The Progeny : Chapter 21

PART II – The New Maker

Chapter 21

“I think she’s waking up.”

“Yeah, I can see that. I’m right next to you. I don’t need the running commentary.”

“Sorry, I just saw her eyes flickering. I’ll shut up then, shall I?”

“That would be best. Although I know that’s wishful thinking.”

“Do you really want her to wake up to all this negativity?”

“Shut up, Alex. And back up would you? You’re going to scare her.”

“Oh, I’m going to scare her am I? What are you trying to say? That I have a scary face?”

“Your face is fine. Just step back.”

“My face is better than fine but okay, whatever.”

The voices were so loud, like they were talking down a megaphone. The strange voices mixed with the impossibly loud gong of a grandfather clock and the incessant thumping of heavy rain, all swirled together into a mess of white noise that Evie couldn’t bear. She tried to shift onto her side in the emptiness of her closed eyes but her body wouldn’t budge from her lack of energy.A pain lanced through her jaw, making her groan deep in her throat. The sound was brittle and groggy. She tried to lift her hand to cup her face but she ached all over. Her muscles felt as heavy as rock. Flickering her eyes open, she winced at the harsh light.

“Turn the light off,” she heard a voice say. A female voice. One of the voices she was hearing as she was rousing from what felt like an eternity of sleep. The bright pink of her closed eyelids dulled to a deep scarlet and when she opened her eyes once more, her vision blurred then sharpened onto a woman knelt before her.

She was on the floor. Carpet. She was in a house. Not her house. This woman’s house? A table lamp behind the woman’s head lit the room a dull orange. Once tuned into her surroundings, she could hear properly again, like the volume had been lowered on everything yet she swore she could hear the humming of the electricity running through the walls.

The woman was beautiful, with soft pale skin, plush pink lips and a strong jaw. Her honey blonde hair was pin straight and fell forwards like two curtains.

“Hi.” The stranger smiled at her. Her eyes were a stormy mixture of blue and green yet when she smiled, they seemed to light up.

Evie opened her mouth to speak but her throat was dry so she ended up coughing. She cleared her throat and tried again. “H-hi.”

“Phew, she’s English. That could have been awkward.”

Evie’s eyes shot to the source of the second voice. A young man was leaning against the wall covered in sickly floral wallpaper that made Evie’s eyes hurt. He was handsome. No, beautiful. Even more strikingly beautiful than the woman before her. His skin was lily white his face was a masterpiece of sharp angles and hollows. His dirty blonde hair fell to just above his shoulders. One half flopped forwards, covering his left eye while the other half was tucked neatly behind his ear, revealing a black stud. He must have been around Evie’s human age judging by his youthful glow and clothing choice. He was wearing an open black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a simple white t-shirt and acid wash jeans with two gaping holes at the knees. His boots were thick and heavy looking, the tongues pulled forwards like they were falling out.

He raised his light eyebrows with a smile and Evie quickly shook her head and looked back at the woman before her when she realised she had been staring.

“Who are-” Evie’s voice broke with a gasp and she jerked up when a memory flashed in her mind, burning her vision white for a fraction of a second. The strangers watched her expectantly like they were waiting for a kettle to boil. She started panting but something felt wrong. The air…it felt empty. She felt empty. Realisation hit her and she smacked her hand to her chest desperate to find her heart racing. But it wasn’t. It was cold and lifeless inside her. “Oh my God…” Her shoulders sagged as her vision started to stain red with ugly blood tears. “…I’m a vampire, aren’t I?”

“Ooh, this one’s clever!” said the man with a grin.

The woman before her went to touch her shoulder but Evie jerked back. The woman was wearing a smart, elegant white blouse with a burnt scarlet leather jacket over the top and black jeans. Evie studied her and her eyes widened when their gazes locked. Something surged though her, strong and unavoidable like a tidal wave. Suddenly, she had the urge to embrace her. Just before she gave in and allowed her arms to reach out to the welcomed stranger, Evie drew back with a start. This wasn’t the first time she’d had that feeling. She remembered when she had opened her eyes and had seen Caius gazing down at her in the graveyard. She felt safe and secure, even when she was surrounded by psychotic vampires.

“Y-you…” She pushed herself up so she was in a sitting position and her back smacked against something. It was the edge of a sofa. The woman just smiled and crossed her legs before her on the carpet. “You’re my Maker?”

The woman’s eyebrows rose, impressed.

“Wow.” The man pushed himself off the wall and squatted down to get a better look at Evie. “She really is clever.”

“Yes, I am your Maker,” said the woman with an air of…pride? “My name is Varsee. And that’s my brother, Alexander.” She waggled her dainty hand in the direction of the man but never took her eyes off Evie. “We found you dying at the side of the road. I sort of have this sixth sense when it comes to finding progenies. I know which ones are worth the risk.” She looked to her brother and sighed. “Something my brother sadly lacks.”

“Hey!” said Alexander in protest.

Varsee arched her perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Your last progeny was a prostitute.”
“Yeah, but she was really fun.” He beamed at Evie. “She could do this thing where she could put her leg right over her head and-”

“Alex,” Varsee cut through tersely. “This is not the time or the place for your weird sex stories.”

Alexander huffed and straightened. “It never is, is it?”

Varsee ignored him and turned back to Evie with an encouraging smile. “So, do you remember what happened to you?”

Evie shuddered with a nod.

“Can you tell us?”

She chewed her lip and nodded. “I-I was attacked by vampires. They came out of nowhere. I think they must have smelled the blood bags I had. They spilled in my handbag.”

“What was a human doing with blood bags?” asked Alexander, looking down at her with his arms crossed over his thin chest.

She looked up at him warily. “I was with a vampire.”

Alexander arched his eyebrow.

“You were alone when we found you,” said Varsee, bringing Evie’s attention back to her.

“He left me. His Maker called him and so obviously, he couldn’t ignore her.”

Alexander let out a low whistle “Talk about bad timing.”

“What were you doing with a vampire anyway?” pressed Varsee, now looking a little suspicious.

“He was my Maker.”

A silence fell over them. Varsee and Alexander shared a look. “Your Maker? You were human when we found you,” said Alexander finally.

Evie nodded. “I know. I was Turned in 1934 then I got taken by this scientist man and was experimented on. He had loads of vampires down in his basement. One was my Maker.” The two vampires were looking at her as if she was crazy but Evie tried to ignore them and carried on.

“He was injecting us with this stuff that would apparently cure vampirism. Most didn’t work but then it worked on me. Only me. I Turned back human and was able to escape with my Maker but then his men found me. They wanted to take me back so they could experiment on me or something. My Maker killed them so now we are both on the run.”

The vampires stared at her wide-eyed for a moment as if lost for words. But then Alexander spoke up. “There’s a cure for vampirism?”

“Sort of,” Evie replied. “It only worked on me for some reason.”

“How have we not heard about this?” asked Varsee.

“He’s working with the government, I think. They’re funding his project. I’m guessing it’s all top secret.”

“I would have thought that the Vampire Court would have heard something and done something.”

“The Vampire Court?” asked Evie as a chill ran up her spine.

“Well, they have been slacking lately,” said Alexander.

“What do you mean?” Evie looked up at him.

“Those vampires that attacked you,” said Varsee, making Evie look back. “They must have been part of the Nest that has been bothering us for a good few months now.”

“A Nest? I thought there weren’t any more of those.”

Varsee shrugged. “Yeah, we thought so, too. The Vampire Court was apparently responsible for eradicating them. Obviously, we don’t know for sure. We don’t even know where the Vampire Court are, who they are, if they even exist. But there is no other explanation.”

They do exist, thought Evie numbly.

“Anyway, we figured they are slacking because this Nest doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. They are situated in a hollowed out barn about a mile away.” Varsee let out a bitter hiss. “How they think they can survive consuming their own blood is beyond me. As soon as they smell human blood, they become psychotic. It’s like voluntary Rage. They’ve even attacked us a few times, too. That’s why we’ve placed sheep carcasses outside the house, covers up our smell.”

“Plus, it’s all the range this year,” said Alexander, draping himself over the arms of a high back armchair in front of the gas fire.

Evie studied him. He completely clashed with the furniture. They both did. Alexander looked like a rock star and Varsee looked like someone who would turn her nose up at Sourz before heading off to a decadent bar to sip at a glass of champagne with her pinkie sticking up.Whereas the décor made Evie feel like she had gone back in time. China plates with cat patterns were hung all over the walls, covering up some but not enough of the gaudy pink flowers on the wallpaper. More plates and porcelain figures of different breeds of dogs filled a large glass fronted cabinet by her side and the armchair Alexander had flopped himself down on looked stiff and uncomfortable, fit for a pensioner with back problems. Even the sofa behind her didn’t look appealing as she studied it from her place on the floor.

“Where am I anyway?” she asked.

“Mrs Braverman’s house,” replied Alexander, watching his fiddling fingers on his lap.

Evie looked to Varsee, confused.

“She’s dead,” Varsee explained.

“I didn’t kill her,” added Alexander quickly.

Varsee threw him a look. “I never said you did.”

In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Evie gasped with realisation. “Caius. How will he find me?”

“Who’s Caius?” asked Varsee.

“My Maker.”

The blonde vampire’s chin lifted a little indignantly and her eyes held the sharp edge of cut jewels. “I’m your Maker.”

Suddenly feeling three inches tall, Evie mumbled, “My old Maker.”

“Well, you can wave bye-bye to him. Don’t even need him anymore anyway,” said Alexander, stretching his arms over his head, an act that made him look oddly feline. Evie’s heart sank at the notion of what he had said and slumped.

“But…I love him,” she said awkwardly.

Alexander’s head pricked up and he cocked an eyebrow at her. “You’re in love with your ex-Maker? Well, that’s…” He shuddered, “…interesting.”

Varsee’s stormy eyes were inspecting Evie’s face intently. “So, you were planning on running away together? A vampire and a human?”

“You don’t have to tell me how stupid it was. I wasn’t really thinking. It seemed like the only option.”

“But then he left you,” said Alexander.

Evie’s jaw clenched. “He didn’t have a choice. He said he’d come back for me.” She blinked and a warm blood tear ran down her cheek. She looked down and it dropped onto the pastel coloured paisley carpet. She swallowed the hard lump in her throat. “He promised.”

Alexander huffed out an overdramatic sigh. “Well, this has all become super depressing. Hey, Varsee, I bet you didn’t expect this when you Turned her, aye? You say you have a sixth sense about choosing good progenies and yet you chose one that already belongs to someone else. Face it, sis, Godfrey did not pass that talent down to you.”

“But she doesn’t belong to someone else,” Varsee hissed back, whipping her head round so her blonde hair swooped over her shoulder. “She belongs to me.”

Evie stayed silent, the tension in the room felt like a physical entity. But then her insides started feeling strange, like there was something inside her tugging at her organs. A growl ripped through her stomach and her fangs pressed hard against her sealed gums. Pain lanced through her entire skull making her hold her head in her hands and tuck her knees to her chest.

“You’re hungry,” observed Varsee, and she got to her feet. “You still haven’t transitioned fully. Hang on.”

Evie clenched her eyes shut but heard Varsee’s soft footfalls on the carpet as she left the room.

“Y’know, if you really don’t want to be with us, you could just not drink and then your mind will catch up to your body and you’ll just waste away like a human. No exploding.”

Evie peered at him through her fingers. He was staring at the cold gas fire, his soft blue eyes wide and vacant. “You don’t like me, do you?”

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, clearly for dramatic purposes. “I wouldn’t say that. It’s just, you sound difficult. Your background isn’t exactly simple. Although, you have already been a vampire so I guess that’s a plus.”

“I’m not going to just give up and die. I’ve been through too much to do that.”

“Plus, it’ll mean letting go of this Caius dude?” He glanced over his shoulder at her, his gaze lazy.

She gulped and shifted uncomfortably, feeling dread knot in her stomach. Dread or hunger, she wasn’t sure. What was she doing sat on the floor anyway when there was a free armchair available? She got up with a groan and inspected herself for the first time since she’d woken up. The bottom half of her jumper was in tatters, revealing most of her stomach, and the material was crisp with dried blood. Her exposed skin was clear of old blood along with her neck. She figured the two vampires must have cleaned her up a little yet she could still feel it matted into her hair. She crossed the room and sank down onto the armchair beside the one Alexander was lay across.

She had been right, it was stiff and uncomfortable. She might as well have stayed on the floor.

“Here you go.” Varsee swooped back into the room with a glass of blood. “We took the blood bags from your car. We were running low. I hope you don’t mind.”

Evie took the glass and inspected it with a frown. No more beans on toast for her. Back to the boring diet of a vampire. And she had been looking forward to learning how to bake cakes. And eating them. Eating lots of them

She closed her eyes and inhaled the intoxicatingly delicious sent then jumped back and almost spilled it all over herself when her fangs burst free with that oddly mechanical click. She flicked her eyes to the two vampires who were both watching her- Alexander with dull indifference and Varsee with the eager and excited look of a mother watching her daughter ride a bike for the first time. Evie smiled weakly and took a sip and groaned, her eyes rolling back.

Forget beans on toast.

Forget sticky chocolate pudding.

This was the stuff.