Abigail Gibbs - The Dark Heroine - Dinner with a Vampire

My heart fell through my gut and I made a whining sound, and choked out, ‘Dad?’

‘Violet?’ the all too familiar voice replied, astonished.

‘Yeah,’ I murmured in a feeble voice, words failing me.

There was a crackling down the line as though he was covering the mouthpiece and I thought I heard voices at his end, talking heatedly. Then there was another crackle and he came back, speaking with an unnerving urgency.

‘I’m going to assume you’re being listened to, so I can’t tell you much. I know it’s the Varns who have you and I know what they are. It must be a shock to you to discover about all of this and I never intended for you to know about it at all. I know your situation must seem impossible, from what I’ve heard from these bloodsucker ambassadors.’ He spat out the last sentence with such venom, even I was shocked – and I had heard him angry. ‘But it’s really important you don’t give up. Don’t turn, whatever they say or do. Do you understand, Vi?’ When I didn’t answer because I was trying to absorb his hurried words, he pressed the question: ‘Do you? Promise me you won’t turn.’

I stared at the marble floor. Do I understand?

‘I promise,’ I murmured. I heard the door open in front of me and glanced up to see Kaspar slipping through. Leaning against the wall, he folded his arms and eyed me. My two minutes were running out. Meanwhile, my father carried on.

‘We’ll get you out of there, Violet, but it’s going to take time and I need to know some things. Have they bitten you or taken any blood at all?’

Kaspar’s eyes flickered up and met mine. I hesitated and stared. He stared back.

‘No,’ I lied. The tiniest crease of surprise appeared on his brow. Why did I lie?

‘Good,’ my father said. ‘Make sure they don’t try and give you any of their blood whilst taking your blood. That will turn you.’

I shook my head and a few more tears pricked my eyes, which I wiped away, conscious of the fact Kaspar was still frowning at me. ‘You can’t leave me here, Dad. You can’t,’ I muttered, jumping as a small sob escaped. ‘They kill people!’

I heard him sigh – it wasn’t much, but I clung onto it, savouring the sound. ‘I have to, Vi, for the moment, anyway. But we won’t give up, I have contacts and—’

I cut him off as Kaspar started walking towards me. I clutched at the phone with two hands, as though that might stop him taking it and asked the most burning question I had, realizing it was my last.

‘How’s Lily? Quickly,’ I added, trying to put across the urgency.

He picked up on my panic and didn’t hesitate. ‘Weak, but the doctors say she’s doing well and should make a recovery by—’

Kaspar whipped the phone away from my ear, pressing it to his own. As if my hands were nailed to it I followed him, refusing to let go until I found I was clutching at thin air: he had flitted back into the living room and rejoined the rest of his family.

The door was slammed in my face before I could follow him and when I tried the handle, it was locked. Falling against it I tried to listen, but heard nothing.

I didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye.

‘I think that’s enough time talking, don’t you, Lee?’ I spat, closing the door to the living room behind me and shutting Violet out.

‘Put her back on, Varn.’

I chuckled, aware that my father was stood back, scrutinising my words. ‘I don’t think so. We have to talk business.’

The sound of his breathing down the line stopped: I assumed he pulled the phone away from his mouth. In the background, I could hear him discussing what to say, presumably with one of his poisonous advisors who were so determined to make our life difficult as government policy.

‘I refuse to speak directly with anyone other than your ambassadors or the King,’ Lee eventually replied, coolly.

‘Well, you are out of luck then, Lee. I’m heir and any business of my father’s is mine too. If you have a problem with that, take it up with my father’s advisors. Oh, wait, that’s me.’

I imagined the cogs turning in his head. Sky’s wife, Arabella, took both their children, the eldest only two, into her arms and out of the room, muttering something about disliking the politics. She had made her stance on Violet quite clear – she disapproved of the whole thing; so much so, she had initially refused to visit with Sky from Romania.

‘Then you will do,’ he mocked. He sounds like the girl. ‘You know of John Pierre, I presume?’

John Pierre? Yes, I know him all right .

‘Of course.’

‘And I will assume you are aware that it was his son you killed in Trafalgar Square?’

‘Clearly.’

‘Then I am sure it will not come as a surprise to you to hear that he is not particularly pleased.’

No shit, Sherlock . ‘No surprise whatsoever.’

‘Men fuelled by revenge are the most dangerous. Watch out, Varn,’ Lee snarled.

The whole room stared at me, my father’s gaze the most prominent, listening, waiting for my reaction. ‘That’s not much of a threat, Lee. You are aware that our Kingdom could halve the population of this country in a day, aren’t you?

Tick, tick went the human mind. ‘You might be a leech, Varn, but somehow I don’t think you’re cut out for genocide.’

‘Perhaps not, but I would happily make a start with your daughter.’

The words had hardly left my mouth when Sky held his hand out for the phone, obviously deciding I had done enough damage. I gave it to him gladly and he continued the conversation, Father diverting his attention to him. Jag sauntered up and nudged me below the ribs.

‘Look at you, little brother, talking politics. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have had a personality overhaul.’ Then he lowered his voice and turned so he was no longer facing Mary, his girlfriend. ‘Nice catch for a human.’ He winked at me and left to shower Mary with compliments. So he hasn’t changed in the time he has been away then.

I slipped from the room, tired of the talk. Girly sat curled on the bottom step, her head buried in her arms. I couldn’t hear sobbing, although as she raised her head her eyes were still red and blotched, but gleaming with a hope that changed to an accusing stare once she realized there was no phone in my hand. She scrabbled up and backed into the banister as I passed, her stare following me as I thought I heard her mutter that I was a jerk.

Hours merged into days, every day as insignificant as the next, time passing in a blur, nothing standing out.

I spent almost all of my time cooped up in my room, amusing myself as best I could. It had been a week exactly since that short phone call, and it still troubled my thoughts. I had hoped that I would be able to call my family again, but had given up on that. Nobody talked to me, apart from the occasional, brief exchange.

I sighed, and looked back down at my drawing. I wasn’t much of an artist; I had only just scraped along in Art at school. But the ovals I had sketched resembled a pair of narrow eyes and I knew if I had colouring pencils that they would be emerald green. Beside them was the outline of another pair, rounder yet sunken. Blue. A smaller pair, scribbled in the corner, awake and alive. Violet.

My fingers closed around the sheet and scrunched it into a ball.

It would be my birthday in thirteen days. I would turn eighteen a hostage. My fingers tightened into a ball as I felt a familiar lurch in my stomach and my throat closed up.

A brisk knock at the door interrupted my thoughts and I quickly wiped my eyes, just in case they looked teary. Without waiting for a reply, the person entered as I was standing up. To my surprise, it was not Fabian, who seemed to be the only one interested in me, but Sky.