Where Loyalty Lies (29 page)

“Where are we going?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“We’re having new tests done today,” Phillip replied, not answering my question at all. I didn’t bother pushing it, there was no point, I’d find out soon enough.

Sure enough, we soon got to a door that looked like all the others we’d passed. There was no sign on it to indicate what would be waiting inside which was a good thing because, if I’d known, it probably would have taken a lot more than a shove from Phillip to get me in there.

At first glance it looked similar to the room I had my dental exams in. There was a brown leather chair in the centre of the room with a set of bright lights shining directly onto it. To one side was a series of hospital trolleys with the tops covered in sheets. What was different were the three vampires that were all milling around the room. One of them was a female with shoulder length brown hair that she was pulling up into a twist and sliding a plain metal clip into.

One of the men was shorter than most vampires I’d seen but all I could see of him was his short dark hair because his face was covered by the video camera he was fiddling with.

The second guy was tall with broad shoulders and an air about him that screamed arrogance, but that might have been because he was holding his chin about two inches higher than people usually did. His hair was also dark but, unlike video-camera-guy, his was long and fell in waves just below his shoulders. He came over and started speaking to Phillip but I didn’t hear his words because I’d just taken a closer look at the chair and panic was making my pulse pound in my ears. There were restraints for my arms and legs. Thick leather straps with some serious looking buckles.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

Phillip gave me one of his false smiles. “Faine, this is Robert, he’s also a doctor and he’s here to help me with your tests today.”

I hardly spared a glance for Robert. Instead I looked back at the chair, searching for any clues as to what was going on. Phillip misjudged my look.

“And that’s Martin who’s here to document and photograph, and Anne who’s here to assist.” He started to push me toward the chair but I dug my heels in.

“No, what’s going on?” I repeated.

“Nothing to get worked up about,” Phillip insisted, increasing his force on my back.

“Then why are there restraints on that chair?” I snapped. “And what the hell is under those sheets.” I eyed the trolleys more carefully now but their contents were completely covered.

“Come on now, Faine, you’re making a fuss over nothing and wasting everybody’s time.”

Phillip tried to grab me but I twisted out of his grip and got to the door. My panic rose as I realised the door was locked. When the hell had they locked the door? I dropped my pile of clothes and gripped the door handle, trying desperately to open the door with sheer strength. When I realised it wasn’t going to work I turned and pressed my back against it. Everyone was staring at me now, their looks ranging from annoyance to amusement, there was no pity. Robert started towards me. I knew I stood no chance of winning a fight with any of them but I didn’t want to fight, I just wanted to know what was going on.

“Wait,” I shouted as Robert got within five feet of me. “I just want to know what’s going to happen; surely you don’t expect me to get strapped into that chair when I have no idea what you’re going to do to me.”

Robert stopped. He knew as well as I did that he could get me into that chair whether I wanted to or not, but he must have decided that it would go a whole lot easier if I was calm.

“You don’t need to worry.” His voice had a slight accent that sounded strange under the phoney British accent he was trying to cover it up with. “The straps are merely a precaution.”

“Then why have those trolleys been covered up with sheets?” I asked.

A flicker of annoyance crossed Robert’s face. Realising he was the only one being vaguely decent, I decided to try and at least sound like I was playing nice.

“I mean, I just want to know. Whatever it is, I’ll do it, but I’d rather know what it is first.” The lie fell off my tongue easily and I hoped none of the vamps here had the ability to detect if I was lying.

Robert gave a nod to Anne and she gently pulled back one of the sheets to show two knives. Not tiny little operation blades and not whopping great machetes but somewhere in between.

An odd noise came out of my mouth and I pushed back on the door wondering if I could break it down if I tried my hardest.

“What are they for?” I asked Robert.

“We just need to make a few tiny cuts so that we can observe your reaction and the speed of your healing.” He started moving towards me and an overwhelming sense of entrapment hit me. I desperately tried to think of something to say that would make them stop for just a minute so that I could get my head round it, but Robert seemed to be bored of waiting. He grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the chair.

“Wait!” I shouted again. “Please just stop, please. I just need a minute to think, just a minute, please. Please just explain it to me.”

I felt my feet lift off the ground and then I was sitting on the chair. Before I could struggle, Phillip was at my feet, strapping them in and Robert was doing the same to my arms. I felt a strap being tied across my forehead and, as I could see Martin in front of me, attaching the video camera to a tripod, I assumed it was Anne who was securing the strap.

My words had turned to ramblings and so I stopped; that wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I took a deep breath knowing that they were more likely to respond to a sane question.

“Can I ask for someone?” I asked. “Please let me have someone I know here. It’ll make me calmer, I promise.” I directed my question at Robert as he was the only person I could see now that I couldn’t move my head. He hesitated.

“If you’d like us to call Holt then we can, but he’s very busy. I’m not sure he’d take kindly to losing a day to come and sit here.” Robert looked at me, waiting for an answer.

I wanted to say yes, to tell him to call Holt right this second and insist that he get down here straight away but I was remembering what Holt had said just after my visit to The Sénat when he’d discovered that I’d have to go through tests. He’d said that they’d be intrusive and exhausting but that I just needed to stick with them for four months. Had he known that this would be one of the tests? If he did know, then Robert was right, Holt might be embarrassed that I was making such a fuss. If Holt didn’t know about this, then I was guessing it was because he wouldn’t approve of it and, in that case, if I called him here he’d be pissed with Phillip and Robert and he might get into trouble with The Sénat for interfering in my tests. Either way, I knew I couldn’t call him. The only other vampires I knew well enough where Henry and Saul and I couldn’t call either of them for the same reasons I couldn’t call Holt. With that knowledge, I stopped struggling. Surely they weren’t actually going to do anything serious? It would probably just be a couple of tiny pricks and afterwards I’d laugh at how much fuss I’d made.

“No, don’t call him,” I said. “It’s okay.”

I closed my eyes. I was far from calm, in fact I was so terrified that my whole body was shaking but I was here now and there wasn’t much I could do to change that. The best thing I could do was to keep still and hope it would be over soon. I felt pads being stuck onto my temples and chest and a firm pressure grip onto my finger and then the room filled with a beeping. It was my pulse and, when I heard how fast it was going, I renewed my efforts to calm myself.

“Right,” Phillip said. “We’re going to start by making a small cut on the subject’s right arm with a standard steel blade.”

I knew his explanation was for the benefit of the video documentary. I wasn’t sure if it made me feel better or worse.

There were a few noises around me that I tried to block out and then I felt a hand on my right elbow. I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter. A sharp pain bit into a spot just below my shoulder and I gritted my teeth together so hard I thought they’d break from the pressure. I felt the blade slice down and I cried out in pain. There was silence for a few moments and, when I opened my eyes, I saw they were all staring at my arm expectantly.

“If you’re waiting for it to heal, then you’ll be standing there a long time,” I snapped. Robert was the only one who glanced at me. “You don’t think I’ve fallen over in twenty years? You think I’ve gone all that time without getting cuts and scrapes? I can tell you right now that the wound you just made is going to take at least a week to heal.”

Robert studied my arm for a moment longer before declaring his diagnosis. “It seems that cuts with a steel blade do not heal at the same rate as a full-blooded vampire,” Robert commented.

“No shit,” I said. “Where the hell did you get your degree? Vampire medical school for complete morons?” I saw the black in Robert’s pupils increase slightly as he scowled.

“Have you ever been cut with silver?” he asked.

“No,” I replied.

“Well, that’s our next test,” Robert said. They all moved again and came to a stop at my left arm. I racked my brains to try and remember what I knew about vampires and silver but then I felt that familiar sharp pain in my arm and knew I was out of time.

For the first few seconds it felt just as it had before and I gritted my teeth against the pain but then it started to burn. I swore, thinking they were putting a flame to my arm but, out of the corner of my eye, I could see they weren’t doing anything. It was the silver that was scorching me. The burning increased and I felt like my whole arm was being eaten away by flames. I screamed over and over, desperately pulling against my restraints. My back arched up out of the chair and I was distantly aware of someone pushing me back down and fastening a strap around my waist. All coherent thought was wiped from my brain and all I could think about was the pain.  After what felt like hours the pain seemed to turn down a couple of notches and I was left gasping for air and trying to slow my heart rate before it exploded. When the beeps on the machine were significantly slower I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry at first but some blinking improved it.

I felt so dizzy I had to try hard not to vomit. Phillip and Robert were both leaning over me to inspect the wound on my arm.

“Arseholes!” I cursed. I couldn’t manage any more words; instead I tried to convey my hatred through a glare. That wasn’t easy though. Their images kept sliding in and out of focus as the edges of my vision were hijacked by an inky blackness. I wasn’t even sure I was looking directly at them.

“I think we’ve done enough for today,” Phillip said.

I knew his sudden decision to end the torture treatment was because he thought he’d broken me. I was sure that vamps could probably get shot and not be in the state I was in. Every muscle in my body ached from the seizures that ripped through me. I felt like I hadn’t slept in years and my head was pounding to the same fast pace of my thumping heart.

“Anne will cover your wounds, but you’re not to do anything else with them.” Phillip continued, “You must use no creams or lotions to help them heal and you can’t take any tablets, even pain killers, because we need to see how your body heals on its own.”

I nodded, too exhausted to point out that taking paracetamol wasn’t going to have any effect on the injuries they’d just given me.

“You’ll need to come to my office at eight every morning so that we can take daily photos and monitor your recovery.” Then he and Robert left without saying another word.

Anne undid my restraints and I instinctively tried to get out of the chair but came to a stop when my whole body seemed to scream in pain. She pushed me back onto the chair and set about washing and wrapping my wounds. She had a strictly professional manner and she took no notice of my wincing and whimpering. I made a deliberate effort not to look at either of my arms. I wanted to wait until I was in the privacy of my rooms before I freaked out about it.

Martin had gathered his equipment and had left as well. I sat patiently while Anne finished and, when she indicated that I could move, I slowly stood up.

I hobbled over to the sink to splash water onto my face and to rinse out my mouth. The water came out red and I realised that my teeth had done a fair bit of damage to the insides of my cheeks.

Anne left the room and I changed back into my clothes which had been unceremoniously dumped in the corner. I lost track of how long it took me to dress as moving either of my arms caused so much pain.

The journey back to my rooms was long and I was relieved that I passed only a couple of people on the way. Thankfully, my day had finished early and so nobody was waiting for me.

My bed was the most wonderful sight in the world. Today’s flower looked like some kind of orchid. Its petals were yellow with dark pink spots. Using my right arm, because it hurt slightly less, I popped the flower into the vase I now kept on my bedside table with all the other flowers I’d kept. A couple of them looked like it was their turn to be thrown away but that would have to wait.

Fully clothed, I slid into bed making sure the duvet covered my damaged arms in case Holt came to check on me. I was asleep in seconds.

For the millionth time I ransacked my wardrobe to see if there was something else I could wear. I didn’t know if the Halloween party was fancy dress or not. Dale hadn’t said it was and I’d decided I’d rather be the only person not wearing a costume, than the other way around. My wardrobe didn’t reveal anything that hadn’t been there five minutes ago so I decided to stick with what I had on. I’d gone for a black skirt with fine netting over the top and a plain black low cut top that had sleeves just long enough to cover the cuts that were still on the tops of my arms. A pair of black strappies finished off the outfit.