Emily (14 page)

Slowly, he moved through the underbrush and as he approached the scene he was unprepared for the devastation he saw. Vladimir had wondered why he could smell blood so strongly and it took a moment for him to realise that the faded brown marks everywhere were blood. As his eyes adjusted, he could see what looked like body parts scattered around and realised a slaughter had taken place. Hearing a sound, he quickly turned and saw that Eric had followed him. He looked like he had gone back into shock, his body was quivering and he was transfixed by the scene.

‘Eric, I told you to stay there.’ Vladimir quickly checked to see if there was any danger around. Seeing that there was no immediate threat, Vladimir concentrated on the scene. He moved slowly through the carnage and was horrified to see how mutilated the bodies were. At the edge of the clearing he saw a body that looked intact and as he moved closer the man’s eyes suddenly opened. He was clearly dying, blood gurgled in his throat.

‘
What happened to you?’ Vladimir asked, kneeling down to look at him. He recognised the man as one of the guards that had held him down. Eric stood behind Vladimir.

‘
You did this to us, you boys became demons,’ the man’s voice was rasping, the blood made it hard for his words to be clear.

‘
No, you lie,’ Eric interjected.

But the man did not hear him for he had died and Eric knew in his heart that what the man had said was true. He had vague memories that were muddled and in them he saw men screaming and trying to run from him. Vladimir had the same thoughts and for a split second he was close to panicking. Then he turned and saw Eric
’s face, and the wall of control came down again, and he was surprised at how clearly he could think.

Suddenly his eye caught a blue item of clothing and as he bent to pick it up he realised that it was the blue blouse that Valeskia had been wearing. It was covered in blood. He looked further and saw the skirt she had being wearing.

Vladimir’s heart was beating fast as he thought ‘Oh, my God, what if we have killed her as well?’ but he found no memory to support that. The thought made the bile in his stomach rise and he vomited then turned quickly away from it, as he did not want to see what the contents were.

‘
Vlad, come here,’ Eric’s voice was low; he was looking at something.

Vladimir didn
’t want to look. Something in Eric’s voice told him it was going to be awful. Slowly he looked in the direction of where Eric was and at first his mind refused to acknowledge what he saw. And then it hit him. It was hair – dark, chocolate, curly hair and it was covered in blood. It looked like all of Valeskia’s hair. Vladimir knew she was dead and fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. He let out a scream that was not quite human. Rage pulsated through his body and he so badly wanted to kill something.

Eric was now in full shock, his body was cold and his mind had shut down behind a big curtain that he wanted to hide beneath.

Vladimir stayed on his knees for over an hour as the rage pulsed over and over in his body. It was so strong he couldn’t move. Then he had a memory of his mother and a lesson she taught him.

‘
You are strong in body, Vladimir, but your greatest strength is your mind – always think before you act. If you can’t think of a way out, just think of the next step.’

Her words were so strong in his mind that Vladimir slowly felt the rage subside. She would expect him to save himself and Eric.

It was late in the day and Vladimir knew they had to act quickly. Instructing Eric to help collect the body parts, they built a fire and burned them. It wouldn’t cover what had happened but Vladimir wanted to make it hard for anybody to work out what had actually occurred.

Vladimir and Eric hiked another twenty miles before they stopped for the night. Eric caught a couple of rabbits for dinner while Vladimir made a small fire to cook the food, but as soon as Eric had skinned the rabbits both men devoured them raw. This upset Eric after he had finished.
I am an animal
, was all he could think.

Unrolling the sleeping bags from two of the packs, Vladimir instructed Eric to get into
one, he could see how exhausted he was. Actually, he thought to himself, so am I, and climbed into one as well. Both sleeping bags were unzipped for a quick escape if needed. Valeskia had taught them that trick many years ago. The night brought dark dreams for both of them with Vladimir coming awake when Eric cried out in his sleep. Moving his body closer to Eric, Vladimir put his arms around him. Eric relaxed at his touch and soon drifted back into an easier sleep.

Lying in the dark Vladimir
’s mind drifted to the past. He knew there was a clue, something that he should remember, something his mother had told them. And just before dawn a memory popped into his head.

He must have been about twelve and Eric five when, after another quick departure from a village, Valeskia had taken them to a farm. It was old but it was kept neat and tidy by an old couple. What was unusual about them was that they knew her. Vladimir had never met anybody from Valeskia
’s past before. After greeting her warmly they showed the group to a barn with the old woman bringing the boys a most delicious stew to eat. After Valeskia thought the boys had fallen asleep, she got up quietly and went to the farmhouse.

Vladimir followed and waited outside a window where he heard his mother ask the couple,
‘Thora, Sven, do you know of any others that have escaped the camps?’

Thora replied,
‘We have heard of a few, Varrick has become good at tracking down anyone who escapes. Those with the curse usually die though, it’s too hard to live in this world transformed.’

Vladimir stepped on a stick and in a flash Sven was outside with a shot-gun.

‘It is only me,’ Vladimir choked, he had never had a gun pointed at him before.

‘
Vladimir, why have you left Eric?’ Valeskia scolded.

‘
He is asleep,’ Vladimir replied, feeling guilty.

‘
If he wakes and you’re not there you know he will be upset. Go back to him, I’ll be along shortly.’ Valeskia said sternly. Vladimir ran back to the barn, but Eric was still sleeping soundly.

The next day as they journeyed on, Vladimir tried to get Valeskia to talk about the couple but all she would say was,
‘Later, later,’ and that was the end of it.

‘
That’s it,’ Vladimir thought to himself, ‘we need to find that couple, they will have the answers we need.’

After Eric had awoken, Vladimir told him of the plan.

‘Where is the farm?’ Eric asked. He had no memory of the place.

‘
I am not sure,’ Vladimir replied. In the early days of his life he did not always know where they were. ‘I remember that I saw the Bohemian Ore Mountain peak, it was close to where the farm was.’

‘
Vlad, that is over three hundred miles from here.’ Eric was dubious about the plan.

‘
I don’t have any other ideas, Eric, and we need answers.’ Eric knew that Vladimir was right. He was so tired and wanted to go back to town.

‘
Can we just go back to town?’ Eric asked quietly. Vladimir knew what was going through Eric’s head and could see that he had fallen in love with Rachel.

Softly Vladimir replied,
‘No Môn vieux, if we go back the people we care about will get hurt.’

Vladimir hated the look that was on Eric
’s face so he turned and picked up Valeskia’s pack. It was fruitless carrying it anymore so he opened it to see if he could use any of the items. The smell of her perfume wafted out and a wave of sorrow flooded over him. Apart from her spare clothes, she had over 34 500 Czech dollars and a small silver coffee pot, which surprised Vladimir, it was so unlike Valeskia to have anything that was sentimental. He also found, at the bottom of the pack, an old pocket watch and a map of the world. When he opened up the watch he knew instantly that it belonged to Eric. He could see a lock of hair the same colour as Eric’s and the picture of the girl looked too much like Eric to doubt who it was. He then opened up the old map and saw that Australia had a red circle around it. Folding the map back up, he tucked it and the silver pot into his bag. He would carry on with his mother’s mysteries, whatever they were.

Before he handed the pocket watch to Eric, Vladimir removed an old leather wallet and took out the only picture of Valeskia that he had, then placed it in the watch next to Dusana.

‘This is a picture of your mother, keep it safe.’ He gave the watch to Eric.

Eric was silent and looked at the watch for a long time before putting it into his pocket. As they placed the packs on their backs to begin the journey to the peak, Eric asked the burning question,
‘Why has this happened to us?’

Vladimir was silent for a long time before answering.
‘I don’t know, I only know what matters now! We must survive.’

Eric began to answer Vladimir but instead turned in the direction of the mountain peak. The men ran for hours and did not stop until the sun had set on the day.

* * *

It took the boys just under a week to find the farm. It was more run-down than when Vladimir had been a child and they watched the place for hours to see if it was safe to approach. They couldn
’t see the old couple anywhere until just before sunset, when the old man came out of the dense woods carrying four rabbits he had hunted. He stood for a moment outside the front door and it looked like he was sniffing the air. The boys crept closer but neither was ready to make themselves known.

After a while the door opened again and the old man called out,
‘I know you’re there. Come on inside, dinner is almost ready.’ The boys froze. Eric was hungry and the smell that was coming from the small cottage was delicious. They looked at each other and Vladimir nodded, they slowly came out into the clearing in front of the house.

‘
Arr, you must be Valeskia’s children, my you have grown,’ the old man spoke to the boys then muttered to himself, ‘Yes, yes, so many years, where do they go?’ Then, to the boys, ‘Come, come, you are safe, there is food for you to eat,’ and he disappeared back into the cottage.

After they entered the house the old man shut the door, this made Vladimir very uneasy.

‘Where is the old woman?’ he asked Sven.

‘
There is only me here now, I buried her out the back two seasons ago. God was finally kind to her and took her quickly,’ and he thought to himself,
I would have died with her that day except for my work today with you both
.

He scooped the steaming stew into two large bowls and gave them to the boys. It was delicious and it was the first hot meal either boy had eaten in a week.

‘My mother is dead,’ Vladimir finally declared.

‘
I thought as much with you both showing up here without her,’ Sven replied sadly.

‘
Can I have some more?’ Eric asked. He felt like his hunger was never going to end.

‘
Yes, yes, of course,’ and the old man scooped more stew into both of their bowls.

Vladimir relaxed slightly, the room was warm and for the first time in over a week his belly was full. He could see that Eric was sleepy but Vladimir wanted answers.

‘Old man,’ he said, ‘my Mother did not tell us what we were running from.’

‘
We have become monsters,’ Eric interjected, ‘we turn into wolves.’

‘
I see,’ the old man replied calmly, he could feel the change in them both.

‘
I need to know what we are,’ Vladimir’s tone demanded answers.

The old man was impressed with how commanding Vladimir was. Valeskia had done a good job raising him.

‘You are part of an experiment that started many years ago. A part of who you are has been altered by witchcraft or science, I really don’t know. You are lucky to have been cursed as a wolf.’

‘
Lucky?’ Vladimir stammered.

‘
Yes lucky,’ the old man replied. ‘There are darker creatures being created in the camps.’

‘
Can you tell us what will happen to us?’ Vladimir asked.

Sven paused. He thought of Valeskia and knew she would want him to help the boys. But the truth was, no one survived outside of the camps once the curse had been activated. Looking at Vladimir, the old man decided he would be truthful.

‘No one has lived after the curse has taken hold of them.’

Eric gasped,
‘You mean we’re going to die?’

Putting his hand on Eric
’s shoulder, Vladimir asked, ‘Why do you say that? How does it happen?’

‘
Varrick has spies everywhere, when you are wolves you will attack people’s livestock. The stories start and he tracks you down to capture or kill you, it is only a matter of time.’ The old man was genuinely sorry for the boys.

‘
Maybe we won’t turn back into wolves, it has been a week since we turned,’ Vladimir said while trying to stay calm.