7. REPRISAL

I was going to kill him. I was going to restrain him with the blackness and burn him alive, and Sophia and Carina could join him. They would suffer greatly, and I wouldn't settle for a single iota less. For several minutes, I was in shock, finding it too hard to swallow what Fiona had told me.

Danny had found Chloe.

He'd broken into my granduncle's house. He'd killed my relatives. He'd snatched Chloe from her bed. He'd bit her and left her alone to suffer the change in a wooded area not far from Cratloe. I didn't know the area well. When I'd come to Limerick after meeting Dermot, it had been my first visit in five years. Cratloe was on the road from Shannon to Limerick from which I hadn't ventured far on my last trip. I'd buried the money I'd taken only several hundred feet off the dual carriageway. Still, I remembered seeing a wooded area covered with spruce and a smattering of deciduous trees.

I'd already traversed the entire northern half of Kerry before turning sharply east at Tarbert. I raced along the N69 to Limerick faster than human eyes could see. Then, with Shannon opposite me on the far shore of the estuary, I dove in. Traversing the few kilometres of water would be a piece of cake after the more than choppy waters of the Atlantic. I came ashore near town with only a line of trees to block my arrival from the view of a nearby row of houses. From there, I zoomed east again, following the dual carriageway until it brought me to Cratloe.

Fiona had practically ordered me to find Chloe and bring her back, nothing more. I swore though that if Danny made an appearance, I'd rip him to pieces. Fiona had said she'd consider changing Sorcha if I allowed it. I still had no answer for her but told her to bring her back to the cottage and then I'd decide. I remembered her vaguely speaking of a truth she'd sensed from Sorcha, that she, too, was special. Even as a human, her body temperature was running on average at about one hundred and ten degrees Fahrenheit. From our few encounters, I remembered her being bossy and hot-tempered, quick to take offence and to argue. She was a constant strain on her elderly parents and being the youngest, she'd been spoiled a lot, which only exacerbated her self-centredness. I didn't know what this special gift she might have could have been, but Fiona could only grasp at it weakly before it escaped her grip like a slippery fish.

Yet, she'd sensed Chloe's predicament very clearly because Chloe was experiencing it very clearly. Fiona didn't say, but I knew she must be in horrific pain.

As I passed the village itself and followed the dual carriageway for another kilometre or so, I found what I was looking for, a few hills shrouded in a dense woodland of imposing spruce and eerie, gnarly beech and ash trees. A narrow field separated the tree line from the road. With a few quick bounds, I traversed the distance and stood between two young spruce trees, gazing into the gloom. As a human, this forest would have been far more intimidating. The night-time sky was thick with clouds, and a dense fog hung low in the air amongst the trees and grass behind me. However, as a vampire, this forest was no more intimidating than a city park. I could peer past the obscuring fog and see the bare undergrowth of bramble and alder ensnare each other. I watched the forest's few nocturnal denizens scampering away, sensing my presence. A feral cat with a shaggy coat peered out at me from behind a nearby tree trunk and hissed, baring teeth, before shooting off into the thicket.

My anger fuelled the blackness to a degree almost as intense as when I'd tried to kill myself jumping off a cliff. My eyes paled in comparison to what my sixth sense was showing me. I stretched it out from me in the form of a bubble, once more, combing the forest for any sign of Chloe. I occasionally touched off fabric with my mind but quickly ascertained that someone had just forgotten an item of clothing after a wild night. I came across other paraphernalia of outdoor partying: food wrappers, beer cans, vodka bottles, and the odd syringe. I had searched everything within my sight, so I stepped forward and the bubble shifted forward with me. I heard more terrified animal sounds as I marched onward. Thorny bramble scrapped across my marble-like skin, but I felt nothing and just ploughed through the undergrowth like a rolling boulder over grass blades. At the edge of my bubble, I sensed a small clearing.

My sense of smell suddenly kicked in. I detected familiar odours. Danny's was most intense, but he'd carried the slight whiff of Sophia and Carina along with him. There was a fourth odour that caused me to cease breathing.

Blood, Chloe's blood.

The blackness traced the odour molecules I smelt like a million tiny stepping stones. As they grew denser, I knew the direction I needed to go. She was somewhere near the edge of the clearing. I zoomed towards it as fast as my legs would carry me. I kept holding my breath despite how disconcerting it was to be unable to smell. Then, I heard it as I penetrated deeper into the forest, Chloe's agonised screams. I fought back the urge to wail over my failure to protect her, she needed me to be strong now. Even stronger than I was when I ran away, for now, I had to have the resolve to stay by her side without hurting her.

As I reached the clearing, I realised that all the odour trails converged on one point to the west of it. Sure enough, I pinned down her location with the smell of her blood, the sound of her cries, and the fading warmth of her broken body, the latter which I sensed with the blackness. My eyes pierced into the forest where she lay. I saw her legs twitch and seize violently, but her upper half was concealed behind a tree.

I couldn't stand it.

She whimpered almost endlessly, only stopping to let out shrill cry. She seemed to be trying to form words, but they drowned in the volume of her screams. It was a tremendous effort just to move in her direction. As I rounded the tree trunk, she must have heard me approach. Her sobs increased, and she made every effort to curl into a ball, probably thinking Danny had come back for her. Then, I saw her broken arms, her bleeding throat, and her pallid face. She'd scrunched her eyes up tight, but I uttered her name, and they shot open.

If anything, her eyes conveyed a relief, happiness, but her body continued to writhe involuntarily. She tried to reach a hand out to me, but spasms travelled up and down her arm, and she was forced to pull back. I kneeled beside her, taking her hand myself. Her sobs loudened, and she gripped my hand very tightly for a human child. My face felt like a layer of ice above boiling water. My emotions pounded away inside like an erupting geyser. If I were human, I imagined I'd look just as stone-faced but with tears streaming down.

I smelled her blood then, but it was different, something inside of it, Danny's venom. My sixth sense coursed through her, but I sensed only a small fraction of the venom that I'd received present in her system. This fact didn't matter to me as much as my sister's convulsions, her struggles to breathe, her streaming tears. I knelt there, helpless to do anything for her. I couldn't even lay a comforting hand on her for fear my instincts would take over, and I'd kill her. I struggled to get over it, as I'd soon need to move her.

I was distraught. How could I have let this happen? I should have been stronger and stayed to protect her. She was only nine, and I couldn't imagine any way she could suffer more than to become like me. Even not taking into account the horrible pain she was suffering, she would probably find being a newborn at least as hard as Dermot had. She was so young and despite her maturity, this existence would overwhelm her. And I thought being stuck as my sixteen-year old self for eternity would suck but to be nine forever would be a whole other deal.

I think she sensed my guilt, for she managed to utter, "No-ttt…fault."

I couldn't help but spill my guts to her, "It is. This is all me. Danny came into our lives because of me. You would never have been hurt otherwise. I'm so sorry Chloe." Her eyes conveyed a hint of sympathy through her pain.

She struggled once more to speak, "What's…ha-happen-ing…to…me?"

I considered my response. Perhaps Fiona could help her. I would bring Chloe back to the cottage, Fiona would fix her up, and nothing was going to happen to her. So, I replied, "Danny's bite just made you very sick. But I met a doctor who knows about these things, and I'm gonna take you to her now."

"You-you…don't look…sick. You…look diff-rent."

"I feel much better now, but I'll always look like this from now on."

"A-at least…you're not…ugly an-y-more."

I gave her a slight smile. Beneath the agony, she was still herself, but still, it was hard to ignore what was most obvious. As I reached out to pick her up whilst straining to hold my breath, I heard something. Something was trampling through the undergrowth far too fast to be an animal or human. I went rigid when I realised whatever it was was following the trail I'd used to find Chloe. It was most certainly a vampire from the speed, but I sensed they were travelling slower than they could.

The blackness enveloped the vampire as it burst into my sensory bubble. It wasn't Danny, but it was a female, so it could have been Sophia or Carina. I tensed myself and prepared to meet her head-on as she burst into the clearing. Then, something else caught my attention. She was carrying something, a body that was limp but still living, a human. I was bewildered, but I did not ease my readiness to pounce at the first opportunity. As they broke through the nearby undergrowth, one foot jutted forward, but I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw who it was. Fiona had arrived carrying Sorcha, still wearing her white coat.

She said straight away, "I'm sorry, Jason, there was no time."

I saw Sorcha was convulsing in much the same way as Chloe. Her condition though seemed to be much worse. Her eyes rolled in their sockets, and her breaths were quick and shallow. Fiona had to apply a strong grip to prevent her from convulsing out of her arms.

I said disapprovingly, "I don't think this was the best choice for her."

"Not better than death?"

"We'll have to see, won't we? How'd you get her out of the hospital?"

"I pronounced her dead despite the fact she had a weak heartbeat. Had I not injected her with venom, then she would've lasted only a few more minutes."

"Aren't your bosses gonna ask questions when they find her body's disappeared?"

"Perhaps but I can come up with excuses later. Right now, I imagine Chloe needs looking at."

She placed Sorcha lightly on the ground. As we walked over to her, I asked,

"Did you say you injected her with venom?"

"Yes, I think it's less traumatic to get a needle to the heart than having your throat ripped open."

"I suppose when you put it like that."

Chloe saw both of us round the tree and jerked away from Fiona. I put my hands in front me out flat in a calming gesture and said, "It's okay, Chloe. It's okay. This is the doctor I was telling you about."

Fiona said amiably, "Hello, Chloe, it's been a long time since I've last seen you. You probably don't remember me but believe me, I'm here to help. Is it okay if I come nearer? Your brother will be here the whole time."

She relented somewhat but stretched out a tremulous arm towards me. I worked up the will to hold her hand whilst keeping my breath in. Fiona looked her over for a few moments. She then turned Chloe's head away from her to examine the bite wound. She closed her eyes and shook her head briefly before smiling once more as she released Chloe's head.

She maintained her friendly tone saying, "Thank you, Chloe, now I just need to talk to Jason for a minute. We'll just be on the other side of the tree."

She resisted, gripping my hand tighter, but I patted her shoulder in a reassuring way. She shook her head not wanting me to go.

I said, "Hey, hey, it's okay, Chloe-bear. I'm not goin' anywhere this time. I'll be back as soon as I've had a word with the doctor. After that, I promise I'll be straight back. Okay?"

She looked frightened but nodded affirmatively. I parted from her with a smile and followed Fiona back into the clearing. She looked aghast and shook her head a lot.

I spoke lowly, but I found, as a vampire, I could speak at a volume and pace inaudible to human ears, "What's the prognosis?"

"Not good, my Lord, this Danny is a vile creature, cruel beyond belief."

"Why? What has he done besides biting her and leaving her out here?"

"The bite wound is shallow, Jason."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning Danny intentionally bit her lightly, only releasing his venom into the surface veins, and he clearly did not bite for long. That means that there's only a small amount of venom in her system, and it's probably spreading very thin."

Realisation wasn't long coming. "So the change will happen very slowly."

"Five days minimum, perhaps even a week."

I gasped and perhaps laughed for a moment in a hysterical kind of way. My baby sister would suffer the most immense pain, the most agonising torture I had ever known for every single moment for the next week. My mind went into overdrive, imagining all the horrible things I would do to avenge her. What evil could conceive doing this to a nine-year old child? Without realising, I started pacing, clenching and unclenching my fists. Fiona watched me warily, but she understood my anger, she shared it to a lesser degree.

Then, she said something I didn't comprehend. "I hope she is not too young or this could end badly for us."

I eyed her as though she had two heads. "Of course she's too young, but what has that to do with us?"

"If the Volturi find out about her, they may come here. They'll have to decide whether she qualifies as an Immortal Child."

"What? I don't understand."

"The Immortal Children were a plague back in early medieval times. Vampires longed for children but couldn't have any of their own. So, they turned human children, but young children cannot live under the Volturi's rules for one simple reason: because they aren't mature enough to follow them. They are frozen permanently at the developmental state they were in when they were changed. They don't understand that we cannot show ourselves in daylight, that they can't just run up to crowds of humans and feed on them. Chloe is nine, so she may be mature enough, once she's settled out of the newborn stage, to live like the rest of us."

"But if the Volturi deem that she isn't?"

"…All Immortal Children are destroyed if they cannot control themselves, as are their creators and since we can't prove anything about the Genoan Coven, we will be seen as her guardians and held responsible."

I looked at her completely flabbergasted, as though I'd been winded. Danny and the others knew what would happen. They knew we would never abandon Chloe and that we'd take her in. The Volturi would not tolerate her existence and destroy her along with the rest of us. That would leave them with free reign over Ireland. Her long change was probably a bonus, revenge for Julian.

I said frantically, "Fiona, there must be something you can do to stop this?"

"Short of killing her, there's nothing that can be done. The change has started, and we must let it run its course."

"Could…could we suck the venom out?"

"A good idea, if either of us were strong enough to do it. If you bite her and suck out the venom, once it's gone, you still won't be able to stop. I guarantee it. I wouldn't even trust myself to try that."

"Well if she becomes one of us, she might die anyways, so what difference does it make?" I shouted that, but I hope I said it too quickly for Chloe's sake.

"A lot, Jason, there's still a good chance that Chloe will come through this in one piece, and the Volturi won't be interested in her progress until after the newborn stage is over in a year's time. So, we have more time that way."

"I-I just…I can't stand the idea of her being like this for seven days straight."

"I know…but we could speed up the process."

"How?"

"I can pump her full of venom, which will hurry up the change considerably; it could happen in as little as two days. Then, well, only you can be sure if this would work."

"What will work?"

"Your ability, you hastened your own change. Why couldn't you do it for someone else?"

It never occurred to me before. I hadn't even thought about it since, probably because I was also reminded of the immense pain. Still, it felt more like a reflexive action when it happened, my body using the best means available to defend itself. By speeding my change, I had saved my own life and destroyed one member of the Genoan Coven. Had I remained human for days more, I couldn't imagine that I'd have held up the blackness long enough and eventually, they would have gotten to me.

Fiona added, "If you can do it, then the change goes from days to minutes for Chloe, and Sorcha."

"I don't know if I can just will myself to do it. It might have been an act of self-preservation, totally instinctual."

"It couldn't hurt to try."

"I suppose not, do you have the venom ready?"

She reached for a small case from her coat pocket. Inside was a syringe held in a shaped padding. It was empty, but Fiona suddenly brought the needle to her face, opened her mouth, and jabbed it under her tongue. I winced, but she seemed completely at ease.

She said reassuringly as she retracted the now full syringe, "Don't fret. The venom glands replace the human saliva glands once you become a vampire. This is the best spot to draw venom from. It doesn't hurt so much, just a tad uncomfortable."

"Well, hopefully none of us will need to do it again."

"Let's hope. Perhaps you should bring Chloe out here."

I nodded solemnly, realising I was condemning my sister to an existence I abhorred. My only other choice was to kill her either in a vain attempt to save her by excising the poison in her veins or quickly and mercifully, so she would not suffer any further. The former was not appealing and as for the latter, I was too selfish to end her life. She was all I had left, and I refused to lose her, too. I came around the tree trunk once more with my breath held. I knelt down and slipped my arms under her gently, trying not to jostle her too much. I laid her down in the clearing opposite to Sorcha. She saw her cousin writhing in pain and became very upset. I knelt down beside her once more, blocking Sorcha from view.

I said soothingly, "Don't worry, Chloe, it's all gonna be all right. I'll take care of you."

She saw Fiona approaching her with the needle, and a look of terror crossed her face, she cried, "No…no…please…don't."

"Chloe, I won't lie. This will hurt, a lot…but it's the difference between a week of pain and a few minutes. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes…Jason?"

"Yes, Chloe?"

"Wha-what are you?"

"…I'll explain everything once this is over. Are you ready?"

She nodded. Fiona then said to her, "Okay, Chloe, I'm going to inject this into your arm, okay?"

She nodded again. This time very vigorously. She was panicking, which was worsening her convulsions. I held her hand as tight as I could without hurting her.

As Fiona administered the venom, Chloe said lowly, "So…so cold." She was looking at my hand when she said it. Then, her face shot sideways until she was staring at the sky. She went rigid. Then, she shook and shook more until it was as though she was having a seizure. She screamed, "BURNING! I'M BURNING!"

I said, trying to hold her down, "Chloe, calm down, you aren't burning."

"PUT IT OUT!"

I concentrated on the blackness through my sobs. I was trying to imagine what I wanted. I focused on my memories as though showing the blackness what I wanted it to do. As it fed on my emotions, the bubble collapsed inward until it encased me and then, wriggling tendrils found their way up Chloe's arm and into her pores. They swam in her bloodstream and found what I sought. The venom molecules, millions of them, coasting between her cells, making changes that were still hard to comprehend in their complexity. I watched them pierce cell walls and instigate the creation of the two extra pairs of chromosomes. These, in turn, began changing her physiology. It was an intricate and wondrous process, but I was not here to observe. I tried to do as the blackness had done before of its own accord.
But I couldn't.

I found myself prompting it with memories, hoping it would just go into action on its own. Nothing happened. The blackness swirled ineffectually amongst the venom molecules.

Chloe roared, "HELP ME! PLEASE!" Her voice was pleading.

"I'm trying, please hold on, please."

"WHY AREN'T YOU HELPING ME?" She shrieked.

"I am. I'm trying."

Fiona watched me apprehensively. She'd pumped Chloe full of venom and if I didn't succeed, she'd be in this much pain for two days, not much better than the original scenario.

Chloe suddenly uttered something feebly, "You need…help."

"What do you…?"

My free hand gripped my temple. I felt horrible, in such emotional pain that it hurt physically. Everything I had felt when I was first attacked by Danny in school, during my mother's death, my change, the death of my father and brother, when I tried to commit suicide, even when my best friend died all came rushing back. The memories flashed in my mind in piercing detail, and each image was worse than the next. Somehow, despite how painful I knew those events were, they felt worse now. My facial muscles bunched together as my hand found its way over my forehead. It was hard to open my eyes but squinting through the pain, I saw Chloe focusing upon me, despite the agonising rigours of the change. It soon became apparent what she was doing, she had the ability to calm me down, to temper the blackness, but she could also do just the opposite.

As my anger seared through parts of my mind whilst misery paralysed others, I saw that Chloe was refining the memories she was targeting. They were those of my change that surfaced most frequently, especially those of how I accelerated it. They came like still-frames one after another. The event became even clearer in my head.

Then something clicked.

I knew the pain, the exact kind that had triggered that reaction. I concentrated on it, filling my mind with those excruciating last moments of my human life. There could have been no better prompt. The microfilaments formed. They hooked onto the venom. They gathered it as one and towed it to Chloe's heart. Once again, the venom entered via the vena cava and with one heartbeat spread through her whole body. She seized but never lost her focus on me. She must have formed some kind of link with me because I could actually feel her pain being siphoned off into my mind. It was more fuel for the blackness that feasted upon this new, foreign power source. I felt millions of filaments rocketing the venom around Chloe's body, changing cells far faster than it would occur naturally. It was hard to think of any part of this as being natural, though.

Then, as the molecules penetrated her major organs, I felt the tail end of an enormous surge of pain. This time Chloe lost eye contact, but the link still bored into me like a hot knife. Without thinking about it, my hand then left my forehead and grabbed Sorcha's behind me. The blackness slithered down my arm and tendrils found her pores. My memory of every second of the change was now crystal. The pain of it had filled my conscious mind and was drawn upon by the blackness along with Chloe's.

Then, physical pain of my own started to really set in.

I realised I was also speeding up Sorcha's change concurrent with helping Chloe. It was too much. The amount of feedback and sensory information alone was worse than any migraine, but then, managing the delicate actions of each filament on the microscopic level was debilitating. I knew at any moment my mind would give in, and the tendrils would snap back into their recess. I fought against it, trying to do as much as I could for both of them while I still could.

I felt utter relief as I realised Chloe's change was nearing its end. Her heart pounded against her hardening diaphragm, and blood vessels were closing in her extremities. Sorcha was somewhat behind with the venom only just spreading through her soft tissues. Then, Chloe's tremors stopped, and her body relaxed. She took her last meaningful breath as her lungs petrified, and the venom coated her protesting heart. As her heart slowed and the filaments withdrew, I felt my own agony dissipate, but it wasn't enough. Chloe's heart stopped cold and with that, the link between us severed. I hadn't enough pain of my own to keep the blackness burning and so, just as the venom seeped into Sorcha's lungs, the tendrils ripped like overstressed chains and shot back into my head, making it feel like it had been impaled on hot pokers. I fell to my side and heaved my chest, drawing useless air into my lungs.

I sensed Fiona moving about around us in a controlled but urgent way. She loomed over me every few minutes, trying to see if I was okay. Then, the strangest thing happened, I saw darkness creeping into my vision. I wasn't voluntarily closing my eyes. Was I passing out? Could that even happen to vampires? Though it was not the same as one's eyelids drawing closed, it was more like oil oozing over the surface of my eye from every direction, meeting at the centre. Then, the final pinprick of light I could see was extinguished.

For a moment, I was blind to the world and Fiona's voice was the faintest of echoes in my ears. Then, in a split second, it was like the dark veil over my eyes had lifted, and I was suddenly somewhere else.

It was all too confusing but then, I remembered. I was back in the meadow.
This time, though, I wasn't standing near the eerie, twisted trees, I was sitting on the slope of the hill.

"I suppose you half-listened."

I jumped. The voice was unexpected but familiar. Sitting beside me was Fionn, smiling all knowingly and staring down below us towards the foggy tree line. I reoriented myself to better face him.

He made no moves, but he continued to speak. "You're living or at least you've found a way to accept this existence. You've found others who share your 'predicament' I suppose you would say. And yet, still you grieve, you punish yourself for things beyond your control."

"Well…it's hard not to. I've lost a lot, taken way too much, and now Chloe will suffer the same fate."

"This is but the beginning of your trials. You're strong enough though."

"What does that mean? You have to tell me."

"The pain of the last ten days is but the tip of the iceberg. There is much more that you will have to bear. It's best you be ready."

"What good is it telling me that bad things are going to happen? I need more than that. Stop being so bloody vague."

"I am but a warning, an omen if you will. That is all I can convey."

"Oh, so you're not really my friend."

He grinned and turned to me. "I am a manifestation of your subconscious mind. Since the day you received your friend's chain, the blackness has conjured me to alert you to the perils along your path. I appear when you are most weak, when you are most in doubt."

"Are you saying I can use the blackness to predict the future?"

"Hardly, your ability is complex and multi-faceted enough without any extra quirks like precognition. No, the blackness just allows your mind to be more open to possibilities, to be more aware of how current events will evolve as time transpires. You may yet escape anymore hardship…but it is unlikely."

"So, what? Hope for the best, prepare for the worst? That's your message?"

"Not quite, just letting you know that you should place the emphasis on the second half of that phrase."

I made to stand as I said, "Well, gee, thanks for that. You didn't want me to grieve and yet now I'll have to dwell real hard on how my situation could possibly get any worse…"

They were before me before I could say anymore. I saw them shoot across the meadow like angels of death gliding over the ground. There were five of them now. The shortest hooded figure that had appeared previously was joined by another who was even smaller. They crouched towards me and readied themselves to pounce. Peering past them, I saw the three figures in the woods had actually walked to the outer rim of the fog, which still obscured them, yet, for the first time, I noticed a fourth, another hooded figure, standing directly behind the middle one in close contact. The ones immediately in front of me encroached further.

As before, I found myself reacting quite fiercely like a cornered animal. Yet, the smallest of the group did not posture or taunt me. I assumed it was a girl as golden strands of hair slipped from under her hood. She raised her head, allowing light to fall on her ashen face. She pulled back the hood a moment later. She fixed her ruby-red eyes upon me and favoured me with a malign grin as if to say "Bet you weren't expecting that."

I uttered dumfounded, "Chloe?"

Fionn said plainly, "I warned you."

They were all upon me, tearing at my body within milliseconds. Chloe just stood there watching.

I "awoke" with a start. Immediately I was sitting up, and my eyes darted around. Fiona and Dermot were kneeling in front of me. She caught my shoulder and placed a hand on my cheek calmingly.

She said, "Jason, Jason, calm down. You're okay."

"How-how long was I gone?"

"You weren't gone anywhere. It was like you were asleep, and dreaming. You were still aware of sound, I clicked my fingers by your ears and you flinched. You were definitely in some sort of REM state, rapid eye movement, sleep-talking, the works."

"I thought you said we don't sleep."

"We don't. This is quite remarkable. Can you remember your dreams?"

"It's happened before. It's not so much a dream as my subconscious mind giving my conscious mind a heads-up. Happens when I'm weak, first happened when I was human, and I was attacked by Danny and Julian in my bed. It happened again when I jumped off the Cliffs of Moher."

Dermot said with a smile, "Fun times."

"Sorry?"

"Cliff jumping, I find it exhilarating, especially walking away from it without any protection." I forgave him for his misunderstanding. I was hardly doing it for the craic, but I didn't want to get into it, so I let it go.

Fiona seemed to have an inkling of why I did that so soon after my change. I imagined she was finding out the truth as we spoke. Her smile was forced, and I realised she'd already discovered my many suicide attempts. I was surprised that there was anything she hadn't found out about me yet. The tension in my body started to ebb, and Fiona took her hands away. I eyed Dermot and asked, "So when did you arrive?"

"Well, Fiona thought you might do something stupid when you found your sister like that, so she called me when you left and told me to meet you here."

"That was unnecessary." A lie, but what could Dermot have done to stop me if I did lose the plot? I suppose she meant for him to be back up if a fight did happen. Then, suddenly, my last thoughts before "sleeping" came back to me, and I exclaimed, "Chloe, where is she?"

"Don't worry. She's alive."

"Let me see her."

I stood shakily and found her still lying beside me behind Fiona and Dermot. She was definitely a vampire, black eyes, pale skin, but she was not moving, not blinking, not even taking a breath. I knelt beside her taking the same hand as I had before. It was more solid, and it was warm but not in the burning human way.

I leaned over her, so my face was directly in her field of view and said, "Chloe? Chloe, are you okay? Chloe, answer me."

Fiona said from behind me, "We've tried. She won't budge, won't speak."

"Is this normal?"

"…No, I don't believe so."

"What could this be then?"

"It could simply be shock. Extreme emotional stress or physical injury can induce it, even in us."

I faltered as I said this, but I had to ask. "Could she…could the change have left her brain damaged?"

Fiona didn't answer for a few excruciatingly long moments but finally replied, "I don't know. It's possible. I have no idea of how the change affects children. There hasn't been a vampire as young as her in a long time. All I can say is that, if she did suffer brain damage during, then the venom might repair her brain, but her memories, her sense of identity might already be lost."

"Are you saying that she's just an empty vessel? A mindless body?"

"I can't say for sure. Perhaps, we just need to give her time."

I placed a hand on her cheek and held back the sobs. She stared at me vacantly, and it became too hard to look at her face.

Then, distant footfalls echoed in my ears.

I stiffened, as did Dermot and Fiona. I could hear three distinct sets of feet running too fast to be human. I inflated my sensory bubble as far as I could and already, they were within my range. I saw two females and a larger one who must have been a male. Fiona automatically knew what I did and stood close to Sorcha who was undergoing the last few hurdles of the change. Dermot stood at my side and by Chloe. Then, I sensed them spread out and approach more slowly from three different directions. I could smell them now. I had already guessed, but I was certain that it was the Genoan Coven.

This had been a trap.

They must have somehow known that I'd met up with Fiona and Dermot. So, they captured and bit my sister and left her out here, hoping I would bring all of them into this indefensible position. As they neared, I crouched in the direction I knew Danny would be coming from. Then, Dermot scooped up Chloe and placed her beside Sorcha. I understood immediately. We all faced outward with them in the middle, this was the best we could do to defend against a frontal assault. A moment later, they were in the small clearing with us. Fiona faced out against Sophia, Dermot against Carina, and me against Danny. We'd given them pause. Danny tried to move closer, but I guessed Sophia must have shot him a warning glance because he halted about ten feet from me.

I heard noises buzzing in my head like the incomprehensible babble of a crowd. Then, certain phrases would jump out at me. You're safe. Relax. Be calm. We just want to talk. We're friends. It was very hard not to believe it, and I could see how a weaker mind might be drawn in by these notions, but I was too furious to be fooled. Dermot seemed to be having more trouble ignoring Carina's trickery as he scrunched up his face in concentration. He held his own though and Fiona, of course, was entirely immune, being that she was constantly aware of how fictitious those notions were. Carina pressed harder. We are not your enemies. Your enemies are beside you. Look at them, they will betray you, kill you. Dermot's eyes flashed to me wildly in terror and to Sorcha and Chloe. They're just pretending to be incapacitated. When you suspect it least, they will attack. Save yourself. Help us. He was completely confused, and he groaned loudly putting his hands to his face.

Then, he bellowed, "GET OUT! I don't believe you!'

Of course you do. Help your new friends, Dermot. Kill the boy. He's dangerous. He'll hurt your aunt. She'd hit a nerve. She'd gotten to him. The look he gave me was one of odious fury. His hands reached towards me, but I held him back passively with the blackness by forming a wall between us. He pounded away to no effect. Fiona reached out and caught him by the forearm. He greeted her with a ferocious stare and bared teeth but then, in the instant their eyes met, calm swept over him. He glanced over at me apologetically for a fraction of a second before reassuming his position. Fiona had shown him the truth and now he was impervious to Carina's lies, at least those particular ones.

The buzz in my mind began to weaken as I saw through Carina's deception. She growled in irritation. Danny looked very frustrated by Carina's lack of success, but I guessed it was more the fact that Sophia hadn't allowed him to have a go at me. I couldn't see if Sophia was as aggravated, but I guessed she'd be keeping it bottled up beneath her icy exterior. I expected them to try another tactic, a different mind game or separate and confuse us with Sophia's barriers.

She surprised me by offering an ultimatum. "Leave this place, and we will let you live."

Fiona replied, "Unlikely on both counts. We will not be bullied away by the likes of you, and even if we go quietly, I doubt you will leave us alive to speak of this."

"And who will you talk to? We've done nothing that is forbidden by the much-vaunted Volturi. I also don't believe you young ones have many friends."

"You are very wrong about that."

"Hmm, I didn't take you to be a bluffing girl. Why don't you run off to your friends in Dublin? I'm sure they'll put you up. Besides, we have no quarrel with you, Fiona, you are not a competitor."

Dermot asked, "What's she talking about?"

Sophia replied, "I mean to say your aunt doesn't feed directly on humans, and if she hadn't been associated with you, we mightn't have bothered her at all."

"I feed on criminals. You're not as discriminate. I believe we have a different niche."

"Criminals are often the easiest prey to get to and the easiest to make disappear."

Fiona interjected, "I found you lurking around my hospital. You lot are not vigilantes, you prey on the weak and the lonely, people who will not be missed."

"Actually, you're wrong, Fiona. How surprising. Having observed how you dispel untruths like those Carina manifests, I would have thought you'd have known I like my prey lively and vital. It's no fun if they don't struggle. I was around your hospital hoping to catch some of your fellow staff before they got into their cars. I fancied myself a doctor that night."

Fiona made a disgusted noise and replied, "I will not leave this territory to you, so you may cull innocents."

"Then, you leave me no choice. It was nice meeting you once more, Fiona, but believe me, it will never happen again."

My sensory bubble immediately detected Sophia's barrier as it was repelled by it. I knew its shape and the amount of force behind it. It was much like the wall I created to block Dermot but much wider and certainly not passive. It was racing headlong towards Fiona, ripping apart the vegetation in its path and creating a tornado of leaf litter. Fiona would not have time to move aside. The force Sophia was generating would be enough to rip limbs or even to sever a head. I had underestimated her. Her power was in her discipline, and she was more levelheaded and focused than before. I had mere fractions of a second to act before Fiona was torn to pieces. So, I pirouetted around. In mid-spin, I caught her by the elbow. I swung her behind me with all my strength. Once she was safely out of the way, I raised a wall in front of me. It was not a moment too soon.

The impact was stupendous.

The blackness had recoiled until it held Sophia's barrier but a few inches from my face. I felt as though I was pinned by a tremendous weight. My fury was building, and I began pushing back. I heard Danny try to intervene, running towards me, but Dermot tackled him. He went down but hurled Dermot far clear of him, and he made for me again. Danny might have been a strong newborn, but he was an ungainly oaf next to Dermot. As Danny tried to reach me, Dermot threw him off balance and shoved him back. He was too fast for him, and Danny never managed to lay a finger on him.

I managed to expand the blackness outward until Sophia and I were equally matched, our battle being waged halfway between us. I couldn't crush her barrier like I'd done before, but nor was she able to repel mine. Then, Carina intervened. She started pouring images into my mind, trying to delude me into thinking I was somewhere else. I felt like I was falling from a cliff, which was not something I wanted to relive. The feeling of falling distracted me, and Sophia took advantage, pummelling the blackness until it evaporated. Fiona sensed my turmoil and in seconds showed me where I really was by taking my hand.

Even angrier than before, I shoved the barrier, back but she seemed to have reached a state of absolute Zen, for I could not force her back anymore. In fact, the blackness was contracting. I struggled and fought it, but I could feel myself weakening, and the blackness was withdrawing into its recess. I knew I could not sustain this much longer. Carina tried to fool me with more delusions. She made me think I was sinking to the bottom of the ocean and would never surface. She made me believe a horde of enemies was coming at me from all sides. No matter what lie she created, Fiona was quick to right me. Still, it was drawing my attention, and I needed every ounce of it to hold off Sophia.

Then, a new tactic occurred to me.

I allowed the blackness to contract until it was skin-tight around me and Fiona. Sophia's barrier pressured us from every side like we were under kilometres of water. Then, I focused. I brought the blackness into a spear point above my chest. I kept gathering it in one place, forcing it to become denser than I'd ever made it before. The blackness resisted, pulsating and loosening itself, but I exercised enough control to rein it in. I squashed it into a tinnier and tinnier space, shaking with the effort. Then, when I felt I could hold it no more, I released it. It streaked across the space between us like a lightning bolt, cutting through Sophia's barrier. It lost some of its force when it reached her but it was enough. It struck her in the stomach and sent her flying back into a tree with such force that the trunk snapped. Carina caught the edge of the bolt of blackness and was swung far to the right of us. Sophia seemed very weakened and confused by what had just happened.

Carina, though, was nowhere near as badly affected. She launched another mental assault, this time aimed at Dermot. His effortless evasion of Danny suddenly came to a halt, and he stared at the ground. He just muttered the word "No" when Danny took the opportunity to grapple him. In a moment, he had him in a headlock. As a newborn, Danny could crush an older vampire like Dermot in seconds. This had be fast and forceful. I extended a tendril out in front of Danny's face. I flattened its end out so the whole thing looked like an oversized shovel head. One flick of the wrist later and Danny was torn away from Dermot, hurling through the air.

But was I too late? Dermot was slumped on the ground.

Fiona raced to check on him. He rolled over and moaned. Cracks had spread across his marble skin from his chin down to his chest. They were sealing themselves, but he was still dazed, and Danny would not be dissuaded for long. Then, I became aware of something missing, a sound. Although Carina's ability was only a distraction to me, I had heard the buzzing throughout this whole confrontation. I wondered why she had just given up when I turned to see why. She was kneeling beside Chloe, muttering something. It wasn't English, but I thought it might be Latin. It was the same three words repeated over and over again.

Is est vicis.
My rage bursting forth, I made to lunge at her. I was charging forward headlong, she wouldn't have a chance to escape. Danny managed to intercept me a moment before I reached her. He charged me through two young trees before pinning me to the ground. He had me by the throat, and the only reason he hadn't decapitated me was the force I was exerting against his arms. He was stronger, though, and I could feel the pressure building. He snarled and growled as I continued to fight back, but he smiled madly every time I lost ground.

As the cracks began to form, making a shrill splitting noise, he said, "Guess being a freak doesn't always serve you well."

Too true, I'd have been ripping him to shreds right there, if I weren't afraid of dying. How strange, to be terrified of the thing I had wanted since I began this second life. Perhaps the voice of my subconscious, in the form of Fionn, had gotten to me. More likely, it was the fact that my sister and my newfound friends were battling a much stronger coven and without me, they were as good as dead. Yet, I saw no way out of this, unless someone helped me. I was too afraid to summon the blackness, and my own strength was not enough. I heard the sound of the scuffles nearby. I was full sure Fiona would have laid into Carina for trying to help Danny kill her nephew. Sophia was still weak, but her emotional control would be fast returning, and I could already here Dermot struggling against her barriers.

Danny was wickedly overjoyed with the prospect of finally killing me, his expression reminded me of a rabid dog about to finish off its victim. Then, amongst the cacophony, I realised something was missing. A familiar sound that had been present in the background the whole time, one which there was nothing of the like for miles around.

A human heartbeat.

Then, I saw her. Skin pale, eyes black but still pretty, even more so than before. She stood behind Danny, looking down upon him coolly but beyond that, her expression was unreadable. I had no idea what she might do. Then, with amazingly silent footsteps, she walked right up behind Danny at a human pace. With vampire speed, she then flung her arms around his head and squeezed. Danny yelped and tried to shake her off, but it was like she was glued to him. He still refused to let go of me, though, but he loosened his grip enough for me to try to wriggle away. He continued to hiss and snarl until something strange happened. I heard a sizzling noise like when food is fried in oil. Danny cried out and screeched, but Sorcha never let go. A moment later, smoke started to rise from his head, and his hair started to shrivel. He was squealing pitifully like a dog that had been kicked, but he finally managed to shake Sorcha off.

Then, I saw what she had done.

His eyes and the area around them were black and sooty, smoke rose from the sockets, and a few patches of skin were still hot enough to glow. She had somehow burned out his eyes with her bare hands. He wailed in pain and staggered about as Sorcha came to her feet. She tried to latch on to him again but this time, Danny sensed her approach and swung out his arm. Sorcha hurtled backwards straight into the clearing. Danny was trying to steady himself, and I noticed that particles of soot were falling away from his face. He was healing.

I couldn't know whether or not he'd regain his sight, but I wasn't taking any chances, except this chance to finish him.

I marched towards him with icy intent. Just beyond him in the clearing, I saw Sophia was too distracted by Dermot to notice what was happening. Carina was running circles around Fiona, but she was only fast, not strong, and she seemed intent on making her tricks work on her. Danny knew I was coming and threw an arm in my direction. I snatched him by the forearm and clasped his hand and with one quick wrench, I severed it almost down to the elbow. He howled in agonised shock. Then, I placed my hand flat on his face and pressed it down against his shoulder. I hooked the other hand around his shoulder and jerked it towards me. I had crushed his shoulder, and his other arm simply fell off.

He fell to his knees and wailed, "SOPHIA! Please…please help me."

She did not hear him or decided his need wasn't urgent. She obviously could not see the state he was in. He whimpered, "My…my lady, I love you."
She didn't notice the sound of his snapping arms, but she would notice this. I caught his head with both hands just under the hinges of his jaw. With all my strength, I yanked his head upward. His throat and neck cracked, his Jaw seized, and his body trembled. As the cracks spread and joined, I felt a little give on the left side. I bent his head slightly to the right and snapped down and then up. A cloud of dust erupted from his neck before it finally separated. I looked at his face still frozen in terror for a brief few moments and dropped his head. It clattered against his torso and rolled down beside it. I heaped the pieces of his arm together as Sorcha returned to help.

She said disappointedly, "Oh, you killed him already."

"Burn what's left."

She looked at me bewildered but did not argue. She knelt down beside Danny's remains and saw why I wanted them burned. They were moving, starting to reassemble themselves. She waved her hands over his remains as though she were warming them over a campfire. Then, a pale red glow spilled from her hands down upon them. There was a sizzle and a few cracks before it all burst simultaneously into flame. Finally, Sophia sensed what had happened. She stepped forward. Dermot tried to stop her, but she was irate, and with a shriek, threw him aside.

She stomped towards me and Sorcha screaming ear-piercingly loud. 'NO! MY DANNY! I'LL KILL YOU."

I did not taunt her but at the same time, I felt no pity for her loss. She had brought it upon herself.

Sorcha did not have as much restraint and said dismissively, "Bring it, bitch."

Sophia's face contorted and she let out a roar as she plunged head-on towards us like a runaway train. She was lost in anger, grief, pain, no emotional control whatsoever. I wouldn't take much to stop her in her tracks. I drew the blackness into the form of a car-sized oval rounding its sides with my arms and raising its density with my mind. Carina tried to stop Sophia just as she smacked into the blackness. She fell backwards, but she was back on her feet in an instant and made another run at me. This time I cast the oval forward to meet her at the speed of racing car. It smacked into both of them with a crunch, and they remained pinned against it as it drove into the forest. Tree after tree they smacked off of and every time I thought one of them was slipping off, I would reform part of the oval into a tendril and draw them back. Then, as they passed the mile mark, the blackness stretched too thin and snapped. They were flung forward by their momentum and crashed into the undergrowth.

A few moments later, I heard Sophia's shouts through uncontrollable sobs. She clearly wanted to go back and get revenge, but Carina convinced her otherwise and led her out of the forest. A minute later, they were out of range of all our senses.

After gathering ourselves for a second, I asked, "Is everyone okay?"

Dermot replied, "I'm good, gee, never had a fight like that."

Fiona added, "Trust you to think that that was a laugh."

"I don't think that. Just that it was a very…energetic experience."

"You mean exhilarating. I'm fine by the way."

I turned to Sorcha who was open-mouthed and was massaging her throat with her hand, I said, "Bad, ain't it?"

"My throat feels like I stuck my hand down there and turned up the heat. What is this?"

"You'll understand soon enough. Fiona, is Chloe still…?"

She wasn't there. Chloe had gone. I charged over to the spot where she had been as if to confirm what my eyes were telling me. My eyes scanned the edges of the clearing, but there was no one nearby.

I swivelled round to face Fiona. "Where is she?"

"She is close, in a field by the road."

"Did you not see her leave?" I shouted.

"I'm sorry, Jason, but we were a little distracted."

"NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

Dermot interjected, "Jason, calm down. We'll get her back."
I fell silent but could not calm down. I sincerely hoped Fiona wasn't right about the Immortal Children. Would Chloe break into someone's house or feed on a group of humans on the side of a street? She was a newborn and very young anyways, she would simply feel hunger and act on it without thought. If we didn't get her back, she could kill a lot of people and perhaps even draw the wrong sort of attention. Then, my worst fears were confirmed. I heard a car screeching to a halt on the road. A window was smashed, and a man yelled out in terror and pain. I heard someone else, too, I heard them crying. Whoever it was was very young. Then, I knew they were the cries of a little boy watching his father being killed. Before everyone else could catch on, I hared down the slope that the forest was upon and darted nimbly amongst the trees.

The others were very fast, but my strides were longer because of my newborn strength. All but Sorcha fell well behind, and even she was separated from me by at least fifty feet. As the vegetation thinned, I saw the field ahead and out in the middle of the road was a stalled car. I forced myself to go even faster and zipped across the grass in the blink of an eye. I hopped over the ditch cleanly and landed with a gentle thud on the road.
Despite my speedy arrival, I was too late.

The man I'd heard had been pulled through the driver's seat window and lay lifeless on the tarmac with not a drop of blood left to him. Then, I remembered the little boy. I ran around the man's body and saw the back window on the driver's side had also been smashed in. A large child seat lay on its side in the back of the car. The seatbelt that held it in had been ripped. Sorcha arrived not long after me followed a few seconds later by Fiona and Dermot.

Fiona put her hand to her mouth and said, "Oh no, that poor man. Jason, I am so sorry."

"It's not anyone's fault. You might be a truth-seer, but you're no fortune teller."

Then, she was at my side and she gazed, like me, at the child seat. She muttered, "Oh my God, he could have been no more than four."

I said solemnly, "She'll never forgive herself. She's so emotional and so in tune with the feelings of others. She would have felt everything they felt when they died."

Fiona had been concentrating. Then, she took in a sharp breath and steadied herself against me. Dermot asked, "What's wrong, Fiona?"

"Her…her intention is not to kill the boy but…but to change him. She's already done it. He'll be a vampire in a matter of days."

"He's even younger than her; he'll never be able to control himself. He'll be…"

"An Immortal Child, the gravest sin in the eyes of the Volturi."

I looked at them both, perplexed by Chloe's actions and terrified at their potential consequences.

Then, Dermot said in a defeated tone, "Ah hell, we're done for."