Haven’t read Chapter One yet? Click here to read it!
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen

Hillard and Christine were walking at a brisk, but more normal pace, in order to allow Adalaide to keep up. They were silent, each lost in their own thoughts, until Hillard spoke.

“Since Lord Radek has killed his own guards, we can try scaling the walls. I would guess that Lord Radek will be distracted by whatever he is doing with the villagers.” Hillard closed his eyes for a moment, trying not to picture the horrors that Lord Radek could be unleashing on the prisoners even now. “On the other hand, he is likely to be expecting us. He knows that the Vampire Council wants him dead and he knows that I’m the one coming after him.  So, I think that it’s best if only you two scale the walls. Adalaide, you take the northern wall and Christine, you take the southern wall. Adalaide will try to get to wherever the prisoners are being held and release them. Tell them to flee into the forest and to split up. If Lord Radek escapes us, then it will be harder for him to gather them all back up. The Vampire Council will come for him if we fail so he will be trying to obtain all of the human blood that he can to increase his strength.”

“Christine, I want you to stay in the background.” He held his hand up as she looked like she was about to protest. “I am going to tell him that I was ordered to kill you by the Vampire Council.  That way, he won’t expect you to be there to help me. I only want you to come to my aid if you think you can be of real help. If it looks hopeless, run back to the hideout and warn your sister and the others. They should have enough supplies to stay safe for the week or so until the Vampire Council arrives to take care of Lord Radek.”  Christine looked over at Adalaide, expecting a similar order for her. Adalaide smiled at her grimly.

“I have my own score to settle with Lord Radek. I am not leaving here unless he is dead.” Christine’s eyes widened as she realized the solemn implications of that statement.

The three split up – Hillard heading towards the front gate of the castle, and the girls flanking the castle on each side. Hillard hoped that his show of bravado at coming to the front gate would enrage Lord Radek and distract him from the girls coming up the walls.  He knew that there was very little chance of success today.  Lord Radek had been far more powerful than him in their battle yesterday, but he hoped against hope that he would be able to weaken him enough so that Christine or Adalaide could finish him.  In the back of his mind, he worried that Christine would not be able to hurt anyone, not even the evil monster who had stolen her humanity, but he hoped that he was wrong.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sarah was driving herself crazy, imagining what was going on at the castle without her. She feared not only for her sister, but for Hillard. In the brief moment of intimacy that they had shared before he left, he had shown her that he really did care for her.

Despite the overwhelming sense of weakness that enveloped her body, she knew that she had to go to the castle, if not to help, then at least to bear witness to the fate of the people she loved. She rushed from the hideaway, ignoring the protests of Giselle, Conrad and Gervis, and moved as quickly through the forest as her exhausted body would allow.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hillard braced his shoulders and raised his head high, as he shouted his challenge towards the castle in front of him, “Radek! Are you really so afraid of me that you need to kill innocent villagers to strengthen yourself?”

The castle was quiet for a moment, and then the face of Lord Radek looked over the wall directly above the front gate. “You know I have no fear of you, Hillard. You are weak and pathetic from drinking the blood of stupid animals. I am preparing to take over the Vampire Council. When they arrive I want to be ready to take my rightful place.”

Hillard had suspected as much, so he wasn’t surprised.  He knew also, that Lord Radek could drink the blood of every villager in Donner and in several other villages and still not be close to the combined power of the Vampire Council. Lord Radek had somehow lost his grip on reality and the Vampire Council had made the right decision when they decided to have Lord Radek removed from power.

The heavy oak doors leading into the castle courtyard swung inwards and Hillard didn’t hesitate before striding through. He looked to the left side of the courtyard and saw sixty or seventy villagers huddled in the corner. That was a good sign – the entire village, including the surrounding area, had almost six hundred inhabitants. There was no way that Radek could have killed that many and disposed of the bodies in such a short time, so it appeared that many of the villagers had already fled to safety.

The villagers who were there, however, looked at Hillard with a mix of hope and despair. He hoped that he would be able to save them.

Lord Radek took a giant leap down from the castle wall and stood in front of Hillard, a cocky expression on his face. “Why did you even come here? You know that you cannot beat me.”

“I was ordered to try by the Vampire Council,” Hillard replied, “I always do as I am ordered.” He hoped that Lord Radek would catch the insinuation implicit in his mocking tone.

Lord Radek took the bait. “What have you done with Christine!?” he demanded.

Hillard pretended to look sad and ashamed. “I didn’t want to kill her. I have feelings for her sister. But I had to do as I was ordered. I took her into the woods last night and set her aflame.”

Lord Radek’s eyes widened in horror. “You destroyed her?! How could you do that? Were you blind to her perfect beauty? She was to be my queen!”

Hillard tried to grind some salt into the wound. “She begged for my mercy. She even tried to convince me not to kill you. She said that you were just lonely. But I knew the truth – you are mad, and you would have only infected her with your sickness!”

Lord Radek’s emerald eyes flared in anger. He flew towards his opponent with such a speed that even Hillard had never encountered anything like it before. He struck Hillard full on, sending him flying into a tree on the other side of the courtyard.

Hillard’s spinning head cleared after only a few moments. He reached up, and tore a branch from the tree. “You may be stronger, Radek, but I’m smarter – and not half as crazy.” He winked at his opponent. Radek’s anger was his weakness, as Hillard had realized.  The fight was on.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Adalaide saw no way for her to free the villagers without going down into the courtyard. She entered the guard’s quarters and began making her way downstairs. She would come out into the courtyard behind the group of villagers and, if she were lucky, behind Radek. She stopped near the fireplace and picked up a longish piece of wood. She lit an oil lamp and carried that with her as well. She now had everything that she needed to finish off that demon once and for all!

She slipped through the outer door to the guard house, careful to avoid being seen by Lord Radek. It wasn’t difficult to avoid detection, as he appeared to be consumed with his battle with Hillard. The villagers looked surprised to see her, as she slipped between them, but were careful not to give her away. The tools that she carried were proof enough that she was here to save them.

Adalaide handed the oil lamp to Toby, the Baker’s apprentice, with the whispered instructions to be ready to hand it to her as soon as she needed it.

The fight between Hillard and Lord Radek was moving towards the front doors to the castle, and Adalaide moved towards the front gate, in order to get a clear view of Radek when she was ready.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sarah arrived at the castle and knew that the battle was still going on, by the crashing sounds she could hear coming from the courtyard. She didn’t want to distract anyone and she knew that she would be of no help in the fight. Her breath was coming in short gasps from running and her head was spinning. She hid around the corner of the front gate and watched in horror as she saw the beating that Lord Radek was giving Hillard.  She saw Adalaide come into view a few metres ahead of her and hoped that she had some idea of how to save Hillard and the others.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Christine watched the fight from the northern wall. She was touched by Lord Radek’s dismay at her apparent demise, but was able to clearly see the madness that lurked within him.

Hillard appeared to be losing the battle. He could get nowhere near Lord Radek with the stake he had torn from the tree. Lord Radek’s speed was incredible. He zoomed back and forth around Hillard, taunting him and knocking him repeatedly off of his feet.

Finally, after an incredibly hard hit that had Hillard bouncing off of the wall of the castle, knocking many of the bricks out of place, Lord Radek tore the stick from Hillard’s grasp and stood above him, a triumphant smile on his face.

“You were no match for me,” he gloated, “I do not even know why you tried.”

Lord Radek thrust the stake through Hillard’s heart and Hillard gasped and froze. He was unable to move, unable to communicate.  With the stick preventing his heart from pumping his blood through his body, his power of regeneration was stilled.

Lord Radek looked down at him and sneered. “Now you are even more pathetic. I think I will go and find Christine’s sister and drain her dry right in front of you. I will keep you alive just to torment you. Then, I will burn you, like you burned my Christine.”

“I do not think so,” a strong female voice from behind him asserted.

Lord Radek spun around to find Adalaide standing there, a stake flying from her hand even as he turned, heading directly for his heart.  Instead of running, he grabbed a knife from a sheath on his hip and flung it at Adalaide. The blade pierced her lung and went clear through her body; the force of the throw magnified one hundred fold by the blood consumed by the Vampire Lord in the last twenty-four hours.

Despite the accuracy of his throw, Lord Radek had misjudged Adalaide’s aim. The stake dug deep into his chest, not exactly piercing the centre of his heart, but hitting enough of it that he hit the ground like a tonne of bricks. He lay there, stunned and unable to move.

Christine leapt down from the castle wall and stood over Lord Radek. His eyes widened as he saw her.

“My love, you still live.” Because the stake had not fully pierced his heart, Lord Radek was still capable of speech.

“If you can call this living.”  Christine spat at her maker. “You held me captive, drank my blood, and then you turned me into a monster like you. How can you call me your love? I wouldn’t even inflict such a thing on someone I hated.”

Lord Radek looked pleadingly at Christine. “All I wanted was a companion. You were to be my queen. We could still rule all of the Vampires together.”

Christine looked coldly down at Lord Radek. “You threatened to kill my sister.” She took a few steps back from him and flung the burning oil lamp she had taken from Toby down onto his prone, vulnerable body. Lord Radek’s body caught aflame like a piece of dry parchment held over a candle. Within seconds, there was nothing left of him but ash.

“CHRISTINE.”  A voice sounded like thunder in her head. Her eyes widened in shock.  “WE HAVE DECIDED THAT YOU MAY LIVE.  YOUR ACTIONS REGARDING RADEK WERE HONOURABLE AND RIGHT.  DONNER WILL NEED A STRONG LEADER AND WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU TO FULFILL THIS ROLE.”

Christine was shaken. She had hoped that she would be allowed to live, but she had never expected this. “But I don’t know how to lead,” she protested, speaking aloud as telepathic communication was something Hillard had not taught her.

“HILLARD WILL GUIDE YOU IN THE BEGINNING.”

“But Hillard is…”

“GO TO HIM, PULL OUT THE STAKE.” With that final command, the connection was broken.

Christine did as she was told and Hillard blinked, took a deep breath, and rose. He ran over to Adalaide, hoping to save her life with his blood, but she was already dead. Tears in his eyes, he looked beyond her and saw a figure slumped in the doorway of the castle gate.

Hillard rushed over to see who it was, and his breath caught in his throat. It was Sarah. Tears were in her eyes and Lord Radek’s knife was protruding from the side of her neck. She had been fighting the urge to pull it out, knowing that she would be dead within seconds if she did, but her blood was still in a huge pool around her.

“Oh Sarah,” Hillard whispered. He wanted to take her in his arms, but that might just make things worse. There were very few injuries or diseases that a few drops of vampire blood could not cure. Someone who had very nearly bled to death was one. Vampire blood could not gather the blood from the stone around Sarah and put it back into her body.  She had lost too much already to survive her injuries, even if the wound was sealed. Vampire blood could not cure death.

“I’m cold,” Sarah managed to whisper. Her eyes were so very tired.

Hillard didn’t want to let her go – he had just found her. How could she die without learning how to love herself, without learning how much he loved her?

Suddenly Christine was beside him. “Can’t you help her?” she pleaded.

“No. The blood. I can’t put it back.”

“Then give her yours.” Christine’s voice was flat and insistent.

Hillard looked at her. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me. She will be a rogue, like you were. There is nothing that will make the Vampire Council allow her to live. She will be as good as dead anyway.”

“Then we hide her,” Christine insisted.

“They’ll be able to feel her.” Hillard paused, and then looked down at Sarah, seeming caught between two decisions. “Can you hear me, Sarah?”

She gazed up into his eyes.  “I’m dying, aren’t I?” Her voice was barely audible.

Hillard took a deep breath. “You don’t . . . have to. I can make you … like me. I know you think I’m a monster, but you can be anything you want to be.”

She looked at him, love in her eyes. “You’re not . . . a monster. I know you would never hurt me. And I . . . don’t want to die. Is it true that you don’t have to . . . hurt people?” Her voice was getting weaker and Hillard was starting to fear that it would soon be too late to do anything.

“It’s true. Sarah, if we do this, we need to hide you from the Vampire Council. Christine, listen to what I say, you’ll have to shield your thoughts too. I need you both to visualize a solid brick wall around your mind. You need to make sure that you don’t broadcast your thoughts to the Council unintentionally. Later I’ll have more time to teach you. Do you think you can do that?”

Sarah just smiled at him weakly. Hillard didn’t know if she had even heard him, but he couldn’t let her go. He didn’t want to be alone again. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then he opened a vein in his left wrist and placed it to Sarah’s mouth.

For a moment, he thought he was too late. Sarah’s eyes were now closed and she didn’t start drinking. Then, as a few drops of his blood slipped between her lips and down her throat, a minute amount of strength seemed to pull her back from the very brink of death. Her lips pressed lightly against his wrist at first, and then more urgently. After a moment, she finally stopped drinking and opened her eyes – her glowing emerald eyes.

 

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