Where Loyalty Lies (7 page)

“Yes, I can be very persuasive.”

I raised my eyebrows, “Clearly, and I’m very grateful that you are.”

            A small smile touched Holt’s mouth but he squirmed a little and glanced down at his hands. It dawned on me that he was uncomfortable with my gratitude. It felt good to have learned something about him, even if it was something as simple as the fact that he clearly wasn’t one for sentimental moments. I had to hold back a smile as I tried to imagine how he would react if I threw my arms around him and gave him a great big bear hug.

“I’m glad you called,” Holt said, eager to change the topic.

“Well, I’m not sure you’ll be thinking that when you leave,” I admitted. “I have a whole list of questions I want to ask.”

Holt smiled, “I thought you might.”

            I wriggled in my seat a little so that I could reach the folded pieces of paper in my back pocket. I flipped them open to reveal a page load of questions that I’d jotted down over the last couple of days.

Holt’s eyebrows lifted. “Better get started with those now, then; don’t you have to be at work by six?”

I chose to ignore his sarcasm and started with the interrogation.

“Are the stories about churches, crosses and holy water true?” I asked, although I expected I already knew the answer. After all, I’d never had a problem with any of them.

“Most of them are myths,” Holt confirmed. “We’re not affected by holy water, churches, crosses, garlic or daylight.”

“Daylight doesn’t bother you at all?”

“No, and we don’t sleep in coffins either.”

That had been a question from further down my list. I wasn’t sure if he’d mentioned it because it was appropriate or because he’d somehow seen it from across the room, but I tilted my list slightly away from him anyway. Some of the questions had been difficult to word and so I’d written them rather bluntly. I didn’t want to risk him seeing and getting upset.

“What about stakes?” I asked.

“True,” he replied. “The only ways to kill a vampire are by either fully decapitating him with something made of silver or wood, or piercing his heart with a sharp wooden or silver object like a stake or a dagger.”

“You said ‘him’, does that meant there aren’t female vampires?”

“There are, but they’re a lot rarer than the males.”

“And how is it that you can’t die from anything else?” I was aware the question sounded blunt and decided to try to sugar-coat the rest of them.

“Our blood has healing qualities.”

I’d thought that might be the case. I’d almost cut my attacker’s face in half and it had healed within a minute.

“So you can heal any wound? Even if you fell from a multi-storey building?”

“Yes. Older vampires are stronger and heal quicker. A small cut with a knife, I can heal in seconds. If I fell off a multi-storey building I’d most likely land on my feet.”

“Like a cat?”

There was a moment’s pause and I realised that maybe Holt didn’t take kindly to being compared to a cat. Definitely time to start sugar-coating.

“Yes,” he finally answered.

“I think I’m somewhere in the middle with that one,” I told him. “When I get a cut or a bruise, it does heal faster than other people but it still takes a couple of days.” I paused in thought before going back to my list. “You said that there are vampire laws, what are they?”

“Most of them are the standard ones against theft, rape, murder – all the usual things – but our punishments are a lot harsher. The punishment for unlawful murder is death.”

“What do you mean, ‘unlawful murder’?” I asked, catching the look of discomfort that passed over Holt’s face.

“Vampires are a very territorial breed which means we have very strict rules when it comes to land, possessions and mates. If a vampire caused any serious harm to another vampire’s mate then it would be considered fair for the first vampire to kill the second.”

“What do you mean, mate? Like... a lover?” I asked.

“No. A vampire’s mate is considered their soul mate. It’s a very rare thing to find and, if it is found, it’s a far stronger thing than human love, it’s a life-long bond and, for a vampire, there is no saying how long that will be for.”

“How old are you, then?” I blurted before I realised how rude it might seem.

“Just over eight hundred years old. Twenty-seven of them as a human, the rest as a vampire.”

All I could do for a while was blink.
Eight hundred years old?
That was incredible. That meant that he’d witnessed first-hand most of the events I’d studied in history.

“Are all vampires that...” I trailed off, wondering if vampires were as sensitive as humans about being called old. “I mean, have most vampires been around for that long?”

“There are a few that are older but the majority are younger than me.”

I was amazed. The world was filled with historians who studied artefacts to try and discover secrets from the past and yet there were a whole race of people who could tell us what it was really like in medieval times. It was truly mind-boggling to think that during Holt’s lifetime he’d have seen the invention of almost everything that I took for granted every day. TVs, computers, electricity, running water, cars, aeroplanes, supermarkets, flushing toilets and tarmac had all, at one time, been a new-fangled invention to Holt. It gave me a whole new impression of Rillith. There would be vampires there who’d seen both world wars, been around when the Titanic sank and seen every king and queen that had sat on the throne.

“What’s Rillith like?” I asked Holt. “Because when I try and picture the home of almost a thousand vampires in Scotland, all I can imagine is a very large, very creepy haunted house on a hill, an Adams family type of place. But when I look at you, I get more of a James Bond, life of luxury impression.”

I didn’t miss the pleased look that crossed Holt’s face as I compared him to James Bond.

“I can assure you that there’s nothing at all creepy about Rillith. In fact it’s quite the opposite. I’m glad you’ve brought it up, though, as there’s something more I must tell you before I can expect you to decide if you’ll come back with me or not.”

“I’m going to be honest,” I said. “That sounds a little ominous.”

“I was debating whether to tell you yesterday but I thought that might be throwing too much at you at one go.”

“Well, I guess now is as good a time as ever. Hit me with it,” I said, hoping that I wouldn’t regret it.

Holt shifted position, making himself more comfortable before beginning his revelation.

“Vampires are ruled by a governing body. They’re a group called The Sénat and they’re the oldest vampires in existence. There used to be thirteen of them but, over time, the numbers have dwindled down to five. If you decide to come with me to Rillith, I’ll have to present you to them so that they can determine whether or not you can stay.”

“They’d turn me away? But what about the fact that I know so much about you now; won’t they worry that I’ll go blabbing to anyone that listens?”

“In all the homes where vampires live, there are also humans. They’re usually people who’ve had bad lives previously or were homeless but, when we find people that we think would like a better life, we give them the chance to live with us. They’re given accommodation rent-free as long as they agree to either repay us in blood or labour.”

I felt the colour drain from my face as unease squeezed my insides like a boa constrictor. Vampires drank blood; everyone knew that, whether they believed in vampires or not, but to hear him talk about it so casually was disconcerting.

“They’re willing to let you drink from them?” I couldn’t hide the disgust that I felt.

Holt nodded. “We only take a small amount; less than what's taken if you give blood. It’s not an entirely unpleasant experience, most people enjoy it.”

I found that impossible to believe, but I kept my mouth shut so that he could finish telling me what he needed to say.

“If The Sénat deems that you’re not a half-vampire, then it may be the case that they ask you to live in the human residences, not working as staff but more as a permanent guest.”

“Okay.” I wasn’t really sure what reaction I was supposed to have. “So they’ll judge me and decide whether I’m worthy to live with them.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my voice. The thought of being judged by a group of ancient old vampires didn’t seem like much fun.

“I need to tell you that if you come, you need to be completely honest when you meet them. One of The Sénat members, Eliseo, has the ability to sense your emotions, so while he won’t be able to tell if you’re lying directly, he may be able to tell something is wrong if your emotions don’t match what you’re saying.”

I nodded, trying to take it all in. “If they decided that I wasn’t half-vampire, would I have to live with the staff for the rest of my life?”

“No. The staff we have there are very well looked after and they want for nothing. They’re usually so happy that they want to stay, but they’re only allowed to stay up until the age of thirty, then they have to leave. But in payment for their silence, The Sénat give them a handsome payoff, enough to make sure they’ll live the rest of their lives comfortably. I think that’s what would happen with you too.”

Thirty? That was pretty young for retirement age. I felt a little sick as I thought that maybe blood was the opposite of wine and it didn’t get better with age. I filed the thought away to be dealt with later.

“So every member of staff gets paid off? The Sénat must have a lot of money.”

“They do. The majority of vampires that exist choose to work for The Sénat and some of those jobs are making sure that money is well-invested and spent, to make sure there’s always more than enough to cover the costs of things like staff and housing.”

“So do you work for them?”

“Yes, I used to be an enforcer but now I’m... well, I don’t know what my official job title would be but I’m generally used as a mediator and a translator.”

“What’s an enforcer?”

Holt seemed to consider his answer. “They’re the force of the vampire race. The Sénat employ enforcers to track down and deal with any vampires that are choosing not to live by The Sénat’s laws.”

I swallowed. “Uh, did you mean that in the sort of mafia, hit man-ish way that it sounded? You know like,
deal with?”
I asked, drawing a finger across my neck in a way that implied a cut throat.

“I told you that our punishments are a lot harsher than human ones,” Holt said.

So that was a big fat yes, then. “And you said you used to be one?” I asked.

“I was one for many, many years. It’s a great honour to be an enforcer; if you do well for yourself as an enforcer it makes you very well known in the vampire world. In fact, the most elite enforcers are respected just as much as The Sénat.”

“So why did you decide not to remain an enforcer?” I asked before I realised how personal the question was.

“I suppose that, after hundreds of years of doing the same job, I just wanted a change.” Holt smiled as he spoke, but I sensed I was getting a polite brush-off.

With a great deal of effort I managed to get my mind off thoughts of enforcers and back onto what Holt had been originally trying to explain to me.

“So what do you think The Sénat would think of me?” I asked.

Holt took a few moments to consider his answer. “I think they’d make a big deal out of the situation. When you live for as long as they have, life can be very boring, years can pass by with nothing of interest happening. So if they saw you, I’d imagine they’d not only be curious but also enjoy having something happen in their lives that’s never happened before.”

“Wow, it sounds like a big deal when you put it like that.”

“For them and many other vampires, it would be.”

As I tried for the millionth time to get a grip on everything, a nervous laugh escaped me. Holt’s eyebrows lifted in question.

“This is all just a little too ‘Harry Potter’ for me. Are you planning on whisking me away to Rillith on your magical flying motorcycle?” I quipped.

Holt frowned. “Um, actually I was just planning on driving there in my Aston Martin.” He paused and then added, “Vampires don’t have flying motorcycles.” He gave me a worried look, like I’d finally had too much information and I’d lost my mind.

“Oh my God, you haven’t heard of Harry Potter have you?” I asked.

“Should I have?”

I laughed. “Well you’re probably the only person on the planet who hasn’t. You really haven’t heard of the famous wizard, Harry Potter with his lightning-shaped scar and his mission to save the world from the clutches of the evil Lord Voldermort?”

Holt looked blank.

“You know Hogwarts, Quidditch, Dumbledore?” I pushed.

Holt’s eyes flicked to the door and back as if he was considering running away and putting my new locks to use, keeping me and all my craziness away from the rest of the world. Eventually he spoke.

“Um, I think you’ll find that wizards don’t exist.”

I was just about to point out how hypocritical that sounded coming from a vampire but then I realised that he thought I was talking about a real person.