Avalon Revisited (27 page)

“Of course. Money. Power. The usual.” There was no emotion or regret or shame in his voice. He spoke as if I had asked him the time or whether or not it was raining. It was just a matter of fact.

“Did I not provide you with your every need?” I inquired.

He laughed at this. A foul belch of barking laughter. “Of course, m’lord,” he said condescendingly, “my every need. Now, do come with me. It’s not necessary to make this difficult.”

I nodded slowly, taking every moment I safely could to stall, then took a step towards him, chancing a quick glance back at Avalon. She was turned mostly against the back wall covering her face. Good.

“Let her go. You don’t need her.” I spoke in a low, monotone voice, trying my mind powers on him, and he felt it.

“That won’t work with me, m’lord. I’m wearing this.” He held up a pendant that was made of several moving cogs surrounding a small vial of what I could only assume to be blood. Likely, my blood.

“Interesting gadget, Cecil. Is this how you met the doctor? Your fascination with these gadgets?”

“Yes, m’lord. He made me my wrist guard, enabling your daily dosage with ease.”

“Indeed. I must remember to thank the dear doctor for that. And that’s my blood, I presume,”

I said, indicating the vial around his neck. “How did you ever obtain that?”

“While you slept, of course. After all, you are quite dead when you sleep, m’lord. The Doctor, he had much grander plans for you, m’lord; but you rather put a wrench in that when you took up with that lot,” he said, pointing to Avalon. His eyes were off of me for a second, but that was more than enough time for me. He had given me my opening. I was upon him before he noticed I had moved. With one hand on the crossbow to stop it from crashing to the ground (I didn’t want to alert the doctor even a moment sooner than necessary) and the other covering his traitorous mouth to keep him from shouting, I wrenched his head to one side and bit deep, not needing to feed, but rather to kill quickly. A little blood I did take, of course. I needed all the strength I could get for what was ahead. Although making love with Avalon certainly had restored some of my energy, and I am really glad I had that snack back at the cemetery, it wouldn’t have been enough for what I was about to face.

The doctor looked up just as Cecil’s lifeless body slid to the ground.

Here we go.

“Guess his contraption didn’t protect him from that,” I said, licking my lips. My eyes fixed hard on the man holding the syringe. He didn’t react. Didn’t budge. But rather just smiled. “Now, Doctor. What can I do for you?”

“Arthur Tudor. What an honor it is to have royal
blood
in my home. Indeed!” He picked up one of his blasted contraptions and started polishing it slowly. He was not in the least bit concerned for his safety. He had to know something I didn’t. “What can you do for me?” he continued. “Well, my lad, you have already done so much for me! That is, until recently. Now you’ve become rather a nuisance, destroying all my work, so I’m forced to keep you in closer containment,” he said, with a quick glance over at the empty glass vessel.

He meant to keep me suspended in that thing! Of course! He had a werewolf, found a way to animate corpses, and now he needed a vampire on hand! Especially since I had just dismissed his errand boy. He must’ve seen the horror on my face, because he laughed. Not a maniacal laugh, but a soft chuckle, which had a much more harrowing effect. I remained in the doorway to the cell, assessing the situation.

“Yes! You see, don’t you? Smart, you are. I was willing to use your blood remotely, as it were, but now you killed the messenger. To continue my work, you must remain here with me. I assure you, it’s not as bad as it looks, to be suspended in there. It’s much, much worse.”

Again, that soft chuckle.

“And Victor. You knew him?”

I heard Avalon weep behind me, so I reached back, motioning with my hand that it would be all right. Just please keep quiet.

“We studied in Romania together, but his goals were so short-sighted. His and Abe’s both.

They only saw a monster to kill, whereas I saw the potential for an unconquerable army. An army I controlled. Once the technology caught up with my vision. Well,” he said motioning around his laboratory with great pride, “you can see for yourself.”

He put down the contraption he had been absentmindedly polishing then picked up another mechanism from the table and fiddled with one of the dials. An almost imperceptible high-pitched whine filled my ears. Then, as if from the walls, nearly a dozen of his werevamp zombies emerged. I hadn’t seen them, as they had been in the part of the laboratory that was blind to me.

But I saw them now, and I was completely outnumbered. More importantly, I wasn’t sure how to protect Avalon from all this.

Slamming the cell door shut behind me, I stood between it and the advancing zombies. They were moving curiously slow, and I knew from dealing with them before tonight that they were almost as fast as I was. If I acted quickly enough, I could at least thin their numbers before they progressed too far. A thud against the door distracted me from my soon-to-be attackers. It was Avalon. Her sweet face was pressed against the window, and her face was contorted in despair.

“Arthur,” she cried.

“Stand back!” I shouted. She did.

With great speed and more strength, I rammed my elbow back into the wooden door, splintering it, and I had a few serviceable stakes before the zombies got to me, suddenly moving much faster. I staked the two closest to me, and they fell to the floor, paralyzed. I jabbed at a third, but it bit me through to the bone before I drove the stake home. Taking a chunk of my flesh with it, I pushed it to the ground as a fourth and fifth bit into me.

This didn’t look good. I looked past them to see the doctor smiling, as if only mildly amused by it all. Momentarily, I wondered if their saliva would turn me into such a thing.

I reached around and broke off more of the door, staking the two chomping on me when a sixth got my free arm from beneath his brother and bit into my hand. I faltered, slipping away from the door and two more descended upon me. Their teeth sank into my shoulder and back.

The pain became all consuming. Everything else–the lab, the chuckling, insane doctor, Avalon–

all fell away. Darkness began filling my peripheral vision, and I knew that it was over. I had failed to save Avalon. She would meet the same horrible fate or worse! She would become one of them.

But then one zombie fell away paralyzed, then another. I couldn’t comprehend why at first, through my fading consciousness, but then I understood. It was Avalon's doing! She had come out of the cell and begun to fight, staking those eating me in their backs. The two left turned from me to her, but she got back into the cell, closing the splintered door behind her. The dimwitted things clawed at the hole in the door, trying to reach Avalon.

I had to get up.

I had to help her. Save her.

Then I fancied that some strength returned to me. I tested it and found that I did still have some fight left. I stood up and pushed the remaining three animated zombies away from the door, and they fell over as if they weighed nothing. They got back up to their feet, lunging at me, but I stopped them with ease and pushed them back again. I felt amazing, stronger than I had ever felt before. The zombie on top of the other two got up first and came at me again. I grabbed its head, and with one violent jerk, twisted it completely off. It dusted on the spot. I did the same to the other two in seconds.

The doctor gaped, having seen nothing with his human eyes but a blur of movement followed by three fewer zombies.

“Interesting,” he said.

“Yes. Quite,” I replied, picking up one of the paralyzed zombies from the floor and twisting its head off as well. I strode arrogantly toward the doctor, dusting off the zombie dust from my hands.

“Stay back,” the doctor said, raising a crossbow. He was well prepared. But nothing could stop me now. I could easily reach him before he got off a shot, and just as I had that thought, he fired a hidden gun from beneath the crossbow. The bullet went straight through my stomach.

“Really?” I said to him, disbelieving. “All that study. All those notes. All that research, and you don’t yet know that bullets can’t hurt me?”

“I wasn’t aiming for you,” he replied with a smirk.

Realization washed over me and my heart sank as I turned to see Avalon, who had just emerged from the door, shot. Bleeding. Dying.

“NO!” I shouted and rushed back over to her. I crumpled to my knees beside her and gathered her up in my arms. “Avalon?” I asked.

“Arthur,” she gurgled through the blood filling her throat.

“Don’t speak.” A drop of blood hit her cheek, then another. My tears were staining her porcelain face, and I cursed myself for this. I cursed myself for marring such a treasure. I ruined her the day I met her. This was her horrible end because of me.

“Arthur, I love you.” She coughed up blood, splattering it over her lips and around her mouth. I kissed her gently, tasting her blood and her love mixed together on her lips.

“Hold on,” I said, and I leaned her against the wall, propping her up to ease her breathing.

I stood up and faced the doctor, who had moved closer. I decided at that moment that I would wipe that smug look from his face if it was the last thing I did on this earth. He held the crossbow at near-point blank range and then chuckled, ever so softly. Rage filled my being, and he saw it as well. His eyes widened, and he pulled the trigger, sending the wooden shaft towards my heart.

In one movement without even looking, as if by pure instinct, I snatched the arrow from the air, whipped it around, and stuck it through the doctor’s throat. Thrusting my hand into his chest, I pulled out his still beating heart, showed it to him, and then took a huge bite out of it while he watched. He wasn’t smiling now. The taste of it was rank, and I spat it out onto his lifeless body and wiped the rest of his foul blood on my sleeve.

I turned back to Avalon, barely still alive. She had to be in indescribable pain. Gathering her up in my arms, she coughed more blood on me. I couldn’t lose her. Not now. I couldn’t bear existence without her.

“Don’t go, my sweet. Please, not now that I’ve found you,” I said to her. I wiped my bloody tears from her face and smoothed back her hair.

“I’m cold, Arthur.”

“Oh Avalon. I love you, sweet Avalon.” I squeezed her tightly to me. Then a thought occurred to me. I didn’t have to lose her. We could be together forever! With my own teeth, I ripped an opening in my wrist and put it up to her mouth. She didn’t have the strength to resist or react in any way, but the blood flowed into her. I tilted her head back, hoping it would trickle down her throat on its own. In all these years, I had never turned another, so I wasn’t even completely sure how. Just the memory of that dark angel and mythology was all I had to go on.

Then it was finished.

All movement stopped. I heard her heart beat its last, and she drew her last breath.

I held her body for a long while, rocking back and forth and crying silently, for there was no one left to hear my grief. All around me was blood and dust. I let grief consume me, delving into it and finding there was no bottom. I thought of the light in her eyes, now forever dark. I thought of the taste of her lips and their warmth, now forever cold.

Finally, I laid her back down. The grief turned to rage. With my foot, I stomped on the necks of the remaining paralyzed zombies, beheading them into dust with one strike. I ripped the doctor’s body to pieces, flinging parts of that monster all over the lab. One of his arms hit the empty glass vessel, breaking it. Gelatinous bile oozed from the broken container all over the lab.

I broke the other two with my fists, feeding my rage and freeing the werewolf. The moon was not full and so he turned back into human form after being severed from the blasted machine. He fell to the floor, unconscious, likely in need of medical attention, if he even could survive such an ordeal. I’d have Thomas send a doctor.

The animated corpse that had been in the second vessel crumpled once again into the sleep of death when it was disengaged from its viscous prison.

I beheaded it. Just in case.

I continued my rampage of grief until the entire laboratory was in shambles. When all the cogs were broken in two. When all the glass was smashed. When all the instruments were bent.

When all the machinery was demolished. I went back to my Avalon and lifted her up in my arms.

I would take my beloved home.

I reached my doorstep just before dawn.

Thomas was there to greet me, and I tried to explain the best I could, albeit briefly. I was far too exhausted to go into much detail, and I certainly didn’t want to relive it all.

“Cecil, m’lord?” he said, without judgment one way or the other, just as if confirming a fact.

Good man, Thomas. Professional.

“Yes, Thomas. You’ll understand if I keep you under close watch awhile, won’t you?”

“Of course, m’lord. And Miss Avalon?”

I looked down at her sweet, still face. Her entire body lay lifeless in my arms, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Just mere minutes ago she had been surrounding me with her love, enveloping my body with hers. And now she was so still. So cold.

Just like me.

I hated myself. She was in this position because of me. If I had never come into her life, she and Victor would both still be alive. If I had never lost control with that Haldenby woman, none of this would’ve happened. If I had seen Cecil for what he was, but I had foolishly trusted him, like I had trusted Catherine. Henry. Father. After all these centuries, I was still a foolish and naïve.

I hugged her more closely to me and rested my cheek on her soft hair.

“She might turn. She might not. I’d like to keep her here for a few days to see if she does.” I felt hope spark somewhere deep in the darkness of my mind, but I couldn’t allow myself the luxury of hope. For with hope comes the inevitable sorrow. The regret. I’ve certainly been around long enough to know that, and I couldn’t bear any more despair.