Chapter 7: Soil
Fri, 20 Oct 2034
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Fri, 20 Oct 2034
Aimee would surely be flattered by the swarm of strangers who cared about her wellbeing. Despite the increasing turn-out of volunteers over the last week (which included James, much to Skye’s agitation), the search groups had turned up nothing. Meanwhile, the police remained obstinately useless, because Aimee’s family still dismissed her disappearance as a cry for attention.
Kei stuck close to Skye at every search group he attended. Nixie was usually there to dominate the conversation between the three, but tonight the water sprite didn’t show. He had to see his witch, he said. Apparently, the magic keeping him human was not a once-off wave of a wand, but something the witch had to mould over time.
So, Skye and Kei partnered off, each armed with a flashlight. The forest was damp and dying, its fallen autumn leaves reduced to brown mush underneath their shoes. The animals were quiet, save for the occasional hoot of an owl. The search party must have scared off most creatures.
“Were you close with Aimee?” Kei asked. “I know you two were only roommates for a few months, but…”
Skye shook her head. “I wouldn’t say we were close.”
“This must still be hard for you.”
“Well, this isn’t really about me, is it? It’s about Aimee.”
Kei pouted. “You’re allowed to feel emotional about this, too.”
Skye had slipped into a type of autopilot over the last week. The bitter taste of guilt and the haunting scent of Benny’s cabin lingered, but even those feelings were muted, as though behind a screen. She knew that she was meant to feel more. “I’m just tense and hoping she’s alright.”
Kei lowered his voice to a whisper. “Do you… think James did something to her?”
She released a puff of misty air. Yeah, I have my suspicions. “I don’t like speculating on things like that.”
“Of course. Sorry. You’re right.”
“Let’s focus on the search, alright?”
“Yeah.” They didn’t talk much for the remainder of the search.
A whistle pierced the woods. It signalled that it was seven o’clock; the search was done.
“Hey, what’s that?” Kei said. “Is that a person?”
Skye swivelled to the direction Kei was pointing to. Her flashlight illuminated a dip in the forest floor covered by grass and moss. In the centre sat a woman, her ginger hair pulled back in a plait and pale skin gleaming in the torchlight.
Skye stepped closer. “Ceana?”
“You know her?” Kei asked Skye before looking back to the woman. “Are you OK?”
Ceana’s eyes opened, squinting against the light. Skye tilted the torch down.
“Would you like to come back with us?” Kei asked.
“No,” Ceana answered.
“It’s not safe, you know,” he said. “A girl recently went missing in these woods.”
Ceana’s gaze flicked to Skye. “Who is this?”
Skye gave Kei a cursory glance. “Kei. He’s a classmate of mine. Not in the scene.”
“Oh, you two are friends?” Kei asked.
Ceana cracked a smile, gaze returning to Kei. “You should go back to the search group. Tell them that Skye went home early.”
Kei nodded with robotic obedience. “Yes, ma’am.” He pivoted and left.
Skye watched him go with bemusement before she turned to Ceana. “Did you just enchant him?”
“Yes.”
Skye looked at where Kei had walked off to, admittedly impressed by how easily Ceana dismissed him. Her attention returned to the vampire. “I assume you want to talk to me?”
Ceana considered Skye. “I had not planned it. But there is an opportunity, here. Tell me, do you feel something?”
Skye tilted her head. “Like what?”
“Come sit in the grove and tell me what you feel.”
Skye looked down at the ground. Damp, mossy, muddy. She grimaced. I’d rather not look like I shat my trousers.
Ceana grinned. “I won’t make fun of you.”
Skye looked at Ceana, eyes wide. “Did you just read my mind?”
Ceana’s wry smile was the only answer she gave.
Skye hesitated. She felt Benny’s words compelling her seek Ceana’s approval. She pushed away those thoughts, hoping Ceana wasn’t peering into her mind at that moment. Skye stepped into the grove and sat down, crossing her legs to mirror Ceana.
“What do you want me to feel?”
“Just focus on the soil.” Ceana scooped up a fistful of the earth. “Turn off the flashlight, too. It will only distract you.”
Skye did so. Her vision plunged into darkness, but only for a few moments; the silver of the moon above began to sculpt out her surroundings. Most stark was the way it hollowed out Ceana’s face, and how her green eyes gleamed.
“Hold out your hands, cupping them,” Ceana said.
Skye did so. Ceana deposited the soil into Skye’s palms.
“Focus. Tell me what you feel.”
Skye looked down to her hands, though she saw little within the soil. Under the moonlight, it was just a dark, desaturated heap. Her fingers coiled inward, squeezing the damp earth. When she released her hold, imprints remained.
“It’s cold and wet.”
“That’s it?”
“Well, I’m just a human. I can’t sense all the things you can.”
“When it comes to earthen magic, you are more attuned to such things than I.” Ceana placed her hands under Skye’s. They were as cold as stone, but touch gentle as she pushed Skye’s fingers back into the soil. This time, Skye allowed her neon nails to dig into the earth.
“Earthen magic?” Skye repeated. “Like fae and witches?”
“All supernatural creatures that are not vampires are earthen.”
“Is that because vampires drink blood? Does that make your magic different?”
“Many earthen creatures consume human blood and flesh as well. But vampires have been disconnected from the natural system, and thus we are called ‘ethereal’ beings.”
Skye frowned. “I haven’t been told this before.”
“The younger vampires don’t care much about this. To them, it makes no difference what their nature is.” Something, perhaps sorrow or wistfulness, weighed Ceana’s voice down. She continued, sharpening her tone. “Shut your eyes, focus on the soil. Let yourself think the obvious – its coldness, dampness. But then reach deeper. Listen to your instincts.”
Skye drew in a deep breath before closing her eyes, bowing her head. The soil felt malleable and spongy. And something made her uneasy. The longer she held the soil, the more disturbed she grew. Fear tingled up her spine; her heartrate picked up.
“I want to get away from it,” she finally stated, eyes opening.
Ceana let go of Skye’s hands.
Skye released the soil and shook any residual flecks off, shuddering as she did so. “That’s some cursed dirt.”
“I suspected as much.”
Skye paused. “What? Is it really cursed?”
“It’s been meddled with by a witch. This is not uncommon: all witches maintain sacred groves to enhance their magic. However, sacred groves should not inherently make you feel fearful.” Ceana’s fingers moved to touch the earth, splaying out and sinking into the soil. “I meditated over this soil for an hour before you arrived. I was searching for a grove that felt a certain way. But my own senses can only help me so much.”
“What do you feel?” Skye asked.
“I feel… no, I smell blood.”
A chill overcame Skye. Blood? Am I sitting in Aimee’s blood?
Ceana continued, “But not human, animal, or earthen.”
Skye released a sigh of slight relief, but she was still disquieted over the fact that she was sitting in blood. “Then what is it?”
Ceana gave Skye a contemplative glance-over. “My instincts tell me that I should avoid this place, though less out of fear and more because I am stepping into someone else’s territory.”
“A vampire’s?”
“Yes.”
“Vampires use their blood to mark their territory?”
Ceana lifted up a handful of soil, thumbing it. “No. When a vampire dies, the soil they awake in becomes their native soil. That is where they are strongest. The further away they go from their native soil, the weaker they become.”
“Are native soils always in sacred groves?”
“Next to never.” Ceana deposited the soil back onto the ground. “But there are several sacred groves precisely like this, all over the world, and they belong to just one vampire. She uses witches and her own blood to recreate her native soil. So, wherever she goes, she has her native soil nearby. Thus, she remains powerful.”
“You sound like you know this vampire.”
“Hm. Yes.” Ceana’s gaze lifted to the trees. “This grove is new, no more than a couple weeks old. The ground is still buzzing with the witch’s blood magic.”
Skye had yet to hear of ‘blood magic.’ “Have you told Cathy and Inge this?”
“Yes, and I have permission from them to investigate this further. But no one else knows. If the Command finds out, then they might send their own representatives to Glamis.”
“Why are you telling me all this, then?”
Ceana’s eyes locked onto Skye. “I think you could be useful in the investigation. I heard that you’re close with a water sprite, one who pretends to be human using a witch’s magic.”
Skye’s guard went up. “Nixie?”
“If you can get the name of his witch, that would help. You have to keep him in unsuspecting, though. For his own safety.”
“Couldn’t you just read his mind and find out yourself?”
“My powers do not work on non-humans.”
Skye shifted. As she did, she became acutely aware of the soil beneath her, the blood beneath her. She couldn’t contain a shudder. “This doesn’t feel right.”
Ceana leaned back a bit, propping herself up with one arm as she studied Skye. Skye found herself fascinated by those glowing green eyes, like they were portals into a world as ancient and strange as this forest. Within them lay power, power that Skye admired, feared… wanted.
Ceana spoke, snapping Skye back to the topic at hand. “Cathy and Inge want this vampire out of Glamis, for the safety of the city. So long as she is here, she will be a threat to all its inhabitants. She devours twice the blood required of other ethereal.”
Skye’s mind switched back to Aimee. With increased urgency, she asked, “Do you think that she might have something to do with Aimee’s disappearance?”
“Perhaps.”
Skye’s stomach churned with worry, for both Aimee and Nixie. “I first need to talk to Cathy and Inge about this.”
“That’s fair.”
Skye lifted her chin, brows creasing together. “And I’m not prying out information from Nixie that might get him in danger. Understand?”
Ceana inclined her head. “Understood.”
꩜
Skye had stopped by her flat for a change of clothes before texting Cathy, ‘Ceana suggested something to me, I want to speak to you and Inge about it.’ Cathy said to meet them at Blush.
On the way to the club, Skye tucked herself into the back corner of the bus. She eyed the other passengers. Anyone could be the person Ceana was looking for. I should have asked for a description. She judged that the group of tipsy students and a morose older woman were unlikely to be threats.
At Blush, Skye meandered through the crowd, keeping her head low as the bass pummelled her ears. The bouncer at the staircase – a mean-looking Enchanter originally from Iceland – allowed Skye through. But, as she took the first step, he grabbed her arm. He leaned in close.
“Don’t linger in the lounge.” His breath smelt of cigarettes.
Skye contained a scowl. “I’m not daft.”
He released her.
Skye’s eyes flitted over the lounge as she passed through. She saw no people, just shadows within curtained booths.
She continued to the top floor.
Inge was waiting at the doorway of her office. She waved for Skye to follow as she stepped in. Cathy was already there, seated in one of the two teal armchairs. Her smile was tight, and her fingers fiddled with her frilly black choker. Two cups of tea sat on the coffee table.
“Take a seat,” Inge said.
Skye obliged, sitting in the centre of the saffron couch with her knees pressed together.
“Tea?” Inge offered.
“No, thank you,” Skye answered.
Inge sat down on the other armchair. Cathy hooked one leg over the other.
“What did Ceana say to you?” asked Cathy.
Skye’s fingers traced circles over the grooves of the armchair’s fabric. “She’s looking for a vampire who apparently works with a witch. She wants me to get the name of Nixie’s witch.”
Cathy’s expression hardened into a frown. “Ceana did not ask our permission for this.”
“It’s a big no-no for vampires to rope in other people’s familiars without permission from their mentor,” Inge explained.
Skye tilted her head. “This doesn’t interfere with my job as a familiar, though?”
“The duty of a mentor is to keep a familiar safe and to guide them.” Cathy’s tone sharpened. “Ceana is potentially endangering you by getting you involved in this search. Finding this vampire is her job, one she was meant to keep quiet. And now she wants you to deceive your friend.”
Skye felt her shoulders tense into an abashed shrug. “If it might help Aimee, Nixie would understand.”
“How on earth could this help Aimee?” Cathy asked.
Skye bit her lip. “Ceana said that this vampire might be responsible for Aimee’s disappearance.”
Cathy looked to Inge quizzically.
Inge’s fingers tapped on her mug. “I s’pose nothing is impossible, but I doubt the two events are related. Causing random humans to disappear draws attention, which anyone who is trying to hide does not want. I think Ceana just wants your cooperation.”
Skye felt bitterness in the back of her throat. “If that’s the case, why doesn’t she just mind control me?”
Cathy picked up her tea. “Enchanters can sense if other people have recently had their minds tampered with, like a ripple in water. I would be able to tell if Ceana did that to you. Inge would drive her out of Glamis if she did that. It is unlawful to use psychic powers like that on another’s familiar.”
“But she read my mind in the forest?” Skye said.
“Looking at water doesn’t disturb it.” Cathy’s gaze landed on her tea. “The mind works in a similar way.”
Skye crossed her arms. “If she’s unlikely to have caused Aimee’s disappearance, why do you both want her to find this vampire?”
Inge shook her head. “It’s a… political issue. The chances of this vampire seriously hurting anyone are very slim, because she wants to keep a low profile. It’s her… notoriety which is a problem. Ceana is just one of many who seek this vampire out.”
Skye mused on the vampire’s bloodthirst. “How does this vampire get blood, then?”
Cathy took a careful sip of her tea before answering. “We monitor hospitals and police stations closely. There have been no reports of people showing up with bite wounds, and no drained bodies.”
Inge nodded. “I think that’s the best way to locate her – looking closely at blood banks and hospitals, seeing where blood and surgically removed body parts may go missing.”
Skye grimaced. “… Body parts?”
Inge cleared her throat. “As I understand it, this vampire is not opposed to consuming flesh and organs.”
Skye restrained a gag. Grisly.
Cathy finished her tea and set the mug down with a small thud. Her lipstick left some residue on the rim. “I had a similar reaction as you, Skye, when I found out. But I know little of this vampire. Inge and Ceana know more. I’m trusting that they are right, that there is no immediate danger to the people of Glamis. Still, I’d rather she leaves sooner than later. I don’t like you getting involved with this, but… I can tolerate you getting this information for Ceana if it will help get rid of this vampire as quickly as possible. But that’s all. If Ceana asks more from you, refuse.”
Skye held tight onto her thoughts, so that – if Cathy was looking – she hopefully wouldn’t sense that Skye might not heed that warning. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”
The meeting ended with curt, disorientating goodbyes. Skye hurried down the stairs. As she nudged her way through the gathering crowd on Blush’s ground floor, a cold hand took her by the arm to stop her. She pivoted, instinctively pulling her arm back.
It was Emnilda, the adynamos Sunborn. Her black hair had recently been cropped into a fluffy bob. She released Skye’s arm without protest and pulled an affable grin. She leaned in and shouted against the music. “I called your name.”
“Sorry, I didn’t hear,” Skye said.
“That’s fine. It’s noisy. I hate this house trash.” She gestured to the DJ booth. “How about we chat outside, in the back?”
“I should get home before it’s too late. My flatmate is missing, and… yeah, it’s just unnerving, you know?”
“Just a few minutes.” Emnilda’s thick brows raised. “It’s not small talk.”
Skye frowned. “Fine.”
She followed Emnilda through to the outside seats behind Blush. The enclosed area was populated by a handful of smokers who were braving the chilly autumn weather for some nicotine. Emnilda headed over to one of the corner benches, sliding down to sit. She leaned her back against a brick wall, straddling the bench seat.
Skye sat opposite her, watching the Sunborn. Emnilda absentmindedly picked at the table’s flaking paint. After a few moments of silence, Skye spoke. “So, what is it?”
“Hm? Oh.” Emnilda’s honey-gold eyes lifted to Skye. “Inge wants to speak with you. I was sent to keep you here until Cathy left. Will be soon. Any moment.”
“Why all this subterfuge?”
“If I understand correctly, it is you who is engaging in subterfuge.” Emnilda flashed a smirk.
Skye straightened up. “What did Inge tell you?”
“Nothing.”
“Then what do you know?”
“Again, nothing. I only speculate.” Emnilda hummed, weaving through the notes as effortlessly as a hawk in flight.
For a moment, Skye felt taken away by the notes. “What do you speculate?”
“That you don’t wish to be one of the adynamos. It’s not a pleasant life.” Emnilda scratched out some dirt from under her nails. “Perhaps Inge is the one who you are considering as a new mentor?”
Skye remained quiet, frown deepening.
“I wouldn’t blame you.” Emnilda inclined her head forward. “Glamis is safe for us. Outside, however, not so much. We are little more than vermin, in most lands. Killing us is meant to be a last resort when the population’s gotten too big… but the Enforcer back in Poland hunts adynamos for sport without recourse.”
Skye restrained a wince.
“But you probably don’t want to hear my tales of woe.” Emnilda’s tone lightened. “Inge is here.”
Skye turned as Emnilda stood. Inge made her way to the bench, brushing past Emnilda before sitting opposite Skye.
“I’m sorry for keeping you,” Inge said. “I wanted to talk with you alone.”
Skye eyed Inge with suspicion. “What is it?”
“Tell me honestly, do you want to be turned by Ceana?”
“No.” An immediate lie.
“I won’t judge you.”
Skye shifted, tensing. “Ceana never mentioned turning me or anyone. This is about Aimee.” Though this was the truth, she knew she was secretly wishing for more.
Inge propped her head up with her hand. “OK. Well, if being turned is your motive, you won’t get what you want. What Ceana is doing, asking you for help, does not mean that she has any intention of turning you. If anything, she likely finds you useful. Being useful is not good.”
“What do you mean?”
“When you become a vampire, you become a type of equal. That makes you harder to use in the future. If you want to get turned by someone like Ceana, you impress them.”
That piqued Skye’s curiosity. She narrowed her eyes, mulling over what that might look like in practice. She refocused on the conversation. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“I just don’t want you putting yourself in danger all to try to get Ceana to like you.”
An awkward silence lingered over the two as Skye deliberated. The bass of the music changed rhythm, the earth and air twitching against the noise.
Inge began to stand. “That’s all–”
“Wait.” Skye lifted a hand. “You said that you don’t turn people under any circumstances. Why?”
Inge froze. “It’s personal. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Have you never considered turning someone?”
“Never.”
Skye let it go. “Could you answer something else?”
Inge returned to sit. “Go ahead.”
“What is Ceana really like? You said you know her well.”
The Enforcer frowned faintly. “I wouldn’t say I know her well. I travelled with her long ago, and she doesn’t share much about herself with anyone. But I know that she seeks justice, and she never forgives. She holds on to anger.”
“Do you think that this vampire she’s looking for wronged her?”
“I don’t know. I struggle to read her. Her rage is… quiet. All her emotions are, really.” Inge focused on Skye. “You can help her get the name of the witch – that should be safe enough. But don’t get any more involved than that. Whatever is going on between Ceana and that vampire, you don’t want to get caught in the crossfire.”
The vampire rose and left back into the club. Movement above pulled Skye’s gaze up. An owl took flight, soundless as a shadow.