Vampire Hollows (8 page)

“Then war it is, Kiera Hudson,” he said matter-of-factly.

“There has to be another way,” I whispered.

Ignoring me, Coanda stood as if readying himself, and looking down at me he said, “We leave tonight for the Dust Palace, the Elders are expecting you. But first we have to go to the Light House.”

“The Light House?” I asked him. “Why would you need a light house? We must be hundreds of miles below ground.”

“Believe me, Kiera, below ground gets very dark,” he smiled, his eyes shining bright. “The Light House is at the very core of The Hollows. We’ve received word from our spies in the Dolce region that Munn’s agents have captured the Light House.”

“What’s so special about this light house?” I asked confused.

“It is like a beacon,” Coanda explained. “It shines its light throughout The Hollows. It turns at the same speed as Earth and its light creates our nights and our days, just like the Earth spins around your Sun. As the Light House turns, the regions of The Hollows that are caught in its light celebrate day and those caught in its shadow celebrate the night.”

“So why has Munn’s armies taken it over?” I asked, somewhat in awe of what Coanda had just told me.

“They are going to use it to coordinate their attack above ground,” Coanda said, with a grim look. “Through its waves of light, they are going to give the orders to attack. They will use echo waves…”

“Is that similar to echolocation?” I asked him, trying to get my head around what he was telling me.

“Similar,” he said. “One of the greatest senses we Vampyrus have is that of hearing. It doesn’t work like human hearing – we hear in vibrations and waves, like echoes. Munn is therefore going to send messages out in the pulses of light that come from the Light House. In that way, he can have complete control over his armies that are spread around the world, just waiting to attack. But there is one who has the heightened sense of hearing – hearing like no other Vampyrus.”

Knowing immediately who he was talking about, I said, “Kayla?”

“That’s right,” Coanda said. “We want to take her to the Light House and listen to the waves that are being sent out. We can’t get close enough ourselves as the very vibrations of our movements will be detected and the alarm will be raised that we are close. But with Kayla, we could be some miles away and we are hoping she will be able to listen into the messages, those instructions and orders that are being beamed out to Munn’s armies.”

“Will it be dangerous for her?” I asked him, hoping for a straight answer.

“We will be with her,” Coanda assured me. “Once we know their final plans, we will make our way to the Dust Palace and if you still refuse to make your choice and we do end up at war, then at least we will know their plan of attack and have an early advantage against Munn.”

“But I can’t ask her to put herself in danger,” I told him firmly. “Kayla has been through too much already.”

“Then make your
choice,
Kiera Hudson,” he snapped at me. “And this can end – there will no more war!”

“And what if I chose the Vampyrus to die?” I barked back. “That means you die!”

Shrugging his shoulders, he looked straight into my eyes and said, “Either way, I’m dead. You don’t think this is a war we can win, do you?”

Looking away, I said, “There has to be another way.”

Sighing, Coanda went to the wooden door which led from the cave, and looking back at me he said, “There are some fresh clothes for you behind that curtain. Get yourself changed; we’re heading for the Light House.

Standing, I went over to the curtain, but before I’d had the chance to pull it back, Coanda said, “Kiera, keep the reason we are going there to yourself. Don’t tell anyone.”

“No, I don’t,” Coanda said. “But if this spy finds out why we are going to the Light House, they might not want her to make it and you will undoubtedly be putting her life in great danger.” Then, before I could say anything back, he swung open the wooden door and was gone, closing it behind him.

Chapter Eleven

Behind the curtain, I found a large bowl of water, a rough-looking sponge and a neat pile of clothes that had been placed on a chair along with a towel.

Kicking off my boots and removing my clothes, I dipped the sponge into the water and washed the grime and dirt from me. The fall through the drop shaft had left me covered in black soot and dust. The water was lukewarm, but it was better than nothing. The sponge wasn’t like a sponge at all really – not like the ones I had in my bathroom back home in Havensfield. This was harder, coarse, and was more like some kind of wild plant. It had a mint smell that was at least refreshing.

I toweled myself dry and put on the clothes that had been left for me. I looked down at myself in the black overalls, which looked like I was just about to take part in some kind of guerrilla warfare. In a way, I guess that was what I was about to do. There was a belt and I tied it around my waist. Rummaging through my old coat pockets, I found my iPod and Murphy’s crucifix. I put the iPod into one of the many pockets that covered my combat-style overalls and hung the crucifix around my neck.

For luck!
I thought to myself.

Stepping from the other side of the curtain and back into the small cave, my head rocked back as a bright light went off in my mind like a firecracker. In that brief explosion of light, I saw myself laid down somewhere, dressed exactly as I was now. But there was a voice and it was as if it was coming from way off.

“
I will now carry out an examination of the teeth, starting with the upper left side,”
the voice said
. “Eight present. Seven present. Six missing. Five missing. Four present…Wait a minute! The deceased has fangs!”

Then the voice was gone and so was the bright light.

Leaning forward, I reached for the door to the cave to steady myself, as fragments of a dream scattered themselves across the front of my mind. But deep inside, a cold chill ran through me. In that dream, I knew that I was dead.

Shaking my head to clear those thoughts and fears, I pushed open the door and any thought of dying faded in an instance as I got my first proper look at The Hollows.

I don’t even know how to start describing it. I sucked in a breath, dazzled by the sheer radiance of the world that the doorway from the cave had opened into. The ground was covered in a thick carpet of what I can only describe as a lime green moss. It was soft and spongy, like walking on a deep-pilled carpet. There were trees, thousands of them. They looked as if they had been planted in the ground upside down. Their trunks were the colour of burnt embers and they stretched upwards like frail arms. Vines hung from them, and were coloured red, yellow, orange, and so many more. It was like being in New England during the autumn, only the colours were way more intense, almost blinding. I looked up and there seemed to be no end. It was like staring up into the reaches of the highest cathedral. Giant granite rocks spiraled heavenward. They almost seemed to entwine with each other, forming pillars that supported the world I now found myself in.

The sky, if that’s what it was called, seemed to twinkle with life, with the brightest stars on the darkest of nights. I stared up at them and realised that they were not stars at all but the pointed tips of stalagmites that hung down from above. There were millions of them. My description is in adequate, but there are no words I know of which could describe the sheer wonder and beauty of The Hollows. But there was a feeling too; the whole place felt as if it was charged with electricity in some way. It tingled – it was alive – if that makes sense.

I could remember Potter telling me as we had lain in each other’s arms in the caves beneath the Fountain of Souls, how beautiful The Hollows were; but ‘beautiful’ seemed like such an insufficient word. I doubted there was a word that could describe The Hollows.

Why would anyone want to leave this place, I wondered. Why would the Vampyrus want to poke their head above ground for the briefest of seconds when they lived in such wonder? But more importantly, how could I ever make the decision to destroy it?

In the distance there was a large open area of that lime green moss and it was covered for as far as I could see with tall structures made of red rock. There were rows upon rows of them, and caves had been carved in each one. They were the strangest looking apartment blocks I had ever seen. Male and female Vampyrus soared between them, and they looked preoccupied and even sad as if they were all deeply troubled. How could such looks of sadness be possible? But as I watched them, I guessed that these were members of the resistance that Coanda had gathered and they were preparing to defend themselves against Munn. So, however beautiful their world was, a great shadow had been cast over it for them.

Some of them swooped up into the sky and spread their wings. They flew in formation as if practicing and practicing for the hour they would have to take to the skies and defend their lives, their homes, their Hollows. I watched breathless as they soared up amongst the stalagmites, then come sweeping down again. Their wings reflected the light from the stalagmites’ tips and they shimmered. They looked like angels – no gods – and that’s what they were. And in my heart, I suddenly realised Elias Munn’s desire to be above ground. These creatures were too beautiful, glorious, and wonderful to be hidden.

But weren’t humans just as beautiful in their own way? Weren’t they angels too? Sure, they couldn’t fly, but they were just as magical in their own right. Didn’t humans have an overwhelming desire to strive onwards, to better themselves? Weren’t they also capable of creating great works of beauty, art, music, writing, and so much more? Didn’t humans have a wonderful capacity for kindness, to love and find great joy in the world around them? Couldn’t the Earth look beautiful too? There was good and bad in every race, and with tears spilling onto my cheeks, I was dreading the hour when I was going to be asked to make a choice between the two of them.

Chapter Twelve

“Why are you crying?” someone asked, and I looked round to see Luke coming towards me. We were dressed identically, in black overalls and boots. His dark hair was swept back from his brow, and his green eyes shone as brightly as the moss beneath my feet. Thankfully, he had shaved his tatty beard off and he looked so much better.

Wiping the tears from my face with the backs of my hands, I said, “It’s just that this place is so beautiful, why would anyone want to bring war here?”

“I guess not everyone sees it with your eyes, Kiera,” he said, gently wrapping his arm about my shoulder and pulling me close.

“They see it differently then?” I asked him.

“They just don’t see its beauty anymore,” he said softly.

“That’s so sad,” I whispered.

“Do the humans still see their world as beautiful?” he asked me. “Do they not take their world for granted? Aren’t they destroying it day by day, hour by hour? Maybe that is both the Vampyrus’ and the humans’ failure.”

“What is?” I asked, looking at him.

“That both species are flawed,” he said. “We both destroy ourselves.”

“I can’t accept that,” I told him. “There is good in people – both human and Vampyrus.”

“Is there any good in this Elias Munn?” he asked me. “Aren’t we on the brink of war because of that man?”

“If there is good in him, I will
see
it,” I said.

“And how will you
see
it?” Luke asked his eyes wide as if not quite believing what I was saying.

“Because he could’ve killed me already and he hasn’t,” I told him.

“So why hasn’t he?”

“Because he’s in love with me,” I said thoughtfully.

“In love with you?” Luke asked, sounding shocked. “How can he be in love with you? He doesn’t even know you.”

“I think he does,” I said, staring back at him.

“Who is he then?” Luke said, sounding almost angry. “Tell me who Elias Munn is and I’ll rip his heart out right now!”

“You can’t take his heart, Luke,” I said.

“Why not?” and I could sense the frustration in his voice.

“Because if he does love me, then there is good in him,” I said. “No one can truly love another if their heart is solely full of hate.”

“Don’t tell me you are seriously going to try and reason with this guy?” Luke snapped.

“What choice do I have?” I asked, looking into his eyes. “There is no way I will choose between the Vampyrus and the humans. If this Elias Munn has love in his heart, then he can be saved and there will be no need for war, no need for him to -”

“Kiera!” Luke barked. “You can’t be serious? Firstly, you have to love this guy too, that’s how love works – true love.”

“And what’s the second reason?” I pushed him.

Breaking my stare and looking away, Luke said softly, “The second reason is that I love you, Kiera.”

“Please, Luke…” I started.

Then turning to look at me again, Luke said, “Why can’t you say it, Kiera?”

“Say what?”

“That you love me,” he replied, his eyes losing their glow.

I looked away.

“Is there someone else?” he pushed.

I couldn’t answer him.

“My God, you’re saving yourself for this Elias Munn, aren’t you?” Luke gasped. “You think that you can stop all of this and lift the burden you carry by giving yourself to him. But you have to love him back, Kiera and if you do, you’ll give him the power to make the decision for you!” Then taking my hand, he looked into my eyes and said, “Kiera, let’s run from this place together. We’ll hide, have a life together. Let them have their war – it doesn’t have to affect us. We could be happy together. You might not love me right now, but I know you have feelings for me, I’ve felt them. How can you possibly know your true feelings? You’ve been through so much. But away from here, from all of this, your feelings might become clearer. Please, Kiera, let’s run away together and get as far from here as possible.”