Chapter Thirty-Three
‘Okay, so you’re
telling me that garlic is useless?’
April was sitting in
the kitchen getting a crash course in the finer points of vampire
lore.
‘Not if you’re
talking about pasta sauce,’ said Gabriel. ‘But if you’re talking
about killing a vampire, then yes.’
‘So where did the
garlic thing come from then? Why not parsley or coriander or
something?’
‘It’s because garlic
was used in medicine - it’s like an ancient antibiotic that could
“magically” cure people. If left untreated, some diseases can give
you delusions, so administering garlic became seen as a way to
drive out demons.’ He saw April’s raised eyebrow. ‘Hey, I’m in the
business, I know these things.’
‘Holy
water?’
‘Nope,’ said Gabriel.
‘And we can go into churches too.’
‘Sunlight?’
‘There’s a degree of
truth to that. We can go out in the sun but we don’t like it much,
it irritates our skin, hurts our eyes. That’s why some days we
don’t go into school - we don’t want to be sitting in the refectory
in direct sunlight. That’s why vampires love nightlife and hate
early mornings. We prefer the night and winter in the same way
bleeders - sorry, humans - prefer the sunshine.’
April put up a hand.
‘Wait, you call us “bleeders”?’ she said incredulously, feeling
both insulted and disturbed that vampires could talk about people
as if they were just livestock.
‘Sorry,’ said
Gabriel.
‘Okay, so what about
crossed candlesticks?’
‘Now that’s just
silly, and so is the thing about not being seen in mirrors. We’d
never be able to walk around a town centre for fear of walking
under scaffolding or being reflected in a shop
window.’
‘So why does everyone
believe it?’
‘Because we want you
to. All those myths were started by vampires.’
‘What?
Why?’
‘It’s simple, really.
If anyone ever started to suspect someone was a vampire, all they
had to do was turn up during the day, or eat some garlic or
something. It’s just another way to stay hidden.’
April paused for a
moment, trying to take it all in. ‘But if you’re so good at hiding,
can you spot another vampire?’
A troubled look
crossed Gabriel’s face. ‘It depends. Turned vampires - the ones who
have been turned by a bite, like I was - are easy to spot: they’re
too perfect. I mean, seriously, how often have you seen a teenager
without spots? But true vampires are much trickier.’
‘What’s a true
vampire?
‘The offspring of two
vampires. They’re much more powerful because they’ve always been
this way, it’s a natural part of them. Manipulation and
ruthlessness come effortlessly, they can kill without a second
thought. Plus their powers of recovery are much greater, so it’s
almost impossible to kill them.’
‘But why are they
“true” vampires?’
Gabriel pulled a sour
face.
‘Arrogance. They
believe they’re pure-bred, superior to both humans and turned
vampires; the ultimate predator at the top of the food
chain.’
April shivered. ‘How
do you spot a turned vampire then?’
‘Like I said, we’re
hunters, so our eyesight, hearing and sense of smell are much
better than humans’. A true vampire looks and smells the same as a
bleeder, but I would be able to smell a turned
vampire.’
‘Why? What do they
smell of?’
‘Death.’
‘I shouldn’t have
asked.’
April looked down at
her hands, trying to make her next question sound as casual as
possible, but feeling butterflies in her stomach as she spoke. ‘So
what about feeding? What about blood?’ she asked, torn between a
morbid fascination and a flaming jealousy at the thought Gabriel
licking some other girl’s pretty neck. Gabriel seemed to pick up on
her thoughts and grimaced.
‘You’re really not
going to like this part,’ he said softly.
‘Try
me.’
‘Well, we can eat -
our heightened senses of smell and taste make excellent food one of
our great pleasures. But blood? We have to feed on human blood at
least once a week, otherwise we start to get sick.’
Gabriel was right,
April didn’t like it, not one bit. She thought of Ling weeping in
the toilets, blood seeping from her wrist, and felt her anger rise
again.
‘Who are you feeding
from?’ she asked tersely, unable to disguise the distaste in her
voice.
‘Feeders. People who
allow us to drink a little of their blood. We don’t need
much.’
April put her hands
around her throat. ‘Don’t even think about it,’ she
said.
‘I wouldn’t dare to
presume,’ he said with a smile. ‘But seriously, that’s part of the
reason for the recruitment at Ravenwood - they have more humans to
feed from and the more a vampire feeds, the stronger they will
become.’
April took a deep
breath. She hated what he was telling her, but knew there was no
point in getting worked up; it was the way he was, he had to feed.
And she knew she had to focus on what they could change, how she
could help stop more innocent people becoming victims.
‘So how can we stop
them? A stake through the heart?’
‘Yes, that would
work. One of the few things the movies get right. Vampires can be
killed by destruction of the body - of anything you can’t do
without, basically. So a pierced heart, suffocation or drowning,
crushing of the body, decapitation, burning, anything serious like
that, but smaller wounds can be regenerated and healed pretty
quickly. As you saw last night.’
Gabriel pulled up his
top to show her the wound. It was red and raised, but it was almost
healed. April looked up into Gabriel’s eyes and couldn’t believe
she had been so frightened of this boy that she had stabbed him. He
was so beautiful and kind and gentle and … she reached out and
touched the wound, her fingers lingering on his skin.
‘I’m sorry, Gabriel,’
she said softly.
‘April,’ he
whispered, placing his hand over hers and moving towards her. But
suddenly, almost involuntarily, April pulled back.
‘I … I’d better go
and check on my mum,’ she said quickly and grabbed the door
handle.
What are you doing? she thought furiously as she ran up
the stairs. He’s totally hot and you had your hand on his skin and
now you’re running away?
Cursing herself, she
stuck her head around the door of her mother’s room.
‘Mmm, darling?’
moaned Silvia, turning over sleepily. ‘Is that you?’
‘Yes, Mum,’ she
said.
‘Could you be an
angel and pass me my pills? Got a splitting headache.’
Sighing, April did as
she was told.
‘Thank you, sweetie,’
murmured Silvia as she pulled the duvet over her head. ‘And could
you turn the TV down? I keep hearing voices.’
‘Yes,
Mum.’
She gently closed the
door and padded back downstairs. She found Gabriel sitting on the
sofa in the living room, a book on his knee.
‘Sorry, I hope you
don’t mind,’ he said, holding up the cover which read: Beneath The Dark Waves: The Loch Ness Monster
Mystery.
‘One of my dad’s,’
said April proudly.
‘Looks pretty good,’
he said. ‘I was just reading that there is more water in Loch Ness
than all the lakes in England, Scotland and Wales put together.
Twenty-two miles long, one and a half miles wide. That’s a hell of
a hiding place.’
‘My dad didn’t find
Nessie,’ said April, sitting down next to him and peering at the
photos, ‘but we had a nice holiday up there. I remember there being
an ice-cream van permanently parked outside our cottage, but that
might be rose-tinted spectacles.’
Gabriel looked across
at her. ‘I wish I’d met your dad,’ he said softly. ‘But I promise
you I will do everything in my power to find out who murdered
him.’
April could only nod.
‘I miss him,’ she said finally.
‘Why don’t you tell
me about him?’
April looked away.
‘Nah …’
‘Come on, I’m
serious,’ he said. ‘Tell me about Scotland.’
‘Okay,’ she said,
secretly glad to be talking about happy times. She leant back
against the sofa head-rest and began to tell stories, her fondest
memories. The time on holiday in Skye, when they had found a boat
washed up on the shore and he’d lifted her up to get inside and
find pirate treasure but all they found were old nets. Or the time
he’d tried to teach her to fish and she’d fallen over and got her
wellies full of frogspawn. And the birthdays and the pantomimes and
the bike rides. And as she talked, she felt safer and more relaxed
than she’d felt in weeks, maybe years. She slid slowly down the
sofa until she was resting her head on his shoulder and it felt
good, it felt right. Gabriel slowly, gently began to stroke her
hair, pushing it back behind her ears, and April felt a warm tingle
spread all the way through her. Kiss
me, she urged, closing her eyes, for
God’s sake, kiss me.
Suddenly Gabriel
jumped in the air, hissing, as April’s head fell back against the
sofa cushion.
‘What’s the matter?’
she said urgently, sitting up and looking at him. His face was a
mixture of shock, fear and something else. Revulsion, that was it. April’s heart was hammering
in her chest. Am I
that horrible?
‘What is it? What
have I done?’ she asked.
Gabriel ran his hands
through his hair in an agitated manner and paced around in a
circle.
‘Gabriel! What’s
going on? Tell me.’
He shook his
head.
‘What is
it?’
He looked at her and
there was a new expression there: pity. ‘I shouldn’t be the one to
tell you,’ he said.
‘What? Tell me
what?’
April’s heart was
pounding now because she had recognised the expression on Gabriel’s
face: it was the one her mother and her grandfather always had when
they were talking about her family heritage, the face they pulled
when it was obvious they had something they wanted to tell her but
could not quite bring themselves to utter. Her stomach was on a
spin-cycle now. What if all this wasn’t about vampires at all? What
if it was about her?
‘Please, Gabriel,’
she said, desperate now. ‘What’s wrong with me?’
He stepped over and
took her hands in his. ‘Okay, April, try not to freak -
promise?’
‘You’re not making
that easy,’ she said, her voice shaking.
He nodded and took a
deep breath. ‘You have the mark.’
April put her hand to
her face. ‘What mark, where?’ She jumped up and peered in the
mirror above the mantelpiece. ‘I don’t see anything.’
Gabriel came up
behind her and gently pulled the hair back from her neck. ‘It’s
here, just inside the hairline, level with the top of your ear, do
you see?’
April peered closer.
There was something.
‘What is it? A
birthmark?’
Gabriel nodded and
touched the brown mark. ‘It’s the north star, the sign of the
regeneration, the bringer of light.’
She squinted. It
looked more like an ink blot than a star to her, but she could see
from Gabriel’s face it was important. He looked stricken and hurt,
like someone had just diagnosed her with cancer. She was getting
really scared now.
‘Does this mean
something? Am I ill? And don’t start with that “it’s complicated”
rubbish again.’
Gabriel shook his
head. ‘Okay,’ he said, gathering himself. ‘I know this sounds
crazy, but it’s a part of vampire lore. I suspected something when
I heard about Milo, but now …’ He looked at her. ‘But now I can see
it’s true.’
‘You can see what?’
shouted April. ‘You’re freaking me out, Gabriel, just tell
me!’
‘You’re a Fury.
You’re the last of the Furies.’
She gulped at the
air. It was as if someone had turned the heating way
up.
‘What the hell are
the Furies?’ she asked, her mouth dry.
‘Vampire
killers.’
‘What? This is a
joke, right?’
Gabriel put his hands
on her shoulders. ‘I wish it were, believe me, I do,’ he said,
leading her back to the sofa. He sat down next to her, keeping hold
of her hand. She was grateful for his touch, but she didn’t feel
the warmth she had before.
‘I’m not an expert on
vampire lore and even if I was, many people think the Furies are a
myth, a sort of bogeyman for vampire children. The Furies are
supposed to be three females, all born within a generation, each
with the power to destroy all vampires. Some think the Furies are a
prophecy, a sort of mythological scourge, a sign that the vampires
will be wiped from the earth. I think it’s more like a genetic
anomaly, almost like nature’s counterbalance to the
vampires.’
April’s heart was
still beating through her T-shirt, but Gabriel’s touch and the feel
of his thumb stroking the back of her hand were calming her
slightly.
‘I don’t understand,’
she said, trying to stop her voice from shaking. ‘What have I got
to do with vampires?’
‘All right, I’ll do
my best to explain,’ said Gabriel. ‘Think of vampires as just being
victims of a disease, a weird virus that has infected our systems.
We’re sort of suspended in a half-life state. We should have died,
but the virus is keeping us here, halfway between life and
death.’
April nodded. ‘Okay,
with you so far.’
‘Well, you’re the
cure, the antidote.’
‘I can cure you?’ she
said, reaching out for him. She was dismayed to see him flinch
back.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I
wish you could. No, Furies carry another virus in their systems
that neutralises the regeneration mechanism in vampires. Once they
get your virus, the disease is able to take its course and …’ He
shrugged.
‘What? What
happens?’
‘It eats them
alive.’
April’s hand flew to
her mouth. ‘Oh God! And you think that’s what happened to Milo? You
think I killed him?’
Gabriel nodded. ‘The
virus must have got into his body when you kissed
him.’
‘Oh no, oh no, oh no
…’ moaned April covering her face with her hands. ‘What have I
done?’
‘Don’t feel sorry for
that animal,’ said Gabriel fiercely. ‘You have no idea what he’s
done to girls like you over the years. He deserves everything he
gets.’
‘Don’t talk that
way!’ shouted April. ‘It’s all right for you, you’re not the one
who killed him! I’m a killer, a murderer.’
Gabriel grabbed her
shoulders and stared into her eyes. ‘No, April, you are not a
murderer. Milo is still in hospital, remember? He’s still alive.
And anyway, you didn’t know what you were doing, you had no idea
you could hurt him. You didn’t make that choice, you’re a good
person.’
‘Am I?’ she said
bitterly. ‘So what about this?’ She pointed to the birthmark behind
her ear. ‘You didn’t exactly jump for joy when you saw that. You
looked at me like I was carrying the plague.’
‘April…’
She shook her head.
‘You know what I thought when you were stroking my hair?’ She
barked out a brittle laugh. ‘I thought you were going to kiss
me.’
Gabriel tried to hold
her gaze, but finally looked away. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, shaking
his head.
She stood up and
walked over to the door, holding it open. ‘Get out.’
‘What?’
‘You heard me,’ said
April. ‘You told me you cared for me, but all you cared about was
finding out whether I had this weird bloody thing,’ she said,
gesturing towards her ear. ‘You only asked about my dad so you
could get close enough to look. How do you think that makes me
feel?’
‘But don’t you see?’
says Gabriel. ‘You can’t ignore this. If the vampires ever find out
who you are, they will try to kill you. You have no choice, you
have to fight, it’s the prophecy.’
‘Oh no,’ said April,
pointing her finger at him. ‘No you don’t. I’m not carrying out any
bloody prophecy. I’ve got A levels to do.’
‘But April,
please—’
‘No,’ she said,
handing him his coat and pushing him towards the front door. ‘I’m
not interested.’
As she hurried him
out, he turned back and said in a low, urgent voice, ‘April,
whether you like it or not, you have a destiny.’
‘I don’t want a
destiny!’ she snapped back. ‘I want a boyfriend!’
And she slammed the
door.