Eternal Dawn by Rebecca Maizel

  ‘You need to see your RA, and then the administration in the morning. The cops might want to speak to you too. I don’t know if you heard, but the school is closing until next fall.’

  ‘When?’ Rhode asked.

  ‘Two days. What with the missing students and what happened in assembly yesterday, the board and the town think . . . well, your RA will explain everything,’ the guard said.

  He stepped into the booth again. I had no interest in seeing Tina, our resident advisor, and neither did Rhode. We needed to get the Vereselum to Cassius, and now. We said goodbye to the guard and walked up the pathway. As previously arranged with Cassius, we went directly to the chapel.

  At night it was easier to avoid the last trickle of students walking to and from the union. Only the salad bar and sandwich stand seemed to be open. We were able to slip into the chapel unseen.

  Cheers exploded around us as Rhode and I stepped into the building. As we walked towards the altar at the front of the room Tony attacked me with a giant hug.

  ‘See? I knew you could do it,’ he said.

  He affectionately tackled Rhode, nearly bringing him to the ground.

  ‘Man, it’s good to see you.’

  Cassius stood against the wall beneath a stained-glass window with Esteban and Micah. He met my eyes and I walked the rest of the long aisle to the front of the room. He held out his hand to shake, but I pulled him to me and we embraced.

  The ring is destroyed, I said in my mind. And when it cracked in two, breaking apart the magic, Justin turned human. Just for a moment.

  I’m sorry, Micah and Cassius said in unison.

  He turned to dust when the sun hit his body though. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s because his very substance was riddled with too much borrowed magic.

  ‘You did what you had to do,’ Cassius said aloud. ‘What we knew you could.’

  Cassius pulled away and nodded to the corner of the room, where Tracy stood. I gasped. Esteban stood by her side like a guard. Tracy stepped out of the shadowed corner and held me. The chill from her cold body enveloped me as we embraced.

  ‘When did it happen?’ I whispered.

  ‘Right after the attack in the auditorium.’

  We pulled apart. It was easy to forget even after all this time the danger of those hardened eyes. She could see all my human imperfections. Her blonde hair shone and seemed more full than ever as it fell over her shoulders.

  ‘Stop that,’ she said. Her gaze fell to the floor.

  ‘What?’

  She allowed her fangs to come down. ‘You, above everyone else. Don’t admire me.’

  ‘What you said about the vampire pain – it’s guilt I feel most. And regret. I keep focusing on every crappy thing I’ve ever done.’

  Tracy didn’t ask me about Justin.

  I turned back to the table where we’d laid out our plans for the attack on Justin’s house. I reached into the satchel and unearthed the antidote. The glass vial made a little click against the wood when I put it down. Cassius, Micah and Esteban backed closer to the wall. Tracy bit at her lip and leaned into Tony’s arm. He continued to wrap his arm around her and gripped her shoulder tightly.

  Rhode didn’t edge away, though he kept his hands in his pockets. The moonlight trickled down through the window and on to the little bottle. The antidote was red, and the starry light made it glimmer.

  ‘First,’ I said, moving to stand next to Rhode, ‘we didn’t see any vampires on campus this evening.’

  ‘They negotiated with me,’ Tracy said, shaking her hair back. ‘After what they did in the auditorium earlier, they agreed to stay off campus until sunset tomorrow.’

  ‘How can they be trusted? How did you get them to agree? Just guilt won’t work.’

  Tony reached into his pocket and took out the box that Fire had given me, the one that had held the weapons. He opened it – the ring that represented air was gone.

  ‘Let’s just say they thought we might have more,’ Tracy said.

  ‘Well, let’s get a move on then,’ I said. ‘Cassius, take this.’

  I handed over the book, and Cassius immediately sat down and flipped it open.

  After an hour, the Dems, Tracy, Rhode and I were sitting on the floor, while Cassius continued to work. We needed to hear if Laertes’s book explained how to make more of the antidote once we finished the initial batch. We would also have to find a way to distribute it to every vampire who would need it!

  While we waited, I told them what had happened in the Hollow Ones’ house, the battle with Justin, and his death.

  ‘So he didn’t show any remorse?’ Tracy asked. The muscles in her face were stiff, her expression tense like a porcelain doll’s.

  ‘None,’ I said. ‘He wanted to inflict pain until his last breaths.’

  Cassius got up from reading the book and stepped to the end of the table. We all stood up.

  ‘This book is going to take months to decipher,’ he said. Rhode got up to stand at the other end of the table. ‘But I’ve read and reread the section on this antidote five times,’ Cassius went on. ‘I think I understand its construction.’

  ‘So what the hell is it?’ Tony asked.

  ‘This is the antidote. It contains traces of Lenah’s blood. It’s the original source of what changed us. But it’s a combination of many things. When we transformed, Rayken or Levi, one of them, mixed Lenah’s blood with ours.’

  ‘Ours?’ Micah said in awe.

  ‘It can’t work without Demelucrea blood,’ Cassius said. ‘But there’s not nearly enough here,’ he added, echoing my thoughts. ‘If we want to recreate it, one of us will have to distribute it. It’s the only way, because it requires Demelucrea blood to be successful. We have both our blood and Lenah’s running through our veins.’

  ‘We’re part of the antidote?’ Esteban whispered.

  Pride mixed with diffidence emanated from the Demelucrea, and I couldn’t blame them. I had been embarrassed to feel that pride too.

  ‘How do we know it’s not a trick?’ Rhode asked. ‘That the real book isn’t hidden away in that house somewhere?’

  Tracy and Tony stood up and leaned against the wall, Tony with his arms crossed. Tracy rested her head on his shoulder. Micah had stood up and held a hand to his mouth. He kept shifting his weight from leg to leg.

  Cassius bent over the book. Pressed herbs and flowers were attached to pages. He turned one particular page: scribbles in Laertes’s handwriting trickled down the page next to a sketch of my face.

  ‘It makes no sense to have fake information or to spend so much time making a fake book of this calibre. It’s a risk either way, Rhode.’

  Cassius nodded to the vial, gesturing for Rhode to step forward and drink.

  Rhode reached for the bottle, but stopped just before his fingers touched it. He squeezed his hand into a fist. ‘You can recreate it?’ he checked with Cassius. ‘You’re sure?’

  ‘Once you drink, I’ll take a sample of your blood and, if this book is right and I’ve understood it properly, that’s all I’ll need.’

  ‘But the blood . . .’ Tony said. ‘You were talking about yourself, weren’t you? You’re going to have to bleed into it to distribute it too.’

  ‘It’s always blood,’ I muttered. I wanted nothing more than to leave this horrendous world of bloodlust behind.

  ‘And the last person you turn?’ Rhode asked.

  ‘Will be the last vampire I can find,’ Cassius said.

  ‘This is a big world,’ Tony said.

  ‘And I’ve got all the time I need,’ Cassius replied.

  I didn’t know how to show appreciation to Cassius. Saying thank you seemed so feeble, given the extent of his loyalty and determination. What he had said that night at the fear ritual came to mind. He feared he would die without honour. Eradicating vampirism would be his journey to earn that honour.

  Rhode lifted the bottle and, just as he did, the moonlight hit the magenta contents of the liquid.
<
br />   Our gaze locked. We had no choice; we had to take the risk.

  ‘Everyone leave the room,’ Cassius said. ‘Even you, Lenah. He needs to put all of his focus and intentions into this. You could distract him. I will stay here.’

  I followed the others to the door but kept my eyes locked on Rhode. The moon shifted behind the clouds and the room fell into darkness again. The only glow came from Cassius’s silver eyes. Rhode removed the lid and lifted the vial to his mouth. His eyes met mine again over the bottle.

  Just as the door was about to close, he said, ‘To you, my love.’

  He tipped his head back, draining the contents.

  CHAPTER 24

  Tracy led me outside. I would not have left the chapel otherwise.

  ‘Come with me,’ she said in a newfound stately and calm tone.

  We walked towards Hopper building. In her vampire state she walked with less bounce than she had as a mortal teenager. The vampire sight allowed for more grace, as the eye could see infinitesimal movements. I missed her old walk.

  ‘Look,’ she said, and pointed to the woods.

  Shadows of bodies waited under trees. Others, I noticed when I squinted into the distance, sat along the wall. Vampires. It was as I had seen them the night before the auditorium attack. They came in droves. According to Micah, messages had been sent around the world about the antidote. On my hands were the lives of Justin, Kate and Jackie. Liliana and Henri too. Maybe we could set free all vampires and the deaths of my friends and acquaintances would not be in vain.

  ‘When they made me – you know what I thought about?’ Tracy asked.

  ‘The darkness? Your heartbeat?’

  ‘That I had no compassion for Justin as a vampire.’ Her crystalline eyes stared at me under that bright moonlight. ‘I wasn’t even afraid of what they were doing to me. I just wanted to be human again. So I could live my whole life, from start to finish. So I could make sure I appreciated all of it.’

  I paused, ‘A hundred cute half-Asian babies?’ I offered with a laugh. She laughed too and it was a gift to see. ‘This will work,’ I said.

  Tracy’s eyes focused on the woods again.

  ‘They’re watching us,’ she said. ‘If anyone comes near you, Lenah, I’ll kill them.’

  My, what a powerful vampire she made.

  ‘I thought you might hate me,’ I said.

  She shook her head, tearing her eyes away from the vampires in the distance.

  ‘Never.’ We shared a simple smile.

  ‘I’m going to go tell them we’re working on the antidote right now,’ she said. ‘I’ll be OK.’ She must have sensed my hesitation, but I hadn’t even had time to register the feeling. ‘And so will you. You’re protected, I promise.’

  Tracy pointed at the beach. Tony was sitting on the wall facing the ocean. ‘I think he’s waiting for you.’

  Tracy leaped across the main path and slipped into the Wickham woods. She eased into the shadows, knowing as all vampires do exactly how to disappear into the night.

  I was eager to join Tony, and despite Tracy’s promise, I was confused why anyone would leave him sitting out here so exposed. I walked swiftly towards the beach.

  The school would reopen in a few months, but things would change; the world would change. And I would require the vampires who were healed to adhere to one important rule: while vampires waited to be turned, Wickham Boarding School and Lovers Bay were never to be touched. The school must be protected. Forever.

  Tony sat on the stone ledge looking out at the calm bay.

  The way the moonlight sprinkled over the water and the boats bobbed on their moorings would always endear Lovers Bay to me. I was never supposed to be here. I was meant to live with my family in the 1400s. Any other time in which I participated was not mine to have.

  I walked to the steps and stood by the wall where Tony sat. Even though he wouldn’t remember our first conversation, it thrilled me to ask him now the same thing as I’d asked him then.

  ‘Can I sit with you?’

  ‘Hey there, Road Buddy,’ he said, scooting over. ‘My brain is on a loop. It keeps saying –’ he put on a robotic voice – ‘I really hope that antidote works and that we can make enough for everyone. I really hope the antidote works, I really hope . . . You get the point.’

  ‘We’ll know soon enough,’ I said gently with a small laugh. I could not worry any more. Those days were over. This was the last hope I had left.

  ‘It’s gonna be a long night,’ Tony said with a sigh. He leaned back on his hands.

  ‘Maybe.’

  The moon’s light rippled over the water and reflected in Tony’s eyes.

  He turned to me, excited to tell a story. ‘So I totally used the last ring to take out a whole gang that was holding Tracy. Fire’s last weapon. Lenah, you should have seen me. I threw the ring and it tossed them up in the air like a . . . well, like a huge cyclone. We didn’t even see where they went, it was so powerful. We grabbed Tracy, but she didn’t run. She stood her ground and screamed at the ones who hadn’t been swept off.’ Tony slid off the ledge and re-enacted Tracy’s standoff.

  ‘You want this antidote?’ He even raised his voice so it was girlie. His laughter broke through. He quickly put on a stern face again. ‘You stay away from us. Anyone who comes near and hurts a single person left on this campus will not get the antidote. We’ll just stab you through the heart.’

  He hopped back on to the sea wall and spoke in his normal voice.

  ‘They listened to her though. Hundreds of them are out there, but no one’s stepped on campus.’

  ‘She told me,’ I said. ‘But she didn’t give me that rousing rendition.’

  He lifted his chin. ‘It’s me. They’re totally afraid of me.’

  ‘I bet they are.’

  His mock hubris dissipated when he pointed at my neck.

  ‘You have some bruises.’

  I reached up to the tender spots on my neck. So much of my body still ached.

  ‘It’s where Justin tried to strangle me.’

  Tony’s eyes lingered on the bruises. ‘You had to do what you had to do . . .’ he said soberly.

  ‘There was no way,’ I said. ‘I wanted to save him even after I understood what he’d become. And deep down, even at the very end too,’ I finished quietly.

  ‘I know,’ Tony said. ‘You had no choice.’ He hesitated and after a moment said, ‘I think I want to tell his mom – you know, the truth.’

  ‘She’ll never believe you.’

  ‘She will if I bring Cassius.’

  ‘Justin did, in some way, have a hand in getting the antidote to us,’ I said. ‘You could tell her that. That’ll make her happy. The Hollow Ones didn’t know Justin would keep it.’

  Tony raised his eyebrows. ‘Yeah . . . so he did help. That’s really important. Even if it’s completely messed up.’

  ‘You can change the story. For her.’

  He seemed to sit up straighter at this thought, but he hunched a little, deflating. ‘There’s something else,’ he added.

  ‘What?’

  He squinted at the ocean, as if he was concentrating hard on his choice of words. ‘I remembered something. After the fight in the auditorium we went back to our dorm, and when I walked into my bedroom. I remembered you. From before.’

  ‘You did? What?’

  ‘You tried to warn me about your coven, didn’t you? In the other life. You told me not to meddle, but I did anyway.’

  ‘I didn’t want to tell you,’ I said.

  ‘I dreamed it. A million times. I just never knew it was you until I remembered the dream and then put everything together.’

  I put a hand on his knee and Tony looked over at me.

  ‘I should have listened to you,’ he said. ‘If I didn’t stick my nose where—’

  ‘I thought sheltering you from the truth would save you. But it sealed your fate, because you wanted to know the answers so badly. I didn’t do that this time. See? Smart
moves. Without you, we would have failed.’

  ‘It’s true. I am awesome. Like Superman. Without the tights.’

  ‘Who’s Superman?’

  Tony threw his head back and laughed to the stars. I loved how his shoulders bounced when he laughed really deep.

  ‘I love you, you know that, right?’ I said.

  He fell silent instantly, and even in the moonlight, I could see that he blushed.

  ‘No one’s ever said that to me before who wasn’t, like, required to,’ he said.

  I pulled Tony to me and held him tight. I inhaled his familiar scent mixed with the salty air of Lovers Bay. I had wanted to thank him for the phone call before I went into the Hollow Ones’ house. I didn’t need to, because he was my best friend. The only best friend, besides Rhode, that I’d ever had. I didn’t know if I would ever have any others. This young man would grow up to be someone truly great. I could be sure of that.

  ‘You did good,’ he said, pulling out of my hug. ‘Really great. You’re going to change the world. How many people can say that?’

  ‘I didn’t do it on my own,’ I said.

  Tony’s arms fell away.

  ‘Lenah,’ he whispered. He was peering out at something over my shoulder.

  I twisted to follow his eye line. Was it Rhode? Yes, he walked down the beach and the moon made a halo over his head and shoulders.

  Had it worked? I couldn’t yet tell.

  ‘Go to him . . .’ Tony said.

  ‘What if—’

  ‘Go.’

  I stood slowly. My legs were unsure how to walk. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. I wanted to ignore it, but my heart slammed in my chest. Rhode kept a hand in his pocket. He had a small wrinkle on the left side of his mouth. That smile was very specific.

  Very Rhode.

  Rhode, who had fought battles with Richard III.

  This could only mean one thing.

  I pumped my arms like I was back in the lavender field.

  ‘Rhode!’

  He ran to me and this beach was a lavender field, my parents’ orchard the first time we met, it was Wickham farm, an opera house, and all the many paths we’d walked together. Closer and closer. Almost there now.