An Immortal in London: Corruption (11 page)

I looked back into the black sky of
1825
.

“Victoria, where are you going?”

              I refused to turn and look at her. “Francis, I have to go back.”

             
She put her hand onto my sodden shoulder and wiped the rain drops from my cheek. “We’re immortal now Victoria, today will become tomorrow faster than you will ever be able to run. Do you think that it will really help Sedric if you go back now?”

             
“I love him Francis, I love him.”

             
She pulled me to face her. “Sedric won’t live forever. We will Victoria! I, you and Oliver are free to do whatever we want!”

             
“But…”

             
“Are you with us?”

             
I shook my head and continued to walk back to the village. The rain was relentless and so was Francis as she followed me through the night to the village church.

In the present day I knelt down in front of a worn gravestone; time had not stolen his identity. His name was engraved deep into the stone, untouchable.

“Hi dad,” I whispered softly. The sound of the rain washed out my voice and only amplified my tears, as I ran my hands along the engraving of his name. “I need your help. I don’t know what to do.”

I stood and sent a silent prayer to the rest of my family. It would be a long walk back to George’s house and I knew that if I had to face any of them I would do or say something that I would live to regret. I walked to a nearby bed and breakfast, quaint and sorrowful.

“Oh my dear, what has happened to you? Come in, come on in,” the elderly lady said as she ushered me into her business and home. “Go take a seat in the dining room, I’ll fetch you a towel and a hot cup of tea.”

“Thank you,” I said in a whisper. I looked at the time and when I looked out at the dark treacherous sky I let out a fatigued breath.

My phone forced the modern day onto me and I answered it reluctantly.

Levi’s voice was filled with worry. “Clarence has told me what you did, are you ok?”

I walked to the window and sat down. “I’m fine; I just needed some time to myself. Whilst I have you, could you check in on Gabriel, there’s something wrong with him. He’s really sick.”

“I’ll head over now. Come home soon.”

“I’ll try to make it quick,” I said, as the lady walked back into the dining room. “I’ve got to go, I’ll see you later.”

The lady had a curious look on her face, as if an invisible gun was being held to her head as she walked over to me. She handed me the pile of towels and between them was a note. She met my eyes
before she turned away from me, making sure that I saw the note, and left the room closing the door behind her.

‘She’s going to kill you, run.’ The writing was scribbled and rough, but I could just make it out.

I looked up at the closed door and thought for just one second about going out to see who it was that wanted me dead. Perhaps it was Francis. As my hand hovered over the door handle my phone buzzed in my pocket and reality slapped me cold and hard.

I ran to the window and hoisted it open as wide as I could get it and scrambled out. I slipped and fell into the snow. The coins from my purse were sent gliding along the ice and mud path that had accumulated in front of the building. Voices met my ears and I didn’t spend a second longer on the ground.

“The old gal tipped her off,” one masculine voice shouted deep and husky, for a second I had a tear drop of fear for the old woman, but it soon evaporated as I scrambled up, my own survival instincts rushing to the forefront of my mind.

“Footsteps, she can’t be far.” It was a woman’s voice, but it wasn’t Francis, this girl was young and from the south.

I stood with my back to the wall at the back of the building and waited. No other voices called out, only the man and woman could I hear bickering. My breathing was calm, and I listened for their final steps around the corner.

He was far bigger than I had anticipated and with one swipe of his tree trunk arms I was down looking up into the cruel black eyes of the young woman.

“This was easier than I thought,” she said laughing. Her laugh didn’t last long as I kicked up and winded her. She stumbled back which distracted the male giving me enough time to pull myself back up and steady my feet.

For a second they both looked at me as if they were confused as to why I wasn’t running. Not wanting to disappoint I did run, but not in the general direction in which they assumed. I ran towards them and thrust my arm out to hit her chest but the male pushed her out of the way and grabbed me with all of his force. With one slight movement he broke my arm.

I stumbled back into the arms of the woman who prepared her hand above my heart. I kicked myself off of her and span around. My aim with my right arm was awful, but it was all that I had to work with. I plunged my hand into her chest and her heart stopped dead. The man roared with grief and anger and he threw his entire weight onto me.

Both his right arm and mine were poised to strike and as he fell onto me my hand touched his heart and his touched mine.

In my mind I stumbled into the darkness and the light flickered from my view. I had always expected death to be somewhat more pleasant than what I was experiencing. Pain overwhelmed me to the point at which I no longer felt anything. My memories blurred into one treacherous tsunami that threatened to wash away all that I had ever known.

One face did stay with me whilst I drifted. It was a young woman, she was around my age but she was quite a bit shorter than me. I could feel something warm in my heart, something that perhaps might have been love for the woman. There was a name somewhere in the black abyss that was my mind. She was crying and her eyes were light like mine, but there was a shadow hovering above her like those on others who I had seen before others who weren’t alive, others who were of the dead.

A light somewhere switched on and Bernadette Francis smiled. She wiped her tears with her short slim fingers and as her eyes opened they were so close to black that I could have sworn she wasn’t one of the living at all. Her shadow had grown and was reaching out to me. She wanted me to find her. I could hear her silent cries for help. Was it a trick? Did she really want my help or did she want to destroy me along with everything else? She couldn’t hear me calling to her, my voice did not sound in the darkness.

Images, scenes, places, times, days and words all came back to me. Each cruel pool of darkness that threw itself at me screamed, “The darkness will prevail!”

As my hands rose into the air thick black blood ran down my arms and soaked into my ghostly white gown. Francis be
gan to scream somewhere in the distance, I couldn’t see her amongst the shadows no matter how hard I tried.

Beneath the blood on my left hand I could see a slim white line, the only light within my mind. Hunter. Something told me that my scar meant that I was a hunter. As the cruel pools of blood continued
to drown me in their darkness and the pain of the thick coppery liquid filling my lungs struck me I realised that to feel so much pain I had be alive.

I was alive.

I could feel my chest rise and fall. I could feel the warm silk beneath my fingers. I could feel the burning tears of another on my hand, and then I could feel the softness of their cheek and their trembling lips. I could feel my smile shake softly onto my lips. And then I opened my eyes.

I looked down at the body that was hunched over me and pushed under their chin to force them to look up at me. His pale green eyes were filled with relief and my smile grew, his shadows had
completely dissipated. He stood and walked to the head of the bed and held my face in his hands. I closed my eyes and he kissed me softly once, and then again with force of one who had thought that they would never kiss their true love ever again.

“What are you doing here?”

“I had to see you.”

“What if Levi…”

He put a pale finger to my lips and looked across to the door.

The door opened. I turned my eyes filled with panic to Victor, but he had vanished just as suddenly as he had appeared. I worried that I had imagined his presence, that it had been a hysterical hallucination.

Levi’s eyes lit up with relief as he saw me awake. “How are you feeling?”

I pushed myself to sit up. I felt Victor tense beneath the bed as I gasped in pain. Levi took me gently in his arms and helped me to sit
up; his hands lingered on my skin for a second before I asked, “How did you find me?”

Levi
didn’t answer my question, but sniffed into the air surrounding my bed. “Can you feel that?”

I looked around and shook my head. “Feel what?”

He walked to the window and pulled at the handle, seemingly satisfied that it was secure he walked back to me and shook his head. “Roberta must have been up to you again.”

“Roberta has been here?”

“I called to ask her about Gabriel, but she said that she had only agreed to help you. When we found you the next day she was here waiting.”

Levi smiled down to me and graced my cheek with his cold fingers. I caught his hand in mine and frowned. “You have killed today?” I asked.

He took his hand back and thrust them both into his pockets.

He picked up the stale glass of water that sat on my bedside and left the room.

Victor crept out from under my bed with his hair ruffled by the sheets. I couldn’t help my smile, but soon sobered as he stood and his shadows slithered out from under the bed with him.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Neither should you.”

“It’s safe here.”

I rested my hand onto my chest and froze as he placed his hand over mine.

“Who is the real monster Victoria?”

I closed my eyes as I clasped onto his hand. “He is doing it for the balance.”

“What are you really doing it for?”

I met his sharp eyes and shook my head. “I want you to leave.”

“
I… I’m glad you’re okay.” He walked to the window and stood looking out as he spoke. “I know that it is him and not you, you feel like you owe them both something which is why you are helping him seek his revenge for poor Katelyn. I remember her fondly; we crossed paths a few times. She was a lot like you, but you have… something more. You owe them nothing Victoria. You have saved him more times than he has you, trust me I was there. I won’t give up on you.” He took off his jacket and turned to face me. I looked upon his scar and lifted my left arm out from under the duvet covers and bowed my head. “We are two sides of the same coin Victoria.” With that he opened the window and leapt down into the garden.

I saw that he had left his jacket on the floor. Panic raced through my chest. I forced myself out of bed and stumbled to the window. I leant over and as I did I fell. I pushed the jacket under the bed and crawled to the bottom of the window. I took hold of the ledge and pulled myself up to stand.

Levi walked into the room and upon seeing me at the window crippled with pain he ran to me and lifted me into his arms. He closed the window once I was sat on the end of my bed and looked out, as if trying to see what had caused me to leave my safe haven.

“What on this fated earth possessed you leave your bed?”

“I wanted to see the Heights.” I mocked him and rested my head onto my pillow and closed my eyes.

“As soon as you are well I am going to kill you.”

“I’m sorry.”

I held my hands out to him and he knelt down into my arms. I pressed my lips hard against his cheek and let my tears fall onto his shirt.

“How long was I out?”

“Three days.”

“How is Gabriel?”

“Suffering,” he said, his warm breath softening the pain his words brought to me.

              He sat on the bed beside me and ran his fingers over Sedric’s ring. I smiled as I watched the memories play behind his eyes.

             
“Would you ever buy me a ring?”

             
He met my eyes and a smile toppled onto his face. With his steady strong hands he cupped my face and kissed my lips softly. “I would pick a star from the sky and have it encased in the finest gold for your precious hands.”

             
I laughed and poked the end of his nose playfully. “An emerald would do just fine.”

             
His body relaxed beneath my hands and his eyes melted into mine. “An emerald you will get then my love.”

Neither of us spoke for a second. His eyes were hot on mine and my heart began to race. His eyes dared me to close mine, begged me to melt into his touch.

“Roseanna,” he whispered, his voice controlling me.

His lips came down to mine. Lying beneath the white sheets in the grand four poster bed sheltered by white silk I felt like Sleeping Beauty being woken by her Prince.

I took a shallow breath as he stood and moved back from the bed.

“I have to go, George is waiting for me.”

Without another word he left and Sleeping Beauty was left heartbroken as her Prince rode away without her to battle another princess’s demon.

The day after, still utterly confused and uncertain as to where or what I was, Clarence begrudgingly gave me a lift to Gabriel’s and helped me up to his room.

At the end of his bed Gabriel sat stretching up; his face was contorted with pain. Roberta was stood outside beneath the bedroom window, unbeknownst to Gabriel. I had tried to ask her if she could help, but she looked past me as if I wasn’t there whenever I broached the subject.

              “Levi has been doing all he can to find a cure.”

That wasn’t all that Levi had been doing. Avoiding me, being at the top of the list, he had also been hunting overtime.

              I helped him rest back against the headboard and handed him a glass of cool fresh water. He smiled and gulped with a face of bravery and terrible acceptance.

             
I put my hand onto his arm and watched him for a while.

             
“Stop looking at me like that.”

             
“Like what?”

             
“Like I might die any second.” He moaned as a pain shot through his chest.