A Dance in Blood Velvet (54 page)

“H
er refusal to feed isn’t unusual,” said Stefan. “Her reaction is the most extreme I’ve ever seen, but thirst will overcome her eventually.”

“I’m not sure,” Charlotte said, distressed. Violette was pacing restlessly like a panther maddened by the scent of meat, yet she ignored the passive young man who offered himself as her victim. “I know her. She means it. Send your friend away and leave me alone with her.”

Stefan shook his head doubtfully. “If you are sure. Niklas?”

He made a small sign, and his mute
doppelgänger
lifted the young man and bit his throat. Charlotte felt a spurt of surprise, and thirst; she hadn’t expected this. Niklas fed quietly and neatly, his serene expression unchanging, until the man slumped in his arms. Then Stefan guided the victim out of the flat as if discretely ejecting a drunk.

“I’ve called a taxi-cab for him,” Stefan said as he returned. “He will feel faint, and won’t remember anything clearly.”

He’s been spared,
Charlotte thought.
Violette would have killed him. Does he even realise?

“Call if you need us.” Stefan took Niklas’s arm and led him to another room, closing the door. Charlotte knew he would hear everything, but she was glad he was there.

Violette circled the room, sat, then jumped up and resumed her demented pacing.
Has the transformation destroyed her mind?
Charlotte wondered.
Why am I treating her like a wild animal?

She caught Violette’s arm, halting her. “Violette, do you know what’s happened to you?”

“No.” The dancer shook off her hand, glaring at her.

“Do you know where you are, who I am?”

“Don’t treat me like an idiot! I don’t
understand,
but I haven’t lost my mind. You’ve made me like you, a beast that drinks blood. But I won’t, I can’t!” Arms crossed, she clawed at her own shoulders.

“You can’t scrape off the power like a skin,” said Charlotte. “It’s part of you. It’s a tiny fire inside every single cell. I know drinking blood seems unthinkable, but that’s only the remnant of your human nature. You are one of us now. It’s natural to us. Wonderful.”

“I know all this!” Violette spun away, pulling at her hair. “You don’t understand! If I swallow blood, something terrible will happen. It’s already happening.”

“Do you mean something other than becoming a vampire?” Charlotte asked carefully. “Your mind will play games with you while you’re starving.”

Violette faced her. Her fierceness vanished and she looked defenceless, confused. “Was I supposed to... Did it happen to you, did you...?”

Charlotte held her wrists, trying to calm her. “Everyone sees strange things during their transformation. Is that what’s frightened you? Tell me what you saw.”

Violette chewed her lower lip with the tip of one sharp canine. She said, “Who is Lilith?”

Charlotte frowned. “Why?”

“Tell me!”

“A character from mythology,” said Charlotte. “Wasn’t she Adam’s first wife, in some Jewish writings?”

“Yes, and she was evil. She’s the embodiment of wickedness; proud, arrogant, malicious, vengeful. She encourages sin, she feeds on men and murders children. She’s the bride of the Devil, mother of demons, the Serpent itself.”

Violette trembled as she spoke. Her expression was ghastly. Charlotte asked gently, “And did you see her?”

“I am her,” said Violette.

Charlotte, speechless, could only think,
God, she has lost her mind! Careful, I must help her through this.
“What do you mean?”

“After you drained my blood and I passed out, or died, I found myself in a garden. It was disgusting, wet and crawling with insects... so much life, it was obscene. There was a man...” She seemed physically to shrivel, losing her ballerina grace. “He tried to force himself on me, and when I wouldn’t submit he kept arguing, tormenting me. Like Janacek, but worse, because I couldn’t stop him. He said I wasn’t allowed to refuse him because he was my superior. This made me so angry I thought I’d go up in flames... and I did. I flew up into a sky of fire... and I spoke God’s secret name to escape, and that was wrong too. I broke God’s law and sided with the Devil. I only wanted to be left alone, but that seemed such a great crime! I came to a beautiful red desert but God wouldn’t allow me to stay there. He wanted me to return to the man, so he sent three angels to fetch me. I saw them coming, I felt them seize me and throw me into an ocean of light...”

“And then?”

“There was only the light, and fear and pain. Feathers cutting me like steel. I was in this room again but the pain and the light came with me.”

“It must have been me, Katerina and Stefan you saw,” Charlotte said gently. “We would have looked different to you. I should have explained more.”

Violette seemed impatient. “Yes, obviously I saw you, but you were something else as well. I knew it had happened before; my escape, the envoys coming for me. I was an outsider. I hated Adam, I hated Eve who replaced me, I wanted revenge on all their children. So I became the serpent who destroyed their innocence and got them cast into the wilderness. It was me. Lilith.”

“You were dreaming,” said Charlotte. “You got this from
Dans le Jardin.
You can’t believe the story was literally true.”

“But I wasn’t dreaming. I was
remembering.
The story is eternal, always happening. Explain how I know so much that I never knew before!”

Charlotte was at a loss, wishing Stefan were there. “The transformation plays tricks on the mind,” she said weakly.

“Well, this is quite some trick! Tricks, dreams - I thought you’d explain what all this means. But you don’t know, do you? You’ve done this to me without even understanding it! You don’t even know what I’m talking about.”

“You’re still Violette! These feelings will pass if you’ll only come out with me and feed.”

Violette sat down, stretched out her left arm and stared at it. Without warning she bit savagely into her forearm, jerked back her head and stared at the wound she’d made. Two pits filled with purplish gel. “No blood,” Violette said hoarsely.

“Don’t!” Charlotte cried, catching her wrist before she tried again. “No blood, because I took it. All that’s animating you is the energy of the Crystal Ring.”

“Will I die if I don’t feed?”

“No, but you’ll experience terrible pain. I won’t let you suffer that.”

“Why do you care? These hands will strangle children. I’ll tear infants from their mothers, I’ll straddle and torment sleeping men. Steal their seed and give birth to all the demons in the world. All the vampires.”

“Violette, for God’s sake!” Charlotte spoke in despair. She remembered something Karl had told her; that after his own transformation, he had asked Kristian, “What are we?” and Kristian had replied, “Children of Lilith.”

“For
God’s
sake?” said Violette, with a thin smile. Anguish made her hideous.

“This is a delusion. Trust me. It will pass if you -”

Violette jumped up with a strangled cry. Charlotte leapt out of her way, suddenly mortally afraid of her. Stefan came running in, Niklas close behind, but Violette stopped short of attacking Charlotte. She stood scarecrow-rigid, clawing at her own arms.

“I can’t feed! For this miserable, unforgiving God’s sake, will you listen to me?” Violette cried. “Yes, I’m Violette, I’m still myself, just. But if I once taste blood, I will become Lilith completely and I’ll never be able to go back. That’s why I can’t do it!”

She tore her own flesh in self-hatred, but tears gleamed in her eyes. Regret, compassion and sorrow overcame Charlotte as she moved towards the dancer and embraced her.

With terrible strength, Violette threw her off and backed away. A feral glitter entered her eyes, something beyond reason. Charlotte gazed helplessly at her.

“Leave me alone!” Violette screeched. She ran at the mantelpiece and swept several valuable ornaments to the floor. In the explosion of bright sound, she turned and ran at Charlotte. Stefan and Niklas caught her in mid-flight and she writhed in their hands, snatching at the air.

“Perhaps she’ll calm down if you leave, Charlotte.”

“I can’t possibly -”

“Let’s try!” said Stefan. “You’re the one she’s trying to kill. Go, before she wrecks the entire flat!”

As he spoke, Violette slumped in his arms. He sat her down on a chair and she stared into space, unspeaking, catatonic.

Eventually Charlotte said, “Stefan, what are we going to do?”

“I have absolutely no idea.” She’d rarely seen him so serious. “If we can’t persuade her to feed, in the end...”

“What?”

“We would have to decapitate her, or put her to sleep in the
Weisskalt
. It would be the merciful thing to do.”

Charlotte almost broke down with horror. Concerned, Stefan said, “Go and hunt. You need it; you’re exhausted. We will look after her, don’t worry.”

She nodded wearily, glad of his kindness. She let herself melt into the Crystal Ring and rose slowly, leaving behind the warped shapes of the lower ether. Gilded hills drew her upwards with all the majesty of clouds. How she’d longed to fly among the clouds as a little girl; and now she could, now she could.

Ah, but the price...

I have to find help,
she thought.
Karl is the last person I can ask... but can any vampire help me? Has this ever happened before? And what if there’s no cure for Violette because she really
is
Lilith? No, no. Think straight. She could not become Lilith any more than I could become the Virgin Mary.

Then she thought of someone. A kind, sad face; an older, gentler Karl. Josef. Suddenly he seemed the only person in the world to whom she could go.

It was a long journey through the Crystal Ring. The skyscape shone like a dying fire; dark coals backlit by a crimson glow. So vast and lonely. She was a snippet of black thread in the void. She felt cold, but distanced herself from physical discomfort and let the wind blow fiercely through her, cleansing her.

Stop being a fool,
she told herself.
Don’t weep for Violette. Just help her
.

It was a journey of hours; still far swifter than boat and train. She knew the ways well now, fitting the magnetic patterns and flowing currents of the Ring over the contours of Earth without effort.

Here were the streets of Vienna... the square white building, the little courtyard and drab unwelcoming stairs she remembered... Josef was at home. She felt the mote of warmth within the apartment, like a rushlight inside her.

She moved through the walls and saw him - or rather, saw his outline drawn on the Crystal Ring by his aura. Mushroom, dusty brown, a hint of silver; austere, gentle. An strong aura containing no malice.

Charlotte blended into the room and stood motionless, watching Josef. He sat bent over his desk, working by the lamplight. The glow outlined his curved back and put sparks of gold in his grey hair; threw lozenges of shadow across the desk and the dark furniture. She watched him with the still, feline concentration that only vampires possessed.

The flat felt different, now his sister Lisl had passed away. It was less cluttered, fresher, more studious. Yet empty, almost sterile. No one here but Josef and his books.

A photograph of a young woman rested in a silver frame on the desk. Someone important in his life. Charlotte felt strangely peaceful yet full of curiosity, seeing the human world as something alien and fascinating.

A cuckoo clock chirped the hour. Josef looked up and saw Charlotte’s reflection in the uncurtained window in front of him; an apparition with a diadem of shining hair. He clutched the arms of his chair and his face dropped.

“Don’t be alarmed,” she said softly, in German. “It’s me, don’t you remember?”

He turned round in his chair, removing his spectacles and rubbing his brow. “Of course I remember you, Charlotte. How could I ever forget?”

“I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

He stood and kissed her hand, keeping a cautious distance. “How long were you standing there? You can’t disguise what you are, my dear; you never looked anything but unearthly to me.”

“Not pleasant, to find a vampire looking over your shoulder,” she said, half-smiling.

“Isn’t there some rule about you being unable to cross a threshold unless you are invited?”

“Ah, but you did invite me, once.”

“But I’m not on my deathbed. I hope you haven’t come to take my life, because I’m not ready to go.”

“I’m glad,” she said. “I’m not the Grim Reaper, Josef. Your time hasn’t come, I promise.”

He began to relax and his expression eased. “Then why are you here? I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Nonsense. You knew you would,” she said, smiling. “I have an ulterior motive, I’m afraid. I need your help. Information.”

His eyebrows rose; he looked amused, fascinated. “Yes? Anything I can do, I will, but...”

“You said you study Hebrew mythology. What can you tell me about Lilith?”

“Lilith, oh my goodness.” He was on his feet, looking along bookshelves. “She’s barely mentioned in the Bible, you know, but she was at large in Babylonian and Sumerian myth long before the Talmud and the Zohar got hold of her. Won’t you sit down? We can study the books together.”

Charlotte sat down at the desk and picked up the photograph. A pretty woman in a crushed velvet dress; a society portrait. “Who is she?”

“My niece Roberta.”

She heard regret in his voice. “Lisl’s daughter?”

“No, I have another sister; she’s her child. But they live in America so I rarely see my Roberta. I miss her. Even an old bachelor needs someone to look on as a daughter... Anyway, about Lilith.”

He placed a pile of books in front of her and leaned on the desk by her right shoulder, opening the first volume.

“Different stories of her origin, as with everything,” he said. “In Sumer she was Lil, a destructive storm; in Mesopotamia she became a night demon who preys on sleeping men and women, causing erotic dreams.”

He opened another book, quickly finding relevant sections. “Lilith is described as a hot, fiery female spirit in the abyss... Always a wild and destructive force. The Zohar calls her the ruin of the world. God formed Lilith as he formed Adam, but he used sediment instead of pure dust. Adam and Lilith never found peace together... She refused to lie beneath him, claiming equality, but when she saw that Adam would overpower her, she fled to the desert on the shores of the Red Sea. She is still by the sea, trying to snare mankind...