So – who has she picked? The half-vampire or the human? Hmm…
The Vampire Child, Chapter Four
"She hasn't slipped over a-g-a-i-n!" Gavner complained, looking over his shoulder. Just as he was about to turn back, Darren was holding his hand up – telling him not to bother – and had helped the girl up himself. Mr Crepsley smiled and turned to look too.
"Give her some slack, Gavner, it is her first trek, and-" he paused, and then doubled up with laughter. They were walking along a river, upstream, and as he watched he saw another figure bend to help the girl up. Until suddenly Darren lost his footing, tripped up and sent the other one to the floor as well. Gavner looked too and laughed, in hysterics.
Three brown-haired teenagers were on the floor, looking about and scowling with embarrassment. Gavner walked over. Darren got back to his feet again so he and Gavner could help the others up off the floor.
Hannah's cheeks were pink. "Can we walk on the snow now?" she groaned, kicking her legs to get the cold feeling out of them. The two boys nodded, vigorously. Mr Crepsley snorted and waved a hand. "Come on you three, let's get there." Gavner watched his retreating back and wondered how he could cope with having three kids on a trek to Vampire Mountain. Before – it would've made him hysterical, but something had changed in him. And the only word he could use to describe that word was that they were like a family. A very strange one but a family nonetheless.
Gavner whistled. "Rev – is there any blood left?" he asked. The boy stopped, swivelled his satchel round and looked in. He retrieved a test tube and walked over to his mentor, slowly so he didn't slip up again, and gave him it. "Thanks," he grinned.
Mr Crepsley stiffened. "You. Had. Blood. All. This. Time?" He said, slowly and carefully – speaking as if the words were in a sentence of there own. Gavner froze, knocked back the vial of blood and chucked it over his shoulder. River caught it before it hit the floor. "Whilst myself, my assistant and my blood-daughter starved?" Mr Crepsley turned around, his face red. Gavner went cold inside. "Larten…"
Darren jumped on his back and laughed. "He's only messing with you Gavner!" and he rubbed his knuckles across his forehead. Gavner groaned and flung him off, but Darren landed on his feet in the snow. He did a thumbs up and his friends fell about laughing.
"Larten Crepsley, come to seek Council."
"Gavner Purl, come to seek Council."
"Darren Shan, come to seek Council."
"Hannah Par… Crepsley, come to seek Council."
"River Spring, come to seek Council."
"Larten Crepsley, Gavner Purl and Darren Shan recognised by the gate." The guard's eyes swept over the two others. "However…"
"Hannah is my blood-daughter," "River is my assistant." Gavner and Mr Crepsley both blurted out at the same time. Darren shifted, uncomfortably, and squeezed Hannah's hand tightly. He looked over her head at his friend, who was holding onto her other hand – except Hannah was putting more force on her side, making both River and Darren's hands feel like they were trapped in a vice. Her eyes were wide and her face was almost see-through, she was sweating and her lips were quivering.
"Can you vouch for him?" The guard asked Gavner. Normally, eighteen was the age assistants were made, so River was allowed. Gavner nodded. "River Spring is now recognised by the Gate." He growled, roughly, whereupon an engraver ran to the great stone in the main hall to chip their names in. The guard turned to Mr Crepsley.
"What do you mean blood-daughter?" he asked, curious. Mr Crepsley's shoulders sagged and he sighed. "Surely you heard of the prophecy of the Vampire Child?"
The guard let out a wail of laughter, tears almost streaming out of his eyes. "The Vampire Child? That's purely legend! And even if it wasn't – what makes you so sure that she is it?"
"I had a son," Mr Crepsley stated and the guard turned pale. There really wasn't much more to be said, it was clear in his tone what he meant, but the guard started stammering a comeback. "B-Before you w-were b-blooded?"
Mr Crepsley shook his head, his eyes boring into the guards, shining like hot coals. The guard gulped and opened the door. "Hannah Crepsley is now recognised by the gate." Once more the inscriber chipped madly at the stone with the long list of vampire names.
"This way – I'll lead you to your rooms."
"We'll share," Darren blurted out, pointing to he, Hannah and River. The guard nodded and they followed him into a path of tunnels.
"So," Paris smiled, watching Hannah with a fixed gaze, intrigued. "You are the Vampire Child." Hannah, having had her family tree and heritage explained to her, knew fully well who she was, and bit her bottom lip before nodding. Darren was afraid she would say 'I don't know…' but she didn't. She stuck out her chin and her eyes burned. "Yes," she replied, her stare steady, her jaw set. Mika laughed, turned to Arrow, then Paris, and then looked back at the girl before him. "A girl with fire," he beamed.
River let out a deep breath and Darren leant over, shaking his shoulder in comfort. He may have been younger, they may have been love rivals, but they still treated each other like brothers. Hannah had decided on having neither for a boyfriend, she was far too worked up to decide between the two of them. She had more important things – like being the saviour of the entire vampire clan.
"There is only one way this can be proven," Paris sighed, waving a hand. Hannah walked closer to the three Princes. I should be up there… Darren kept thinking, staring at his empty throne, but he felt his place was to be next to his mentor and his friends. Unless, of course, the time was needed to act and enforce his side of the law.
"Place your hands on here," it was the Stone of Blood. The prophecy had spoken of the Vampire Child placing their hands on the orb, to have it glow. It was why the other prophecy of saving the vampire clan via the stone was in place – it was the only object to find the Vampire Child. The one to lead the clan to victory…
Hannah approached it, warily, and placed her hands on it, shutting her eyes and letting out a deep breath to steady herself. Darren could see one arm droop and throb as blood flowed to and from her veins. He dropped his head, his breath coming in quick gasps. Everyone in the room gasped, even Mr Crepsley. Darren's eyes were blinded, even shut.
The stone was floating. Okay, maybe not floating, but Hannah's hands weren't supporting it. Darren looked up when River nudged him, and his eyes widened in disbelief. It was high above her head, and the Stone had always been too heavy to lift – even for a vampire, so to have a human holding it… it was impossible.
What's more – it was glowing. The colours sparkled around the room, first blue, then gold, then pink, purple, yellow and red. It was the most beautiful thing Darren had ever seen. By now his head was up, his eyes were wide, and there were tears in his eyes – as were of every vampires in the room. Arrow was staring at Hannah as if she were a goddess. Her hair was fanning out around her, billowing out and growing longer. Long down to her waist. It was turning back to its old colour – brown/blonde – and she began floating too. Not as spectacularly high as the stone but enough to impress. Her feet weren't touching the floor.
She let go of the stone but it still glowed and floated. She was looking about, elegantly, standing a few feet away from the back of Mika's chair. He was staring at her in awe, utterly dumbfounded. Mr Crepsley had his head bowed and Gavner put his arm around his shoulders. He'd never seen him get so wound up that he'd sob like that – the last time was when Arra died and that was with sorrow.
The human girl looked so elegant and peaceful – almost like a spirit being laid to rest. She muttered the words, "Human by birth, vampire by heritage," and suddenly the spell was broken. The stone fell back into place and Hannah collapsed to the floor. The room was flung into a deathly silence.
Hannah crossed her legs and sighed, watching the Princes run around fetching scrolls, pinpointing where the vampaneze were and moving their Generals around like chess pieces. It was interesting at first, but all they did was sit there. Even Darren - who was busy reading about the battles themselves. Mr Crepsley was discussing things with him, about which towns were being used as bases and whether they were of importance.
She could feel Arrow's eyes on her back, even without looking, and she shivered uncomfortably. He'd been staring at her for the past hour, non-stop. It was getting pretty creepy – but she didn't say anything. He was a Prince, after all.
"Ow!" River fell through the open doors of the Hall, tripping over Gavner's outstretched foot. The General chuckled and helped him up, looking around for the other three. He spotted them and strode towards them, arms full of scrolls. He nodded towards his new assistant and laughed. "Guess what?" he sat down next to Mr Crepsley, beaming. River rubbed his shins and walked over to Darren, sitting down next to him.
It didn't bother Hannah that they were best friends – in fact, she was glad. She could hear them talking, about what - she didn't know. She sat back and swung her legs over the bench so she was staring at the back wall of the Hall. And guess who was sat at the back? Their eyes locked and Hannah felt like an ice cube had been slipped down her back.
Arrow's eyes didn't waver. He stared at her so intently that Hannah turned away first. She didn't know why she felt so uncomfortable – but the way he looked at her… She'd rather not think about it. When he'd heard that she'd been captured by a vampaneze he'd demanded for him to be found and killed. Darren had said there was no point in wasting vampires if Hannah were alive and well. All to save Steve, Hannah thought.
Gavner had started talking again and he reached over, slapping River on the back. "He beat Vanez on the bars!" he roared. Mr Crepsley looked up, stunned, but Darren turned to him and narrowed his eyes. "It shouldn't be hard, Gavner, Vanez is blind, remember?"
Gavner waved his hand, annoyed. "He's still a great warrior, Darren – his hearing's still up to scratch." He turned back to his assistant and grinned. "I'm proud of you," River smiled, even though it didn't reach his eyes, and he turned to see that Hannah wasn't paying attention. He felt his heart pound against his ribs and he looked away, sadly. It was too much to hope for.
Arrow walked forward and stopped by Hannah's side. She didn't notice him at first, but when she did, she felt cold inside. He was obviously finding it hard to react around her, he was shuffling and his fingers twitched nervously. "Hannah you are to come to the Hall tonight at midnight, it's… uhm… a sort of trial-"
"What kind of trial?" Mr Crepsley asked, standing up defensively. Arrow turned his gaze and his previous lack of confidence seemed to disappear. "A trial to suggest a… m- uh, partner," he put in, politely, swerving away from the word 'mate'. Hannah froze and stood up, pushing her bench back and staring around at the room of male vampires. River and Darren were staring at her, mouth's open in silent protest.
Gavner lowered his gaze, Arrow folded his arms and Mr Crepsley went pink in the face. "For Charna's sake, she's just a girl!" he cried furiously. Arrow shrugged. "She is the Vampire Child, Mr Tiny said…"
Mr Crepsley sat back down and pursed his lips. He'd realised that he couldn't speak to a Prince that way, especially Arrow. He nodded solemnly. Darren's eyebrows shot up. He wanted to say something, to explain to River about 'mates', but he couldn't speak.
Hannah was waiting for him to back her up. She was waiting for someone to side with her. No one did. They were all staring at her… exactly the same way Arrow had been staring at her. She pointed a finger at the door and gulped.
"Darren, can you please let me out, I, uh, need to go to the, uh, -" She was running. And crying. She could feel the tears fall down her cheeks. Darren got up and placed his left hand on the arm of his throne, standing up almost immediately. The door opened. Hannah didn't seem to notice, she kept running for her life. It seemed that all eyes were on her.
There were no longer any female vampires in Vampire Mountain – they'd all died at the hands of the vampaneze. It was unsettling, going back to her room to know that every vampire (excepting her blood-father) had his eyes on her. Well, except Vanez, Seba and Paris. Two were too old, the other was blind.
As soon as she got to her room, she collapsed into a coffin – not caring what it was or whether it had been used before. She was sobbing so hard it hurt her chest. She just wanted to sleep and wake up thinking that that had never happened. She was only sixteen! Surely they couldn't put her through marriage (even though it wasn't exactly.) Her body clock told her it was around seven. She had five hours before they were going to fling her into the hands of a vampire for the next twelve years. Unless…
"Oh God please let me have Darren or River and I'll never ask for anything ever again." She whispered. To strengthen her wish, she prayed to the Vampire Gods as well, realising that she was, in fact, a vampire. No wonder my wishes never came true – I was asking the wrong god, she thought, sarcastically. Lifting the coffin lid up, she'd begun to put it in place when there was a knock on the wall of the corridor. She looked up.
"Oh… it's you," she smiled a little weakly, and crawled out of the coffin. She wandered into the open arms of the robed figure and held onto her blood-father tightly. She didn't realise she was wiping her tears in his red robes, crying.
"We just won't go," he told her, lifting her chin up, smiling. Hannah turned her head away and knew that was stupid. If she didn't turn up they'd get someone to escort her. Better to do it with dignity. "Darren won't let them," Mr Crepsley murmured, brushing her hair back. Hannah nodded and sighed, wiping her eyes.
Mr Crepsley looked her up and down and held out his hand. "Come, we have to take you to Seba."
"Why?" Hannah asked, lifting her head up. Mr Crepsley grimaced and led her down the tunnel. "You need to dress accordingly," was all he said.
