A Dark Night (Book One of The Grandor Descendant series) (9 page)

“Oh Ari,” she said, “I’m sorry. This must all be so confusing. Larissa and I aren’t use to being around humans, and we just naturally assumed that you were being lulled by Ragon. I must say, it is refreshing to know that your mind is your own, but it is entirely unheard of amongst vampires.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ari, leaning forwards.

“Well,” said Sandra, “vampires and humans do not form relationships. There is a reason why mortals do not know of our existence, we are forbidden to have them in our lives, except of course to be sources, in which case the human has been lulled and will not try to escape.”

“Sometimes,” said Larissa, “newly made vampires, who loved humans in their previous life, will turn them so as to be together, but even this is very rare.
And… and I gathered from the fact that you two have separate bedrooms, that you are not lovers.”

Ari blushed and shook her head.

“But for one vampire to keep a mortal safe from another vampire, without lulling them… well it is downright unheard of,” said Sandra.      

Ari was surprised with how at ease she felt with Sandra and Larissa. When first she had realised she was going to be babysat by two unfamiliar vampires, she had been nervous, even slightly afraid. But Sandra and Larissa were lovely. After ten minutes alone with them, Ari felt more comfortable than she had with most human girls she had hung out with. But more than that, she finally understood just how much Ragon was putting on the line. He had called his friends from halfway across the world to keep her safe. As she realised this, Ari shook her head determinedly; she would not try to escape again. Only one question remained; why was Ragon going out of his way to protect her?

Ari leaned in closer
and asked, “So, how do you know Ragon?”     

“Oh
, well, that’s an easy one. It was 19…” said Sandra, trailing off to look at Larissa.

“
1933,” Larissa finished for her.

“Oh right, so it was
1933 and we were all living in Massachusetts at the time. Back then vamps didn’t really bother too much about keeping a low profile. There were parties going on every other week. It was Winter Solstice and one of the Elders was throwing a ball-” said Sandra, before Ari interrupted her.

“Elders?” she
asked.

“Yea
Elders, they are kind of like royal policemen, except there are only a few of them, about five or so per country, depending on how big it is, or how well populated it is with vampires.”

“So what,
they keep order?” asked Ari, picturing a vampire wearing a police suit without a gun or Taser, for which they would have no need.

“Yea
basically; they answer to no-one except the Ancients. Mainly they are superfluous now, what with the rules of maintaining secrecy being so well known. Back in the day they were out enforcing vampire law, but these days they mainly just sit in their palaces making sure no vamps out step their boundaries. Before the age of technology it didn’t really matter if a vamp was caught, but what with the internet, youtube, twitter and all the mass media, if a vamp gets caught its bad news, literally. Most vamps aren’t stupid enough to put themselves in the spotlight; else they will have to deal with the Elders.”

“
And the Ancients?” asked Ari, “Who are they?”

“P
icture the oldest, most elusive vampires of all time, and that’s them. I don’t know anyone who has ever seen them, but they are the ones who make the rules. They’re the first of our kind, as far as I know.”

“Anyway,”
said Sandra, calling Ari’s attention back to her original story, “we had met Ragon and Kiara a few times, just socially by then. One night at the Winter Solstice party they had a huge argument, very public and nasty. But Ragon seemed like an alright guy so we approached him and asked if he wanted to join our coven. He accepted and for a few decades we all lived together.”

“But
after a while he left us and went back to Kiara. Don’t ask me what he saw in the silly cow the second time round, but I guess it ended the same way,” said Larissa. “And he’s been in Australia ever since.”

“
So Ragon and Kiara were together?” asked Ari. “Like together, together?”

Both Sandra and Larissa exchanged a knowing look and then Larissa nodded slowly.

“But then why did they break up?” asked Ari.

“Don’t know. He didn’t really like talking about Kiara, not that I can blame him. She was a possessive bitch. He just told us that he didn’t love her and didn’t want to waste eternity with her,”
said Larissa.

“Oh
,” said Ari.

“So since then, Sandra, Thomas, Cambridge and I have stuck together, but th
e second we had word from Ragon, we knew we had to come and help,” said Larissa. “It is so typical of Kiara to move over here in pursuit of him. We would have liked to visit more often, but I can’t stand Australia; too damn hot.”

“S
o what else would you like to know sugar?” asked Sandra.

Ari smiled. What wouldn’t she like to know?

“Are vampires the only, err… immortals out there, or are there other things?” asked Ari, recalling how Ragon had mentioned werewolves.

“Oh
there are defiantly other things that go bump in the night,” said Larissa.

“
Yea,” agreed Sandra, “let’s see; in America there is a pretty large witch population, there are supposed to be wraiths there as well but they keep to themselves, um… a lot of the older vamps are in Latvia, but there is also a fair few in the UK. What am I forgetting?”

“
Weres,” said Sandra.

“You can’t count them
, there aren’t any left,” said Larissa, still with her fingernail in her mouth, as though trying hard to remember something.

“
Weres?” asked Ari. “Like werewolves?“

“No
like were-
anything’s
,” said Larissa, smiling. “A werewolf is just a were being a wolf, but they can be any animal they want. There used to be a heap of different clans of weres, but they don’t exist anymore.”

“
What happened to them?” asked Ari.

“All killed;
I don’t really know all the gory details, it was well before my time, but basically I think that the vamps got sick of competing with them, so they hunted them down and got rid of them all,” said Sandra.

“So what, t
he vampires decided to get rid of them, and then all of a sudden their all gone?” Ari asked in confusion.

She k
new that vampires were powerful, but their ability to destroy an entire immortal race somehow made them even more ominous and impressive.

“
Yep,” said Larissa. “But I wouldn’t get too upset about them; apparently they weren’t good company.”

“
And there are real witches? What are they like?” asked Ari.

“
No hats, cats or warts, but they do cast spells and curses, among other things. Vamps and witches don’t get on well; we’re kind of opposites,” said Larissa.

“Right,”
said Ari, “and what are the other ones you mentioned… raffe?”

“Wraiths,”
corrected Larissa.

“And what are
they?” asked Ari.

“Wraiths, well there…
I guess you could say they are kind of like an evil version of a witch. Witches are responsible for maintaining the balance of life and wraiths are all about death and responsible for destroying life,” said Sandra.

“So
, wouldn’t that mean that wraiths and vampires are on the same side?” Ari blurted out.

Ari
realised from the look of annoyance on Larissa’s face, that this was the wrong thing to say.  

“I suppose you could say that,”
said Sandra, who was laughing at the look on Larissa’s face.

“Not
all vamps are bad,” retorted Larissa, her chin slightly raised as she stared at Sandra in disbelief.

At this
statement more light musical laughter burst from Sandra, and Larissa glared at her, an undignified look plastered on her face.

“What do
you mean, ‘vamps aren’t all bad’, of course we are!” said Sandra.

“I just meant… I mean…
there are some vampires that are overtly evil, like blood hunters… but some vamps have simply been dealt a rotten hand and now have to live with it forever,” explained Larissa.

“Yes and they live with it
by killing and drinking the blood from innocent mortals,” said Sandra. “So you can hardly call them good.”

It was wonderful taking to
Sandra and Larissa; they provided comfort and distraction from the bizarre situation that Ari had found herself in. Time swept past quickly; Ari didn’t realise how long they had been talking for, until she glanced across the room at the little owl shaped cuckoo clock and saw that it was almost midnight. She was just beginning to wonder where Ragon was, when the large french veranda doors opened.

“And what are you three gossiping about?” Cambridge’s
deep voice asked, as he swept over to Larissa, brushing asides her blonde hair before kissing her on the forehead.

Ari
jumped when Cambridge had spoken, but Larissa winked and replied, “Just girl talk.”

“I have a surprise for you,”
said Thomas, entering the room quickly after Cambridge, as he stared down in adoration at Sandra.

Thomas blurred over to
the kitchen and retrieved two glasses. From behind his back he produced a long cylindrical bottle. Ari watched as he poured two glasses of thick, sticky red liquid. She knew that what she had thought was red wine, was actually blood.

“Oh darling,”
said Sandra, taking the glass gratefully and gulping down the liquid.

Larissa smiled as she ac
cepted the glass offered to her, and began sipping the blood leisurely.

“I’d offer,” Thomas said to Ari, “but I don’t think you would enjoy the vintage.”

Cambridge laughed at this. It was a deep booming laugh, and when Larissa’s own light laughter followed suit, it was like listening to music.

“Well, I nee
d my beauty sleep,” said Sandra, jumping off the couch.

Another thud on the veranda, told Ari that Ragon had joined them.

“Wait,” said Ragon, and everyone in the room turned to face him. “I think we need to talk about what we’re going to do about Kiara?”

“Right,” said Thomas, his hand at his chin as he considered Ragon’s words.

“Why not leave for England?” suggested Sandra, “your estate is there.”

“You know I can’t run or hide; Kiara was my maker
. She will be able to find me no matter where I go,” he said.

“We could fight?” suggested Ari, and all eyes turned on her. “It’s just that
… I thought you said what with the five of you and the two of them, they would be no match for you?”

“That’s impossible,” said
Thomas.

“Why?” asked Ari.

“Vamps aren’t allowed to kill other vampires. The Elders make sure that law isn’t broken and the last thing we want is to go up against them,” explained Thomas.

“Don’t worry,” said Ragon
, “I have not called you here to fight. I just need you to help me keep Ari safe.”

“
But for how long, indefinitely?” asked Cambridge, now looking at Ari sceptically. “For fifty or sixty years; Ari is mortal. Why not change her?”

Ragon glared at Cambridge
.

“We don’t need to make any rash decisions,” Sandra said soothingly,
now looking at Ari’s petrified eyes. “Thomas darling, Ari has not been lulled, so-”

Thomas’s eyes became huge while Cambridge stared, open mouthed, at Ari.

“What do you mean?” said Thomas.

“I don’t understand,” said Cambridge.

Ragon looked down sadly at his feet, about to speak, but then Sandra broke the silence.

“I think,” she said slowly, taking a meaningful look at Thomas, “that we need to trust Ragon. He does not want to lull Ariana, and we need to respect his wish. He has asked us here to keep Ari safe, and I for one will stay to do so.”

Ari looked up thankfully at Sandra
, who winked at her. As the vampires discussed Kiara’s imminent attack, Ari remained on the couch, still slightly in shock, listening to the five immortals talk. Finally, when it was apparent that no one could think of anything else to discuss, the vampires left for their bedrooms one by one, until it was only Ari and Ragon left alone.

“Are you alright?” asked Ragon.

“We can’t hide from her
; we can’t run… and we can’t kill her. What are we going to do?” asked Ari. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just bite me and lull me; to make me forget?”

“I promise
d I wouldn’t hurt you,” answered Ragon, shaking his head.