I hadn’t lain there for very long when I heard the dull groan of the door, cutting through the tomb-like silence of the small room. I raised my head, ready to let rip at Josiah with a stream of obscenities born from the very bowels of Hell itself, but instead wisps of white-blonde hair and a pair of striking azure eyes appeared in the doorway and I smiled in spite of everything.

I still found it strange that the boy who had once struck fear into the deepest recesses of my stomach could trigger such a sense of calm just to see his face and feel his presence close by.

Slipping out of the bed, I sank to the floor and gestured for Lucius to come and sit beside me, which he did with a grin, crossing his legs underneath him.  

“Where’s Josiah?” I asked, as I brushed a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes.

“He told me to tell you that he was going out, that he’ll be back soon and to remember the rules,” he chanted.

The rules. How on earth could I forget them?

Those damn rules felt like they were imprinted on me, like a hot brand to the skin. The rules were not to stray beyond the rooms Josiah had marked habitable, to do as he said at all times and to not attempt to leave the house without his strict permission. Not many rules, I grant you, but they were more than enough to remind me that I was, in effect, imprisoned here and that the suffocating bind of the contract was slowly choking the life from my spirit with every second that I remained inside the walls of the Chapel. Of course, I had no idea what was happening beyond these walls, the world could be burning for all I knew, yet I yearned for it all the same.

“He will wake up, you know.”

I turned sharply towards Lucius, feeling a spark of electricity jolt through me as I registered his words. “How do you know that?”

The boy shrugged. “He is not here.”

“Um…Lucius? He’s right behind us.”

Lucius nudged me with his elbow. “No, I mean he is not here.” His eyes flickered around the room.

“What does that even mean?” I sighed, wishing the boy wouldn’t talk in so many riddles.

“The nearly-dead like to linger close by. They don’t stray far from the body.”

“You mean like ghosts?”

He rolled his eyes. “Ghosts are dead people, Megan. They’re attached to the place where they died. The nearly-dead are attached to the body. They want to get back in, but they can’t.”

I glanced around the room, searching somewhere beyond the cobwebs and dust that hung in the stagnant air. “So…these nearly-dead people…you can see them?”

Lucius nodded. “Uh-huh. But they don’t like it. They don’t like it when I look at them.”

“Why not?”

“Because then they know they’re going to die. People don’t see the nearly-dead. Only I can see them and they don’t like it. They get really upset. So now, I pretend I don’t see them. It’s easier that way.” I studied him for a moment, noting the sadness in his eyes as he spoke, a deeply sombre tinge behind the blue.

I had been the cause of death for a fair few since becoming a vampire. I had been witness to my victims fear, witness to that final realisation that the nightmare was real, that death was close at hand. And often, I had relished in the sight of their terror and pondered very little on their demise, especially those I had felt deserved it. I wondered now how many of them had found their souls ripped out of their still-warm flesh and had looked down upon their own body, desperate to somehow force their way back in and unable to cling onto the life that I had stolen from them. I wondered how many had lingered close by, tortured by the sight of their own death.

I had also been witness to the torment of the dead, but by then they knew they were dead and all they cared about was escaping the dark waters of Purgatory and finding absolution. Seeing that was bad enough. I couldn’t imagine how awful it must be for little Lucius to watch the nearly-dead wail and rage as they fought to stay alive.

“So you’re saying that Harper is not one of them? He’s still in there?”

“Yes,” he said with a shy smile. “Don’t be sad, Megan. Everything will be okay.”

“Oh,” I replied, raising one eyebrow. “So you’re a seer now, as well as one of the Lost children? Is there no end to your talents, Lucius?”

He raised his hand as if to touch mine, but immediately seemed to think better of it and instead thrust both his hands into his lap, scowling darkly as he did so. “If I was a seer,” he said, his voice little more than a growl. “I would buy your contract from Josiah and release you.”

I stared at him, eyes widening. “Wait. You mean to say that could actually happen? Another seer could buy out Josiah?”

He nodded but the scowl remained. “Yep, but it would be hard to find a seer who would be willing to do that. They don’t like each other much, but they like you guys even less.”

“You guys meaning us normal vampires, I suppose?”

Lucius just grinned.

“I don’t get it,” I frowned, shaking my head. “The seers are vampires too, what’s their problem?”

“The normal vampires don’t trust the seers.”

I chuckled softly. “Well, of course not! If every deal with a seer is like mine, then no wonder nobody trusts them.”

“No, it’s not because of that. It’s because of what the wolf creatures made them do.”

“The Varúlfur? I gasped. “What did the Varúlfur make the seers do?”

He shifted a little on the uncomfortable wooden flooring, twisting to face me and lowering his voice as if we were discussing some great conspiracy. “It was when the wolf creatures were killing all the vampires. They took the seers and made them search out the hidden ones so they could kill them too.”

“Lucius, are you talking about the Great Cleansing? You’re saying that the seers told the Varúlfur where to find all the vampires who were hiding out?” The boy nodded again. “How the Hell do you know all this?”

“Garrick used to tell me the stories.”

Garrick! God, how it hurt to hear his name spoken aloud!

My hand rushed to my throat as I swallowed hard, feeling the searing burn of grief scar me all over again. I pushed the pain down as deep as it could go. I couldn’t let it consume me. Not now.

I took a deep breath and continued. “So the seers betrayed the rest of the vampires? Just like that?”

“Garrick said they had no choice. Seers usually come in pairs and a seer would do anything to protect his brother or sister. The wolf creatures knew this and would hurt one to make the other tell them where to find the vampires. It wasn’t really their fault, but the vampires hated the seers because of what they did.”

“Oh, so seers are always blood-related?” My eyes widened in surprise. “Got to give them some credit for family loyalty then. Maybe they aren’t devoid of all morals after all. I mean, I know Garrick and Harper had more respect and love for each other than either of them would ever have admitted, but sometimes I think they even detested each other a little bit.”

“That’s different.” He wrinkled his nose. “They weren’t brothers. Not really, anyway.”

I gawped at him. “You mean to tell me that the seers are actually related? As in… when they were human?”

“Yes. There is always two seers. Where there is one, there is always another.”

I slumped back against the bedstead and raked my fingers through my tousled hair. “My goodness. This is all starting to make sense. No wonder Josiah hates Harper so much! Caelan is Josiah’s real sister. How can that be?”

“I don’t know. He never told me that part.”

I shot him a half-smile, imagining Garrick, the great mercenary leader of the vampires, telling stories to the small boy capable of opening the gates of Purgatory; the same stories that Benjamin had no doubt told Harper and Garrick. I pictured Lucius and Garrick both seated in those worn old armchairs in Benjamin’s study, the fire crackling in the hearth as Garrick told tale after tale. Or maybe he had crouched besides Lucius’ bedside, reciting vampire history as if it had come straight from Lucius’ precious book collection itself.

I couldn’t help but wonder who I would tell stories to, or indeed what those stories would be. Right now, it didn’t feel like any of my stories would be particularly uplifting or inspiring. They all seemed to be drenched in the blood of many and the hope of few and who wanted to hear that? Even I was exhausted by it.

“What’s wrong, Megan?” Lucius leaned against me slightly, rousing me from my thoughts.

“I miss him,” I admitted. “And I don’t what to do. If he was here, he would know. He would tell me what to do.”

“Why do you need anyone to tell you what to do?” the boy asked with a deep frown that lined the usually-smooth pale skin of his forehead.

“Because….” I stammered, shaking my head in frustration. “Because I don’t have the first idea how to get us out of this mess, Lucius. Harper might not be gone, but if he doesn’t wake up, he soon will be. Look at him! Every day he gets weaker and weaker and if I can’t get him to feed soon, then I’m scared that he will never come back to us. If Garrick was here, he’d know what the answer was. I mean, I’m supposed to be an Archangel of all things but what’s the point of having all these bloody powers that can save souls in Purgatory if I can’t even save us?”

“You do know the answer. You’re just not looking in the right place.”

“Lucius, how can I even begin to look for the answer when I’m stuck in here?” I banged my fist hard against the floor.

 “Who said that the answers lie outside these walls? You have the answers, Megan. Garrick already told you where to search.”

“The journal?” I asked. “I’ve read it, Lucius. It’s just a book filled with Benjamin’s old diary entries and whole load of stuff that makes no sense to me. I’ve looked at it over and over again and I can’t find anything that will help us.”

“You look but you don’t see. The answers are there. You just have to find them.”

I stared at him for a moment, before breaking into soft laughter and playfully ruffling his hair. “Don’t tell me. Easy-peasy, right?”

He grinned back. “Exactly.”

*******

When I awoke, my neck seemed to groan as loudly as the door had.

Sleeping on the thin mattress on the floor by Harper’s bedside made my muscles shriek with any slight movement but sleeping here was always preferable to sleeping in Josiah’s room. From where I lay, I could see Harper, still in the same position in which I had left him and despite how much I hated to see him like this, waking up to an unconscious Harper was better than waking up to the smug face of the seer.

I stretched, wincing at the stiffness in my spine as I rolled onto my back and glanced to my right, expecting to find the sleeping form of Lucius beside me, but instead finding nothing but a crumpled blanket.

Sitting up, I rubbed at my eyes and attempted to blink away the last hazy remnants of slumber. “Lucius?” I called out, but was met with nothing but an uneasy silence.

With a frown, I struggled to my feet and wandered out into the hallway, tuning into the sounds that the Chapel had to offer. Sometimes I would hear the sound of Josiah’s record player – he had a stack of Motown vinyl that he loved to listen to when he was in a good mood –or even the noise of the tap running in the bathroom or kitchenette. Sometimes it was just Josiah moving about, dancing around the punch bag suspended from the ceiling in his bedroom, his large fists smacking at the leather with powerful punches. But tonight, I heard none of those things. The Chapel seemed ominously quiet and I couldn’t prevent the hair from rising on my neck, nor the goose bumps from bubbling over my flesh.

“Lucius?” I called again, turning in the direction of the old Chapel room and pushing through the double doors.

The room was empty, save for the constantly flickering candles that cast cruel shadows over the walls.

“Fuck,” I hissed and spun on my heels, crashing back through the doors. Breaking into a run, I checked the bathroom, kitchenette, and Josiah’s room yet there was still no sign of Lucius. My stomach churned in panic at the thought I had lost him once again, but I knew that if he was gone, this time there was only one person who would be responsible: Josiah.

Maybe this was another one of his fucked-up games? Had he returned when I had been asleep and taken the boy to teach me one of his all-important lessons according to Josiah Hope? Or maybe he had betrayed me, like the seers always betrayed people? Visions of him delivering Lucius to the seers’ old taskmasters tortured my mind and the thought of that almost sent me into freefall. “No,” I moaned, clutching at my hair. “No, no, please not that.”

It was then that I heard it.

It was the smallest of sounds. A footstep maybe. And it was coming from a part of the Chapel that I was not familiar with. A part where Josiah had forbade us to go.

Following the sound, I walked up the hallway, passing the main door to the building and continuing until I reached the end, where the corridor took an abrupt left. There were no candles here and my eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, picking out piles of debris blocking the path and beyond them, at the far end of the corridor, stood Lucius almost fully-shrouded in the gloom.

“Lucius?”

The boy didn’t move, in fact, I wasn’t sure if he had even heard me at all. Instead, he remained as stone, looking up at something and seemingly oblivious to my presence.

Stepping carefully over the debris which appeared to be a mix of broken furniture, old rotting boxes and broken brick, I cautiously approached Lucius, taking furtive glances behind me, worried that Josiah might return any minute and find us in one of the forbidden sections of the building. I had no idea what he would do if he did find us here, but I certainly had no desire to find out.

As I neared the boy, I realised that this was the corridor that led to the church tower and that Lucius was now standing at the bottom of the tower stairwell, looking up into the darkness, his eyes transfixed on something that I couldn’t see.

“Lucius,” I hissed, drawing closer. “You shouldn’t be down here. You know what Josiah said. It’s out of bounds.”

When he didn’t answer, I followed his gaze, peering up into the shadows, but saw nothing other than just more rubbish littering the staircase. There was a pathway through, but I didn’t put much faith in the steps holding out. Josiah had told us how this part of the building had received a pounding from the air raid bombs back in the war and it had suffered a lot of structural damage, hence why it had become a no-go area. That was fine with me. I had no plans to go investigating. I wanted out, not a one-way ticket plummeting through hazardous floorboards.

“What can you see?” I asked, puzzled, straining my eyes in an attempt to penetrate further into the gloom.

The shadows did not move. Everything was still. There was nothing there. Nothing. And yet, as I stood there, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was something. Maybe something beyond my vision. Something only Lucius could see.

“Lucius, is something up there?”

”Yes,” he replied simply.

I didn’t want to know. But I had to ask. I had to.

“What is it? What’s up there?” I reached out a hand and gently touched his shoulder.

He looked at me then and I saw him, not the boy he appeared to be, but the other one; the one who sent fear spiking into my heart, the one whose touch could conjure a thousand nightmares. The boy who was not boy at all, but something else, something other.

“Death,” he said. “Death.”