Chapter Three.
A nd I died. That’s simplistic, isn’t it?
Just a bald statement of death. My body decided it had enough, and kapoosh, it shut down and refused to work anymore. Of course, I can’t blame it for doing so, we were rather wracked in agony. But yup, I kicked the bucket.
No angels, no fanfare, no trumpets and definitely no bright lights or tunnels. My life didn’t flash before my eyes, and there were no regrets. Hell, I remember screaming in the most horrendous pain and bawling like a baby. I even shit myself. That is the brutal truth of my death.
All I pictured was Mihal laughing, and I dimly wondered who would look after him now, and that was it. There was nothing except eternal blackness. I wasn’t aware of myself or anyone else. Nobody waited for me either. The afterlife apparently sucked.
Sadly, I quite obviously didn’t live a good life. Don’t forget, Kaltons did believe in life after death. Surely, I hadn’t been so evil that the afterlife had been denied to me?
Honestly, I saw nothing.
Do I still believe in life after death? Of course.
There are several reasons, which we will eventually arrive at. There are other versions of Heaven that I have witnessed, and humans have their own belief in paradise. But for me, the Kalton’s life after death didn’t happen.
The bothersome problem was, where was my idea of Heaven? My different plane of existence? There should have been something. Not just this… nothing, is the best word to describe it. No, Siree, I had no afterlife experience whatsoever.
Although I make a light-hearted remark that I hadn’t been good enough in my life, the Kalton religion wasn’t based on that.
Kaltons died and crossed over. It didn’t matter whether you had been good or bad.
Over thousands of years, I’ve read about different religions and even embraced some, the latest being the Church of England. Who’s taking bets on how loud the Church scream at the idea of a Vam’pir amongst them? Surefire guarantee there’s someone in the holy community who will be offended by my presence.
But the most fundamental belief people hold is Heaven, or life after death, exists. So, the question is, where was it? Without a doubt, I died, and I don’t understand what happened or not, as the case was.
What went wrong? I’m quite sure that none of the others had an afterlife experience, either. Does this imply the absence of a Creator, God, or Allah? Is the truth of our lives simply that we are born to struggle only to die? Is that the sum of living? I find myself struggling for meaning to our existence, not just mine, but yours too. What is the point of existing if there is nowhere better to go?
Plenty of times, I have asked people as I kill them what they see. Some say nothing but darkness, and others tell of lights and tunnels. Rarely they explain seeing great green fields, and the rest say a bright white light. Do people genuinely experience these phenomena, or does faith override reason? Even those who reject all beliefs witness something, so why didn’t I, a believer?
It is an unacceptable theory that we live and die. That makes little sense to me.
Where does a person’s soul go? Their spirit.
Ghosts have been seen, and despite the naysayers, too many have witnessed them. There has to be something, there has to be.
Honestly, I believe in an afterlife wholeheartedly. Even today, I feel the same, but I admit to being a little frightened of death. Death is a mysterious mistress. Together, death and I walk hand in hand with one another. Death is the one great love that is forever denied to me.
Yet I feed her weekly, sometimes daily, so in a way, I think I’m owed an explanation. Why didn’t I see Heaven ?
If there is truly nothing, what a wretched existence we have. All that pain and happiness amounts to nothing . Is that not a frightening thought?
One passes away, gets laid in the ground, and rots. There is nowhere to go. That would be a true tragedy.
For sure, we base our smug little lives on the fact that no matter what we do, we will have an afterlife, whether it’s Heaven or Hell. What if everyone is in error? Imagine dying, and there is absolutely nothing waiting? Your soul just… fades. You cease to exist. The only afterlife you have is when people remember you.
Can you understand what I am trying to say? That Heaven or Hell is actually the human memory because, indeed, you are an angel or villain in people’s mind.
And shit, now I’ve depressed myself.
Oh, I’m not sure, perhaps I am rambling. I’m not God, if there is one. Maybe the stasis chamber being lowered at the exact time of my death resulted in the journey to the afterlife being held up. And truthfully, I haven’t come as close to death as I did then. I suspect chamber interference affected my journey.
That is a suitable explanation for me to swallow.
Though it may sound arrogant, I need to believe something exists. That when I kill, the souls of the dead move to a different level of existence. It would be hard to drink if people didn’t transition to another plane.
Okay, who am I trying to kid? Of course, I’d still do it. I don’t want to die, especially by starvation. It’s as simple as the alphabet.
Deep down, I believe in the Creator, whether he is called God, Ra, Allah, or Jehovah. I’m like everyone else; there must be something, or why live? I tell you one thing that is eternal. Whether man, animal or micro-organism, life will continue.
Even should Earth explode, life would persist elsewhere in the galaxy. I’m unsure if that fact offers comfort or not. Heaven and God can remain a mystery for all I care, one that repels and intrigues.
I have my life, and that is sufficient.
◆◆◆
As you can imagine, I was aware I was dying. Therefore, it was rather a shock when I woke up. The darkness of night greeted me. I remained in the stasis chamber, but I had been washed and dressed in clean clothes. The top half of the chamber was raised and there was a cool breeze blowing over my body.
There was a needle in my hand, and when I lifted it, there was a drip inserted.
Puzzled, I frowned. I need not go into my last memories again as I’m sure you remember them as I do, so how was I still alive? Kaltos didn’t have the concepts of ghosts back then. Hauntings were a later idea.
There were a few droplets of blood dotted on my hands, and before I realised it, I had raised that one and licked them off. I suppose I should have been grossed out, but it just seemed normal. On hearing voices, I sat up and swung my legs off the bed.
“Jacques’s awake,” a voice said.
I turned and saw Maurick.
“You utter fucking bastard,” I exclaimed, reaching for his throat.
Maurick stepped back in alarm, raising his hands in self-defence, and cried, “It happened to me too!”
“I couldn’t give a damn. You killed her!” I was on my feet, hands reaching for his throat.
Killing Maurick wouldn’t be a hardship at all. I would have strangled the traitor quite easily, and the law be damned, when her voice stopped me.
“Jacques.”
That was all Inka said. That was all she had to say.
Disbelievingly, I spun round and grabbed Inka, pulling her into my arms.
Relieved, I held Inka’s head in the curve of my shoulder and breathed in the scent that belonged to her alone. In return, Inka clutched me as if she couldn’t let go, and we stood there for a few minutes.
Stupid as it sounds, I felt reborn, newly emerged from the womb. Somehow, I’d been given a second chance at having my life again, and everything was as it should be.
Then my tongue glanced over my molars, and I knew something wasn’t right. They were fangs, and I didn’t have them before the experiment.
“You’re alive,” I muttered, putting strange teeth out of my mind.
Lovingly, I kissed the top of Inka’s head. “I saw you die…”
“Don’t, Jacques. I’m here, we are all here, and we are alive ,” Inka said, pulling away from me and turning so she could motion to the others.
Mera and Pal. Kait, Pari, Tobais, and Emil. My friends stood in a small group. D’vid stood slightly apart, gazing unfathomably at his sibling.
“What have you done?” I hissed at Claudias.
Claudias said nothing and glanced at Maurick. “Jaq—”
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear another single lying word from you. Or I will rip your throat out,” I thundered, anger welling up inside.
“Explain!” D’vid demanded of Claudias, resting a hand on my shoulder.
Claudias sneered, but before he could say anything, Marel, the leader of the Core, stepped forward.
“This is my responsibility, I’ll explain,” Marel replied softly.
“Marel, I don’t give a damn who does. Someone better explain,” Pal retorted. “The memory of our experience is still vivid in my mind.”
The threat was obvious in Pal’s voice.
“The Great Experiment was a lie. There is technical lan—”
“Layman’s terms are fine,” Tobais said.
“Short and sweet. Everyone died.”
We had all accepted that idea because not one of us questioned it. But, I suppose everyone guessed a cure had been discovered. That was the purpose of the stasis chambers: to freeze us as soon as our heart stops, and we’d be rejuvenated when a cure was discovered.
“Did you know what would happen?” Kait asked as he and Emil supported Pari, who seemed very weak.
“No,” Marel replied.
“Despite casualties, you continued with the experiment. You should have stopped at the first death. Nobody had explored all the risks. Basically, The Core hadn’t done due diligence, and panicked” a female voice said.
I glanced over my shoulder and recognised the girl as Julia from the Southern Province. “The Core let us die. Didn’t the test results show some side effects? There’s a word for what happened, Marel. It’s called murder .”
“Nobody expected anyone to die. By the Creator’s sacred blood, you were not meant to,” Marek denied.
“What was meant to happen?” Tobais asked.
“Hold on,” I said, cutting in. “I don’t feel dead. This doesn’t look like what I expected the other side to be.”
“You are the living dead,” Claudias sneered.
“ Shut up! ” D’vid ordered his whole demeanour a threat to his bother.
“Now I’m definitely confused. What does the living dead mean? How can the dead live?” Pal demanded, scratching his head.
“Join the club,” another voice joined in.
I recognised Curtan from the Eastern Province.
“If you’ll let me explain with no interruptions,” Marel said.
We nodded agreement, all eager for this to be cleared up.
“What we planned to do would be to alter your DNA. We fully expected there would be pain, not as much as you all experienced, but yes, we guessed you would experience some.
“We can’t alter the gene that creates the Phase. Instead, we aimed to extend lifespans, enabling multiple Phases. That was the Great Experiment. We wanted to prolong existence. Some findings proved if Kalton’s lives were extended, then the Phase would occur more often. But in answer to your unasked questions, no, we couldn’t alter the gene.
“Nobody expected what happened. None of us predicted the extent of the agony or the emptying of bodily fluids. Luckily enough, the council had made us agree to use the stasis chambers. When death occurred, the chambers fell, saving you. But everyone did die, I have the charts to prove this.”
Marel took a deep breath.
“Why do I sense we’re not going to like the next bit?” Kait wondered aloud and looked amused as everyone glared at him for interrupting Marel.
“This is very hard to explain. The doctors had one hundred dead bodies and no explanation as to why you died. The Core was in shock and disarray. Uncertainty clouded both the events and our response. Hence, we decided to do an autopsy on Miran. Yet, as we raised the chamber and scanned his body, we noticed some very odd readings.
“Miran’s heart was beating, but the scanner showed that he was dead. His vital signs and brain activity monitors both said Miran was dead, and yet their back-up systems registered activity. No one expected what happened after…”
Marel paled and stopped talking as he churned what had happened over in his mind. It was obviously horrifying.
“Marel?” Inka prompted gently.
Marel shook himself.
“Miran opened his eyes, and before we could blink, he broke free and bit into the neck of the nurse. Miran drained him of blood.” Marel paused, and as one, we all paled, taking in the implications. “Then Miran rushed to the doors and ran up the stairs. We followed, and as he reached the door, dawn broke, and Miran… and… he turned into ash. Miran just crumbled before our very eyes. The wind scattered the ashes, leaving nothing.”
“ Blood? Miran drank blood. Why?” Mera asked, appalled.
Mera was worried about Miran drinking blood. However, I was more concerned about the manner of Miran’s death because I saw the connotations, even if nobody else did.
“Because you need that to live. When you died, every single bodily fluid drained away, including blood. All that remained was a dry husk. Apparently, each night, you must have an infusion of blood to survive.”
“No, I don’t believe that,” I stated baldly.
What Marel was saying was horrifying.
“Jacques, I do not blame you. We have been studying this for over six weeks. Each night, we have to issue you an infusion.”
“I still don’t believe it,” I insisted, rubbing the back of my hand where I had the drip still attached.
“Neither did the others, and they all died.”
“Others? How many are left?” Julia asked, pushing herself to the front.
“You don’t want—”
“Don’t tell us we don’t wish to know. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be asking,” I cut in.
I was confused, and the news hadn’t sunk in. Gazing around, I could see none of us truly understood what Marel was saying. We thought this was just a temporary setback. That a cure would be found. If they had created this, then they could reverse it.
“You are all that remains, Jacques and Inka. Pari and Emil. Kait, Tobais, Pal and Mera. D’vid, Maurick, Eduardo, Julia, Nathan and Diana. Ami and Li’zel, Seti, Suzan, and Curtan. Ricardus, Julius and Antonio. Ana and Raymone are last. Twenty-four in all.”
“Twenty-four remaining out of one hundred!” Eduardo exclaimed in astonishment.
“That few?” Julia gasped. “Where is Kierran?” she asked after her husband. Their marriage was only three weeks old when the experiment started.
“Kierran didn’t make it. Julia, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Kierran’s dead because of you,” Julia screamed, rushing at Marel and pummelling him with her fists.
Marel grabbed them and held Julia against him as she bawled into his chest. He stared stone-faced over her shoulder and refused to look at anyone.
“I’ll take her,” Curtan said, stepping forward and taking Julia from him. “She’s one of us now.”
Julia collapsed into a heap on the floor, and Curtan sat with her as she sobbed out her anguish. Curtan held her tight and rubbed her back as she mourned Kierran’s plans for them.
“I wasn’t aware. If I had, I would have stopped the experiment,” Marel insisted.
“You claim that, Marel, but two of you knew,” I snapped in anger.
“Who!” Marel exclaimed.
“Maurick and Claudias,” D’vid spoke, as I did not trust myself to answer.
“You knew ?” spluttered Marel in shock as he turned to his colleagues.
Maurick just stared white-faced, while Claudias smirked.
“We suspected but weren’t sure,” Claudias said smugly.
I longed to smash his face in, but for D’vid’s sake, I didn’t. But that did not stop D’vid. “Get out of my sight, or you’ll find I’ll drink your blood right now,” D’vid warned.
That stopped Claudias as he faced his sibling. With a bow, he turned and left.
D’vid smashed his fist against the wall. “How can I apologise for him? My own brother.”
“Claudias used you, D’vid,” Ana said, touching his shoulder.
“I understand the concept of jealousy too well,” I replied, looking D’vid in the eyes. In misery, I tried to convey my great sorrow that his brother used him so badly.
Inka, facing Marel, inquired, “What further information do we require?”
“You cannot withstand the daylight or the sun. Indeed, you do not wake until it is dark. Your strength has doubled, and you might even grow stronger. If you are cut and injured, you heal straight away or if it’s a serious injury, usually within a week.
“None of you will ever age, and you’ll live forever. You’ll never die because you already have. Currently, only sunlight or fire poses a lethal threat. We’re unaware of what other abilities you have. They’ll be discovered as we proceed.” Marel paused and then, with a deep breath, carried on.
“You need nightly transfusions of blood. Several of the staff have been attacked and drained. The thirst for blood is overwhelming and uncontrollable. Likam didn’t drink for three nights, and on the fourth, he was a raving lunatic. He killed another of the nurses and was on his second when we intercepted him with donated blood.
“Likam was tortured with remorse and walked into the sun the following morning. Just before we woke all of you, we gave everyone blood to quench your thirst. You drink enough to fill a normal human. Enough to drain a single person.”
I paled at the implications as I grasped what Marel was saying.
Horrifically, we were the walking dead.
The others also understood, and I turned to face them, searching for support. It was there on everyone’s faces. We were isolated, with only one another to rely on.
None of us realised it, but eventually, we would be the only ones there for each other. We would never judge or criticise each other at first—unless the code we developed was broken.
“Six weeks,” Emil said quietly, “I must go to my daughter.”
“Emil, you can’t,” Maurick stated from the rear
“I have a child,” Emil boomed more firmly.
“You had a daughter. And you had a son,” Maurick announced, nodding to Inka and me.
“What do you mean?” Inka cried, stepping forward.
“Do you really think that you are fit to raise children now? Are you that stupid? You are creatures of the night. You drink blood. What if one night, you’re still hungry, and there’s a delicious snack right in front of you? Could you resist the urge for blood? I’d love to watch you try. Will you mentor them in your image? A nocturnal existence and never witnessing the sunlight. Can you grasp that you are no longer normal? You’re freaks,” Claudias hissed from the top of the steps where he’d hidden.
“And who made us so?” D’vid said, leaping up the stairs and grabbing Claudias by the throat. D’vid forced his brother’s head back. “If the others drink the blood of people, then I can too, can’t I, brother dear?”
Claudias struggled in vain against his siblings’ superior strength.
I watched, fascinated whether D’vid would really do it.
Panic shone in Claudias’s eyes, and his cockiness disappeared. Claudias suddenly seemed very aware of the monsters we were and understood nobody could stop us.
All of a sudden, Diana rushed forward and pulled on D’vid’s arm.
“What type of monster are you?” she cried, smacking him.
D’vid turned to face her. Casually he threw Claudias against a wall.
“The same as you,” D’vid bit out.
That hit home. Diana retreated two steps. She raised her hands and, with a swift spin, faced Marel. “What have you done to us? How long till you cure us?” she shrieked in a high-pitched tone. Diana’s voice hurt my ears.
“There isn’t one. You are the living dead. There is no remission, absolutely nothing to help us,” Maurick interrupted the conversation.
“Shut up!” I screamed. “Look at what you’ve created. Damn it, Maurick. We had lives. Are you proud of what you have done? ‘I would never hurt you, Jacques, ’ you said. ‘You’re my best friends; there is no danger. ’
“What fools we were. You made us into some sort of blood-thirsty monsters. Maybe I should kill you, but I won’t.” My voice fell to a whisper. “You were betrayed too, weren’t you? You weren’t meant to be part of The Great Experiment,” I stated.
The memory clicked into place.
“Yes, you were betrayed. Remember, I hit you, and you landed against the wall and were knocked unconscious. But Claudias experimented on you, too.” I nodded to Claudias. “What a turnaround. What a cruel joke. Well, Maurick, stay away from me and mine. You are not one of us.” I warned, but Maurick wasn’t listening.
He faced Claudias, glaring.
“You were the one that betrayed me,” Maurick hissed, his fingers clenching and unclenching.
“Just like you did,” Tobais snapped, and Maurick subsided.
We all looked at each other. There was nothing more to say. Everything had been said and made perfectly clear.
But there was one last question I had to ask. I turned to face Marel.
“You said we had been here for six weeks. Do our families know what has happened?”
“Yes. When we realised, we informed the council. They, in turn, contacted each of your families and explained. Then, the public was told. We had to inform them because fresh blood donations are required daily for you. You can’t drink any blood older than a day because that makes you seriously ill. Most of the populace have donated freely there are only a few who won’t, and we cannot force them.” Marel avoided looking at D’vid, and I guessed his parents were one of the exceptions.
D’vid knew, too.
“I’m going home to see my family,” I said, taking Inka by the hand and pulling her towards the door.
“Make sure you are back by sunrise, or you will die,” Marel reminded us as we pushed past him.
In anger, I stopped on the top stair and peered down at him. “Oh, I know. I’ve died once, I have no wish to do it a second time.”
Marel’s shoulders slumped, and as I looked at him, he seemed nothing more than a tired old man.
Inka and I stood outside my father’s villa for a good hour before we entered it. There were so many thoughts running through my head I didn’t understand how to start sorting them out.
Maurick was right. Immortality was tempting, and I felt a quiet satisfaction at owning it. Although I was confused, I wouldn’t hand it back if a cure was found.
This was mine, and I could rule the world if I chose.
Don’t get me wrong. Truthfully, I deeply regretted what had happened, and if I’d been given a choice, I would have refused this strange gift.
Now I had it, though, possibilities stretched for miles in front of me. Why should I give this up? I had been dealt a harsh blow for trying to help my people. Everyone was thinking the same as me. They had to be.
For my sacrifice, I had paid the ultimate price, the loss of my life. What more could I give to them? Now, Kaltos owed me something. Some reward for putting myself on the line like I had.
Who cared if they had to donate blood we needed to live? They haven’t been damned to this existence. At that moment, I decided that if Kaltons declined to help us, I would take the blood we needed. They couldn’t kill me.
As we arrived and I gazed upon the villa of my home, I had the first doubt. What if my father and family rejected me as some type of monster? I understood that D’vid’s parents would have nothing to do with him. What if mine shunned me, too? How would I cope with that?
“We’ll deal with it,” Inka said, reading my thoughts and doubts. “You’ll never know until you enter.”
Bravely, Inka walked forward through the door, pulling me with her. The villa was quiet, and as we made our way to the family room, I fancied that the shadows stared at us and whispered.
The family room was brightly lit, and everyone was present as we entered.
My father and brother were lounging on enormous cushions in front of the open fire. They remained silent, each with a glass of Shreen. A drink a little like today’s brandy.
My mother and eldest sister were doing their needlework to the left of them under a huge candelabrum. The electric lights were on, but my mother shunned them for the romance of the naked flame.
My other two sisters were lounging about reading. Mihal sat between the men, playing with a little wooden horse that I had made him a few seven-days ago. It was a picture of familial bliss, and I, the monster, didn’t belong.
I took Inka’s hand and started to withdraw. The sudden movement caught my middle sister’s eye, and she looked straight up at me.
“Jacques!” she cried, dropping her book and springing to her feet. “Mother, Father, he’s home!”
She rushed towards me, arms outstretched for a hug.
My arms closed around her in grateful love. Marin, my youngest sister, grabbed Inka and held her for a short moment and then Father was there taking Inka in his arms.
“My son, my little baby,” a husky voice whispered, and I looked at my mother standing to one side.
I let go of Uralla and opened my arms. Mother went into them without hesitation.
Oh, I can’t express how great that felt. Just to be touched by loving arms. Tears welled, and I cried unashamedly onto my mother’s shoulder.
Her own tears mixed with mine. “You are safe now,” Mother murmured. “You’re home, and we won’t let anything hurt you.”
My father kept repeating the same to Inka. For a brief moment, the pain and confusion disappeared, giving us the sensation of coming back from a long journey. Then I raised my head, and the ugly truth was brought forth again.
On my mother’s snowy white shawl were streaks of red where I had cried blood. Mother followed my stunned gaze and went quiet.
“ You are my child ,” she insisted, pulling me close.
My siblings nodded their agreement even as they all looked at her shawl. In that instant, I was unstoppable. We would beat this. We were a strong family, and nothing could or would hurt us.
Father held Inka when she pulled away with a little cry as she saw her own child.
She rushed to him, and now, Inka, too, cried.
Father’s eyes narrowed in anger, and a chill ran down my spine. Father never lost his temper easily, and to see him thus was quite a worry.