Siren Nights (Series Part 1) (The Lure) (6 page)

I shook my head. “That seems a bit much to
believe. I mean, wouldn’t records of that make it into history?”

“The difference between ‘history’ and
‘myth’ is far less than you imagine,” replied Claire. “Many records of that
time do exist, but the evidence is gone, wiped away by the very wars that
nearly destroyed the world. Only stories survive and gradually even they fade
away as they’re passed down through oral tradition, until it’s almost
impossible to say what is true anymore.”

“Anyway, vampirism was one of the conditions
that sorcerers invented, from dark experiments in raising the dead. These
creations became known as ‘vampires’ or ‘nightwalkers.’ They became soldiers in
the Magi Wars.”

“The Third Magi War shattered the world,
erasing the existence of millions of people, killing hundreds of thousands more
and wiping entire continents off the map. All kingdoms destroyed each other, in
effect, in an attempt to prevent themselves from being destroyed. But in the
end, only the wild lands beyond their reach survived.”

“The surviving sorcerers and their tribes
rebuilt the world, slowly and painfully. But before they did, they gathered one
last Sorcerer’s Council.

“After seven days and seven nights of
debate, it was decided to abolish magic entirely, to wipe it from the world.”

“This was easier said than done, magic
resides in the air, earth, sea, and consciousness of humans. In fact, it still
does. The survivors could bar the doors to the Hidden Realm from where gods and
spirits come, and so they did. But they couldn’t ensure the doors would remain
shut or that future sorcerers wouldn’t discover paths back to the Realm.”

“Then there was the problem of the
sorcerers’ servants. Most were destroyed in the final days of the war, but
others remained, warriors with no master.”

“In the end, the last of the sorcerers
split into two groups: the Keepers and the Penitents. Together, they made The
Vow: the Keepers pledged to use their magic to bury all knowledge of it, while
the Penitents would track down and eliminate the last of the servitors using
powerful magical relics. Once both tasks were complete, the Keepers would
destroy all their magical knowledge and the Penitents would destroy their
magical artifacts.

“But fate changes all plans. The Keepers
hoarded knowledge and secreted it away rather than destroy it. Some even turned
from The Vow and attempted to amass power anew. Meanwhile, the Penitents
dispersed among the surviving humans, forgetting their history and their
pride--forgetting everything, in fact, but their hatred and lust for
vengeance.”

“Moreover, the servitors of the ancient
mages were more cunning and resourceful than any had given them credit for,
none more so than the breeds of nightwalkers and shapeshifters; that is to say,
lycanthropes such as the werewolf. Most of the rest of the servitors were
destroyed by the Penitents or as they became in a few short centuries, the
hunters.

“And so what may have taken only a few
centuries to complete ended up stretching out for nearly two millennia... until
today.”

Claire took a long gulp from the glass at
her side. “And that is, in a nutshell, the history of the magical world.”

I stared at my plate. “And... forgive me
for asking, but how old are you, to speak of... all this? Sorry to be rude.”

Claire laughed. “Not rude at all. I wasn’t
speaking of personal experience anyway, but of the legends as they were passed
down by our mother. I’m older than I look, but still fairly young for a witch.
I was born just after the American Civil War, though in a location quite a bit
south.”

“And I was born around the turn of the
century,” added Jason.

“Oh, is that all,” I said sarcastically.
“You two are practically spring chickens.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, it doesn’t feel all
that long when you can only spend a decade or so in one place before people get
suspicious.”

“Anyway,” said Claire. “That’s the short
version of why we’re here and why we’d... prefer if you stayed here for another
day.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I understand,” I managed
to say glumly. “I just wish I could explain things to my boss... not that I’m
probably not fired anyway.”

Claire nodded. “Well, if it’s money you’re
concerned about, we can share what we have. We don’t really collect wealth,
it’s traceable in more ways than one, but we don’t want for it either.

I flushed and looked up. “N-no, it’s fine,”
I stammered.

“So is sharing,” said Jason, turning to
look at me straight on for the first time, “With us. It’s only fair.”

“Maybe...” I said, avoiding his gaze.
“Let’s talk about that later.”

“Fair enough,” Claire cleared the dishes
off the table, opened the freezer and put them inside one by one.

Okay, that was a bit odd. She didn’t seem
to think anything of it. “Also, you can stay in the living room if you like.”

I shook my head. “No, I’ll head back.
Food’s making me a bit tired.”

“Sleep well, then.”

As I returned to my room, really, more like
both Jason’s room and my prison cell, I wondered again at how natural it felt
to be with them, a normalcy that felt, somehow, special.

***

When I was fifteen, the teachers found out
about my mother’s boyfriend or more accurately when I couldn’t hide it any
longer. The cops led him away in handcuffs and she blamed me, claiming I had
“seduced” him.

Days filled with fights and nights with
tears. One day, she threw a kitchen knife at me and I left.

I never saw her again.

So when I awoke from a troubled rest to
find Jason standing over me, I decided resentfully that it all was just par for
the course.

“Oh, it’s you,” I said, too tired and numb
to even manage embarrassment or outrage.

He backed away. “Sorry. You were saying
something in your sleep and I thought you were calling for help.”

“Maybe I was.” I stretched with both arms.

“You’re awfully calm given the
circumstances,” he noted.

“Hysteria wouldn’t do anyone any good,” I
said. I forced a small mischievous smile at the end. “Though I do wonder what
would happen if I screamed loud enough to wake the neighbors.”

He sighed. “Please don’t.”

I raised an eyebrow. “So you’re blocking
cell reception, but not sound?”

“I mean it,” he insisted. “Look, we’ve only
gotta be here a few hours longer. One of my friends is coming to help us move
at sunset.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “But what would you
do then?”

He shrugged. “Most likely, Sis would cast a
spell on whoever came to investigate to make them forget they ever heard it.
Then she’d throw a fake scream across the street to discourage further
investigation and a silence spell in here. By the time they got everything
straightened out, we’d be gone.”

I laughed. “Magic’s convenient,” I said,
with a slightly bitter smile.

He shook his head. “Mostly, it’s only good
for hiding.”

I decided to change the subject. “So, what
do vampires do for a living? You said you were a contractor, but...”

“And I am. It’s just the jobs are all
dealing with messes of our world. Rogue vamps, troublesome hunters, the odd
werewolf incursion...”

“So you’re a mercenary?”

“You could say that. Mercenary, bounty
hunter... whatever keeps the blood supply flowing. I can’t really work a normal
job and even if I did, you can’t access the blood market with normal money.”

“You seemed okay in the day when I met
you.”

He smiled slightly. “That’s because it was
cloudy. Also, because of this,” he said, reaching one hand up to the ceiling.
The light flickered then it went out.

“Magic?” I asked to the suddenly
pitch-black room.

His voice sounded behind me, and I jumped.
“Of a sort... a sort that only nightwalkers can use. I’m not as strong as most,
but most don’t have my kind of power.”

“Sounds handy,” I commented, managing to
keep my voice from shaking. There was no response.

I didn’t hear him again for a moment and
though I strained my ears, I could pick up nothing. Then, an inch from my right
ear, he whispered, “You frightened?”

I jerked out of the chair in surprise. My
elbow hit the ground hard and I ground my teeth. I did not cry out, though. I
was determined to retain some control.

He chuckled. “That’s a bit more like I
expected.”

Jerk. I seethed in the darkness.

A pause, “You know, we probably could
handle it if you screamed a little.”

Like hell I would now, I thought, although
that resentful thought was rapidly being overwhelmed by an animal fear of the
dark and fear of the monsters in it.

His next words were inches away from me,
and the cold breath from them stroked my cheek. “What would you do, I wonder,”
he said, “If I turned out to be like my horror movie namesake?”

“I don’t know,” I said, in a small voice,
breathing slowly and carefully. I could feel his fangs inches away from my head.
“Probably die.”

“That’s very matter-of-fact.”

“No point in sugarcoating it,” I said, as
nonchalantly as I could, remembering something from a long time ago.

When I was a runaway, I met another girl at
a bus stop. She told me her name and we talked about where we were from.  She’d
run away from her traditional parents who tried to keep her from making
“unapproved” friends or learning about “unapproved” subjects. A trucker offered
us a ride to the next stop and I refused. She, however, accepted the offer and
that was the last I had seen of her.

But the last I heard of her was a few weeks
later when they found her mutilated body in a ditch. It was in the newspapers
all over town. They’d caught the killer on camera near a truck stop... the very
same trucker who had tried to give me a ride. I recognized his face immediately
and it sent chills down my spine. That could have been me if I also took that
ride. Why had I refused?

The fear I felt now was very similar to
what I felt then, mixed in with a hundred other fears beside and a helpless,
growing resentment.

The light turned on again. Jason was
kneeling at my side with a strange expression on his face. Abruptly, he turned
stood and turned away. “I... I’m sorry.”

I didn’t dare move.

His hands clenched. “You’re just so...” A
glimmer of something flashed in his eyes then vanished. “I can see why you’re
good at your job.”

I scowled back, no longer able to hide my
anger. “I didn’t ask to be this way.”

“We rarely do.”

“If you wanted to bite me, all you have to
do is use that love spell, right?” I said bitterly. “No need to scare me half
to death.”

“Love spell? Oh, you mean the Charm
Powder,” he said with a laugh. “No, I can’t stand that stuff. And it doesn’t
work in the dark. It’s really just something that makes you... impressionable
for a brief window of time. But it also has an effect on us too, so I’d rather
not bother.”

“Good to know,” I said drily. “Now, can you
leave?”

“Sorry. Goodbye,” and with that, he turned
on a heel and left, the door shutting behind him.

***

I was too wired to sleep, so I played games
on my phone for a few hours, plugging it into the power strip when it ran low.
The play relaxed me, though a sense of uneasiness lingered.

Late afternoon turned to evening outside the
window and eventually I heard a knock. “Come in,” I said.

Claire and Jason entered and behind them
was another man, pale-skinned with long, jet-black hair. He wore a black suit
and tie and a pair of sunglasses hung around his neck. “This is Roloth,” Claire
explained. “He’s here to finish the move. In a few hours, we’ll be out of your
hair and you can call your friends in the morning. Roloth, this is Anna.”

Roloth approached me and flashed a quick,
dazzling smile, a smile with pointy teeth.

“A pleasure to meet you, Anna.” He took my
hand and knelt, briefly touching his lips to the back of my hand. My heart
jumped. “I wish only that we could have met in... more peaceful and private
times.”

Claire rolled her eyes. “All right, enough
of the jaw-flapping. Hurry up and move that desk.”

“Is that any way to treat a friend who’s
helping you move?” Roloth said with a pout, but he stood willingly, grabbed a
box of books and departed.

In the meantime, Jason and Claire busied
themselves in the room, removing clothes and toiletries. When Roloth returned,
he stopped in front of the iron-caged mirror and his face darkened. “This is
that other thing you wanted me to take, right? Why haven’t you gotten rid of it
already?” His eyes flicked to me briefly.

“And do what exactly.... leave it in a junkyard?” Claire
snorted.