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She reached out to touch him as Benedict shook his head in denial.
“Mariah, there is no return from what I became.”
“There must be a way, Benedict!” Mariah refused to listen, and Benedict sighed.
Mariah observed as she saw him decide.
“Let’s sit and eat your meal, and I’ll tell you everything,” Benedict said, resigned.
Mariah hurried over to the table where she’d placed their meals and sat waiting for him. She noted how troubled Benedict suddenly seemed.
Mariah listened wide-eyed as Benedict explained his origins, starting from 500 BC. How his ancestor had led a small village which had been plagued by a demon, and they’d murdered his family. Only the husband and two sons survived, and they hunted down the monster and killed it. It was from this man that the Nortons became paranormal hunters. An angel visited them and offered them gifts and the surname Norton, which in angelic meant ‘Allies of God’.
He also gave them the name God’s Scourge. Rupert’s children went on to have kids, and even the women trained as warriors. Benedict explained they gained certain abilities, which helped them defeat the evil in the world. He informed Mariah how they could see auras around creatures which let God’s Scourge know if they were evil. As Mariah listened, completely enraptured, Benedict recounted how his ancestors battled evil for over two thousand years.
Mariah frowned when Benedict revealed a great evil had come to the Cotswolds, the form of a witch. As he spoke, Mariah grew to hate the woman who had destroyed many lives. When they got word of Margery being in their county, Benedict described the mad dash home. He said all five of his siblings came, their supernatural senses warning them that the villages they protected were in danger.
Mariah’s hand snuck out and held his as Benedict spoke of their goodbyes and how heartbroken he’d been watching his baby sister ride off.
“None of them returned, did they?” Mariah asked as Benedict trailed off, clearly thinking of CeeCee.
“No. I can only assume they ended up either dead or trapped like me. Whichever it is, it would be torture for them all. I pray they met a swift and painless death, but I somehow feel they fought to the bloody end. Especially CeeCee, she was strong in magic herself. She was the one who created the spells we carried to trap and kill those invading our inns.”
“What happened to you, Benedict?” Mariah asked gently.
“I rode here on the blackest of nights. The inn was dark; it was never dark. It was a rule that we left a lantern burning for anyone lost to find their way home. As soon as I dismounted, I smelt blood and knew someone had been murdered that night. I stormed in and found three women drained and sightless. The needless waste of their lives told me that I faced a vampire.
“He attacked from the shadows, and we fought. When he stepped into sight, I realised I had met a Master Vampire. They are rare. Less than twenty remained in the world. It is from the Masters that the vampire race came to exist. And it is known if you kill a Master Vampire, his lineage dies with him. Anyone who he sired, or they created, and so on, will die. Not all Master Vampires are evil; most wish to be left alone. But this one, Vemis, was one of the older masters and cruel to the bone. As was most of his children. The Nortons had staked many of them.
“Vemis’s blood is so tainted that he can turn a good person bad as soon as he infects them. It would take three or more to stake a Master Vampire, and I was alone, Mariah. We battled for hours before one miserable slip I made, and Vemis’s teeth were at my throat. He drained me and then laughed as he forced his blood into me. Having a vampire under his control with Norton powers would be more power than he’d ever had before. His first command was for me not to kill him.
“Vemis had not counted on the Nortons stubbornness, and I hit him with the spell CeeCee had given me. With his blood inside me, I had to obey his order not to kill, but I discovered a way around it. Vemis giving me his blood made him weaker and more susceptible to the magic. I hadn’t killed him, but I had subdued him.”
“And yourself, Benedict?” Mariah asked.
Benedict
He sighed. He didn’t know how to explain this to Mariah. Throughout his story, she had listened but not interrupted. He had seen her take all aspects in, sometimes with disbelief in her eyes. Such as the Great Fire of London, or the English Civil war, when the Nortons rose to stop a vampire from claiming the throne of England. Most of history’s wars and disasters hid the fact they’d been fighting supernatural evil.
“Benedict?” Mariah asked again.
He looked at her and realised how lovely she was.
“My body died, but I also didn’t die.”
Mariah frowned.
“When a vampire turns another. They have twelve hours to suck the blood of a human. Should they not, they’ll die from the infection raging through their veins. Should they drink, they change into a vampire.
“Within me, I carry a creature fuelled by hate, greed, and lust. As long as human blood doesn’t touch my lips, the monster will remain deep inside me, under my control. Should I drink, the vampire will take over, and I’ll be destroyed and made into the devil the Master Vampire was trying to create.
“Mariah, I am dead in body but also still alive. The spell CeeCee gave me trapped the Master Vampire and the Black Cat, and I used our powers to enforce her magic. My twelve hours only count while he is conscious and awake. While he slumbers, I am frozen between life and death. I am neither one nor the other,” Benedict explained.
“So, we have a chance to bring you back?” Mariah cried with excitement.
Benedict shook his head.
“No. Because should Vemis wake, I would have eleven hours before choosing to die. If I took blood, I would live, but as a creature so vile, it gives a demon nightmares. Should I decline, my body would die again. Either way, I, Benedict Norton, would perish whichever path I choose. Basically, Mariah, I am the living dead,” Benedict replied, sadness in his voice.
