionate moaning of the vampire.

         "What is taking my
Master so long tonight? Why didn't he already kill them?" the young woman
asked herself. Doubts began to rise. "Why is he doing this to me?"
Chalice continued confused. "Why do I have to stand these orgies? If only
I were already his immortal mate. I would show him what real, unrestrained lust
is about." Dreamy-eyed, she played with the fine strands of her hair,
thinking about times when there was only her and her Master. Anger grew inside
her. "Why did he say he would like me to join in when he takes the girls?
Why, why, why... why does he want them when he has me?" The jealousy rose
so strongly, she didn't even realize that she was pulling her hair out.

         "Why can I not share
the fun with him as a vampire?" The present condition of her existence
seemed unbearable to her. Furiously, she clenched her hands so hard that the
knuckles turned white. Her nails dug deeply into her palms, leaving crescent
marks behind.

         She leapt up from her
sitting position, unable to suppress her feelings any longer. "Is my
Master honest? He has the power to turn things that are wrong around. Then
everybody thinks they are right. Does my Master manipulate me also?"
Excited, she began to pace the corridor, hammering her knuckles against her
temples. Chalice stood rooted to the spot as a thought struck her mind.
"Honesty is not important. Kyrian wasn't always honest. I am not always
honest. Nobody can always be honest, nobody. Everybody lies, constantly."

         Her gaze grew soft as she
remembered the young hunter. "Kyrian, oh Kyrian. At your side, I feel the
safety I've been missing for such a long time. I so long for it. You don't
chase me around. You do everything for me..." She sighed and leaned her
back against the wall. Her expression froze. "No, no. Everything you do,
you do for your precious, little Christine. Not for me."

         Breathing heavily, she
ran a hand through her hair, "Everybody hates Chalice, except my Master.
He saw Chalice and rescued her. It was unimportant what I looked like. Being an
immortal, he sometimes forgets that I am not. My time is running out. He has to
think about so much, his big plans, his followers and servants," Chalice
said, her gaze empty.

         She buried her face in
her hands. "Just what am I doing to my Master? How could I ever doubt him?
He loves me, because I am irreplaceable. I know it."

         Her hands fell away from
her face and she returned to the window. The small street, which led to the
secluded house, was illuminated only by a few lanterns. Chalice gazed outside.
Silence had fallen inside the room behind her. She hadn't heard the final
screams of the girls. "If only I could destroy all my feeling like my
Master will wipe out mankind."

*****

         Kyrian lifted his gaze
and his eyes grew wide with shock as the door to the library opened. His mother
had returned home from the hunt. The young man stared at her bloodstained
clothes. "Mama? Dear God! What happened? Do you need a doctor?" he
asked concerned, reaching for Helena to help her out of her coat. With bated
breath, he hung it over a chair's backrest.

         "There is no need to
worry. I am fine," she answered calmly and moved to a small chest in a
corner of the room. The head of the Leosol family took out an old piece of
cloth and a whetstone. She sat down in an armchair and pulled the holy sword
from its scabbard to clean it from blood and sharpen it.

         "But all the
blood?" Kyrian prodded, his suspicious eyes never leaving his mother.

         "It is not
mine," Helena replied, while polishing the mighty weapon with the piece of
cloth. "It is going to be hard work to clean my clothes. And how am I to
explain it to the washers? I really don't know. It looks like there is no other
way than to burn it all, to avoid unnecessary questions."

         "Are you sure that
you are not harmed?" Kyrian inquired, scowling, his eyes resting on a
certain spot on her throat.

         Helena smiled weakly,
which wasn't exactly convincing to the young man. "My son, I am alright.
You..."

         "Then how do you
explain this?" he interrupted, annoyed. "There is a bite mark on your
throat!"

         The huntress sighed,
placing sword and fabric aside. Carefully she ran her fingertips across said
mark. As she pulled them back the tips where covered in red, a sure sign that
the wound had started to bleed again. "Oh that... uh... it is nothing
serious. Just a small scratch, nothing life-threatening." She averted his
disbelieving, piercing gaze and began to untie her corset. Her hands were
shaking strongly from the adrenalin, and she couldn't open the knots. Finally,
she lost patience with the thin ties, pulled the dagger from her boot and cut
through the pesky threads.

         "Mama? How many of
them were there?" Kyrian wanted to know, a small trace of curiosity in his
voice.

         "Seven. Five male
and two female vampires..."

         "
Seven?
"
he interrupted again. "Why didn't you take me along? I could have helped
you!" Kyrian crossed his arms and couldn't hide the angry flashing of his
eyes.

         A sharp glance from
Helena was enough to silence her furious son. "I'm fed up having this
discussion again and again! I'm exhausted. I'm dirty and I just want to take a
bath, see how Skylar is, and then I want some much earned sleep."

         Kyrian realized just how
much this night had drained his mother's strength. He bit his tongue and
swallowed his violent temper. "I am sorry, Mama. I really don't wish to
fight with you. I was worried about you... and now that I see that you came
back wounded... I... can you not understand me?"

         Helena rose, walked to
him and gently caressed his cheek. "I understand, Kyrian. I understand you
all too well, my son. It is our destiny to fight these dark creatures and it is
never going to be easy." She placed a gentle kiss where her hand had
rested a moment ago. Then, she wrinkled her nose in disgust as she became aware
of a stench. "Please excuse me, but I think I really need that bath now.
We will talk later, agreed?"

         Kyrian nodded. His eyes
followed his mother until she left the room and the door of the library fell
shut behind her.

         "That's my
chance," he said to himself and pulled the little note book, which the
huntress had received from Michel Dutroit, out from Helena's coat pocket.
"Now I can show my worth. I can finally prove that I am no longer a child.
I am a man." Determined, the young hunter opened the book and went through
the written entries, trying to memorize as much as he could. Two words stood
out and were connected with each and every occurrence:
Quartier Latin
.

*****

            Skylar stumbled
through the darkness. "Mama? Mama, where are you?"

            "Here, my
precious. I am here," Helena's soft voice answered.

            "Where? I can't
see you. It's too dark."

            Helena laughed.
"Well, my precious, that's the purpose of this exercise. Don't trust
everything you see. Your eyes can mislead you."

            "How am I
supposed to find you?" Skylar wanted to know.

            "Use every sense.
Listen, my child. Listen and follow the sound of my voice. Come to me..."

            The girl took a deep
breath. "Alright. How hard can it be? I can do it." Skylar encouraged
herself and ran toward the place where she assumed her mother to be. Slowly,
the darkness faded and she found herself surrounded by thick fog. She looked around,
trying to pierce the grayness around her, but was still unable to find her
mother. "Mama?" Skylar began to panic when she didn't get an answer.
She called out louder. "MAMA?" A cold breeze ran over her back and
she felt as if someone stood behind her, breathing down her neck. Her heart
beating wildly with fear, she whirled around, but there was no one.

            "Skylar... come
to me... Skylar..." The voice of her mother echoed again and again, making
it hard for the girl to find out in what direction the origin lay.

            "Mama?"

            "Come to me...
Skylar... come..."

            Blindly Skylar ran
forward and finally she found her mother, who stood in front of a round
opening. Wastewater flew in a steady stream from it. Helena's silhouette stood
out sharply against the foggy background. Smiling, the huntress reached out a
hand to her daughter and said joyfully, "You found me."