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Theodore smiles without joy as he gazes at Rita. “So, we have a budding young witch among our numbers do we?” he asks with barely concealed anger. “Tell me child, to which family do you belong?”
Rita, ever confident and snarky, replies without fear or trepidation. “I don’t belong to any of them, thank you very much,” and she crosses her arms over her chest.
Theodore is silent, and he seems to be studying her for a moment. “Well isn’t that interesting.” He continues, and appears to be about to say something more when tendrils of dark mist begin to lick out of the dimensional door, swirling around him like a protective shadow. But I know better than that. It is slowly pulling him into its black depths and I can’t help but cross my fingers and pray that it succeeds.
Despite the mist being incorporeal, Theodore seems to be able to grab a hold of one of the tendrils, snapping it in half with a bolt of purple electricity that flows from his body. He lets go of Delilah now and she runs over to the safety of the other vampires. At first a gush of fear floods through me at the thought that he might actually be able to fight Rita’s spell, but then, as I stare at his face more closely, I can see that he is doing his best to appear calm when in fact he is panicking. I see it in his eyes, the knowledge that he has been defeated by a novice frightens him more than the fact that he is being pulled into a hell dimension.
It sort of makes sense that Rita could be his daughter, since she would then have the genetic talent to defeat him. Perhaps he came back to Tribane in secret twenty or so years ago and impregnated Rita’s mother. Theodore had struck me as being a Ken doll down below, but perhaps I was mistaken. Perhaps…
The dimensional door quavers slightly as Theodore strikes it with another bolt of purple energy. Oh no. Rita runs forward, and without missing a beat pushes Theodore back into the hole in the sky before he can do anymore damage. The smoky black tendrils pull on him too, so it isn’t difficult for Rita to strike at him. But Theodore catches
her wrist just as he is half way in and half way out of the hole. Their eyes lock, and some kind of realisation takes place. I start forward, running toward Rita in fear that she might actually fall into the hole with Theodore. But somebody else gets there just before me – Gabriel.
He looks quite powerful as his hands move about him, he must be casting a spell of his own. Suddenly the tendrils multiply, ripping Theodore’s hand away from its grip on Rita. The blackness rapidly consumes him. Wow. Gabriel was definitely being modest when he described himself as merely an academic, because that spell most certainly did the trick. The last thing I see is Theodore’s deathly white face as he slips away into hell. Or one of the many dimensions of hell I presume. I wonder what it could be like. I have a sneaking suspicion it isn’t all fire and brimstone. There are worse things than burning for all eternity I’m sure.
Rita falls back into Gabriel’s arms, her breathing coming out in rapid bursts. I think she might be in shock. Maybe it’s because she almost fell into the hole with Theodore. Or maybe it was the fact that in that split second as they stared into each other’s eyes, she realised he was her father. I don’t ask her though, because that is her own private business, and I’m just glad that she’s still here, alive and well. Gabriel brushes her sweaty fringe back from her forehead in an effort to calm her.
A warm hand touches me on the shoulder, and I turn around to find Ethan’s concerned face peering down at me. I jerk away from him for a second, remembering that he now knows what I am, and that he might very well decide to kill me for it.
“Don’t – don’t fear me Tegan,” he says in a pleading voice.
“Can you blame me?” I ask in a whisper, while gazing past him at the other vampires. None of them seem to be ready to sink their fangs into me, but I can’t help noticing the glazed look in their eyes as they watch me with interest. Oh God, I have got to get away from the vampires. I know I’m repeating myself, but it’s the truth.
Ethan glances back at the others and then at me. “No, I suppose I can’t. But I won’t allow them to get to you.”
“Really?” I ask, unsure if I should trust him. However, there’s only one way for me to get off this Island, and that’s on fucking Antonia’s yacht. Great. I’ll have to delay my plans to kill her for another while.
Ethan places his other hand on my hip, and his fingers make contact with my bare skin where the dress is torn. “You are quite mistrusting,” he breathes, lowering his mouth to my ear. “Hmm, what can I say to make you understand,” he pauses for just a second before continuing. “Well, let’s just say that I’m more interested in doing things with you that don’t require the draining of your very precious blood.”
My breathing hitches in anxiety and I can feel my cheeks heat up. I look up into his eyes, exploring their depths, somehow to figure out his true intentions. Then I recall the way he’d defended my independence, the fact that I am my own person and not something to possess. For the moment I understand that I can rely on him. Only for the moment. I nod to let him know that I will trust him to take care of me.
Ethan doesn’t move for a minute as we stare at each other. “Have I ever told that your eyes are quite marvellous?” he asks. “They are bluer than any I have encountered before.”
I fall back into my old sarcastic ways when I reply. “That’s good to know.”
“Compliments Tegan,” he says. “You really need to learn how to take them.”
I shrug just as one of the chairs from the big wheel comes crashing down onto the ground in front of us. Oh crap. I look to my left and see that the merry go round is disintegrating into granules of sand.
“The whole place is falling apart now that Theodore is gone,” says Gabriel. “His magic was what had been keeping it all going, we need to get out of here.” Ethan nods and without missing a beat scoops me up into his arms. Gabriel helps Rita to her feet as Ethan carries me to the boat, just barely dodging another falling chair.
I look back over his shoulder just in time to see the house begin to crumble, the bricks wasting away to nothing. Quickly we all board the yacht, and seemingly there had been a driver waiting on it this whole time because the moment we are all safely on deck the engine starts up and we begin to sail away from Ridley Island. I can’t say I’m going to miss the place.
Ethan sits down on a bench, still holding me, but I’m cold so I don’t mind much. I sit on his lap and he wraps his arms around me just after he drapes his coat over my shoulders. I can’t take my eyes off the house as it crashes to the ground, and it’s just now that I remember the room with all of those people trapped inside. I start in fright and begin to get up from my sitting position but Ethan pulls me back close to him.
“What is it Tegan?” he asks. I don’t answer, but instead continue to stare at the pile of broken bricks that were once Theodore’s mansion. There are gone now. Dead finally, after a life trapped in a constant cycle of drinking and talking and singing and having a good time. I have a feeling it was not as pleasant as it sounds. There isn’t anything I can do to save them anymore.
“Nothing,” I answer, falling tiredly back into his arms.
“I like having you close to me,” he whispers. “We still have unfinished business to attend to from the other night,” he continues, his hand moving to my outer thigh.
I don’t say anything because I’m too embarrassed, what with all of the others being close enough to hear. Rita smirks at me before continuing to talk to Gabriel about something. There seems to be a bond between the two of them now that they’ve practised magic together. Gabriel is definitely looking at Rita in a new light since he has seen what she’s capable of.
Antonia is sitting opposite us, and she eyes me closely. This unnerves me, but also reminds of what she did to poor Matthew. My heart sinks. Am I going to be a coward and simply let her get away with it? I’m still unsure of the answer to that.
“You will bring the girl to my house once we get to shore,” says Antonia to Ethan. His hold on me seems to tighten.
“I think Tegan would prefer to go to her own home and rest,” he replies in a cutting voice.
