Chapter 4

As soon as Tom heard the bloodcurdling scream his first thought was that Sarah was dead. There weren’t many times people screamed like that and when there was a human in a building full of “monsters” that sort of cry could only mean one thing. He had been a fool to fall asleep and not keep an eye on her, but he hadn’t been able to stay awake any longer. The human side of him was … well … human, and sleeping, eating and irrational thoughts of being in charge of a situation he could never hope to control were a big part of him.

Tom didn’t bother to glance at the orb on his bedside table, not wanting to waste a moment as he raced from his room. He was glad he had fallen into an exhausted sleep in his clothing, again, if it turned out to be a false alarm he wouldn’t risk offending her more by rushing into her room half-naked. Throwing open her door, the lock easily giving way under his magical force, he could see the ghosts around her, could see the ashen look on her face and watched as she fell back onto the bed. Slamming the door, he moved swiftly into the room sure that he was too late.

The mist swirled around the bed as the ghosts turned to see what had interrupted their evening. He counted only three of the spectral beings and a flash of relief coursed through him. The ghosts only wasted a moment as they surveyed him, a moment filled with a silent battle of wills before an unearthly sigh emanated from them and within a moment they were gone. The mist, the ghosts and the haunted feeling that had been in the room when he arrived all left in the blink of an eye as if they had never existed.

Tom made his way over to the bed after taking a moment to lock the door again, magically, to prevent any other unwanted visitors lured by the noise. He was wondering as he approached her prone form what he was going to do if she was dead. No matter what he had told himself earlier he knew he wouldn’t forgive himself if she didn’t survive her stay in this realm. He may not have asked for the responsibility of looking after her but he was responsible and he knew the guilt would stay with him.

Thankfully she was still breathing. The even rise and fall of her chest, barely covered he couldn’t help but notice, was almost hypnotic in its normality. She must have fainted, which he supposed would be a natural response for a human when finding a few ghosts beside the bed in the middle of the night.

Tom noticed the cuts on her hand and arm then, the bleeding had slowed but the wounds were visible and the blood had marked her sheets. He sat on the edge of the bed carefully and roused her. She came slowly back to reality as if not wanting to be awake, maybe scared of what might be waiting for her this time.

Sarah awoke to find Tom sitting on the edge of the bed and her first irrational thought was to wonder if she was covered properly. Reaching for the dress she had left on the bed nearby she dragged it over herself and held it tightly in front of her while moving to sit upright. The pain in her hand made her flinch as she touched the mattress beneath her and as she looked at the mark of bright red smeared across the sheet, slowly the memories of what had happened came back.

‘Shh, it’s alright they’ve gone.’

Sarah heard Tom’s words but he was talking as if there had been some pesky mice or cockroaches in her room, not murderous ghosts attacking her.

She eyed him cautiously as he made a move towards her before she realised the pain that was radiating from the gash she had received earlier. The dress she held tight against her stemmed the blood but she could already see a bright red patch on the material. Switching hands on her scant modesty she allowed him to hold her injured forearm in his strong hands, not liking the intimacy of the situation but able to find some odd comfort from being nursed.

‘Hold still,’ he said in a quiet, calm tone while focusing on the cut on her arm.

As she watched the bleeding stopped, the cut closed, and the skin healed without a mark.

‘What happened? How’d you do that?’ Sarah asked as she snatched her arm back and examined the spot where the wound had been, there wasn’t even a scar.

Tom indicated to her injured hand next and she carefully altered her hold on the dress and offered the less damaged appendage. Afterwards, an inspection of her injured hand showed her the same results as her arm.

‘Don’t worry about it now, go back to sleep. I’ll stay here tonight and make sure you don’t have any more unwanted visitors.’

Sarah didn’t want to sleep, what she wanted was for him to answer her questions. Still, there was something about his tone that she couldn’t refuse as the thought of sleep became more and more appealing. She lay back, her eyes getting heavy and her mind starting to drift. Just before sleep claimed her completely, she remembered something she needed to know.

She tried to fight the lethargy, tried to remember exactly what had happened and tried to ask Tom a question but the memories were quickly becoming foggy and her body already felt too heavy to move. The memory became less important as she drifted back to sleep. Her last thought was the question she had wanted to ask; she needed to know if one of the ghosts had been a woman.

Tom moved over to the armchair that Sarah had spent most of her evening in and watched the woman on the bed. She was sleeping soundly as if all the dramas of the day had never happened and he felt slightly proud that he had been able to provide her with that much peace at least. Sighing silently, he removed his cards from his pocket and started playing with the deck. He needed to think. He couldn’t believe he had been so foolish to only ward the door against the threat in the building, not every creature had to use the door.

It was a stupid mistake and one that could have cost Sarah her life. It was also one that was easy to fix and he spent the next few moments warding every crease and crevice of the room against unwanted visitors and spending more time perfecting the one on the door. Still, he was careful with this spell as he couldn’t bring himself to ward the entrance completely. It would mean he wouldn’t be able to get into her room without her permission, permission only granted by an open door.

There was already a warding against teleportation, something he had put in place with the original door warding as he wasn’t the only creature in the place that knew those tricks. If he closed off his only way of entering her room, he wouldn’t be able to save her if the events of tonight repeated themselves. Ignoring the fact that she was now fully protected while in the confines of the room and wouldn’t need rescuing he left the warding on the door as it was.

Sarah moaned slightly and he glanced over to her again to make sure she was still sleeping soundly, before weaving the spell over her a bit stronger until he could see her fall back into a deeper sleep. He wondered as he watched her what was possessing him to go to these lengths for her. Was it just the responsibility he felt for her or had she started to get to him? Tom sighed again as he shuffled his cards, he hoped not for both of their sakes.

The next morning Sarah woke feeling groggy as if she had consumed too much alcohol the night before. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she had been out with her friends and had the after-effects of one of their rare but fun let-your-hair-down nights. Quickly the illusion vanished as she noticed the white curtains surrounding the huge posts of her bed. As the events of the night came back to her, she grabbed the thick covers over herself and sat up with a start realising that she probably wasn’t alone in the room.

She noticed Tom sitting in the armchair across from the end of the bed. He had moved a small table in front of him and she could see he was playing Solitaire with the cards that were his constant companion. The only illumination in the room was coming from the light from the bathroom. The scene felt intimate and even though she was fully covered Sarah felt vulnerable, her near nakedness being forefront of her mind.

‘Feeling better this morning?’ Tom asked without looking up from his game.

Sarah looked at her arm quizzically, it looked like it had never been injured. She decided not to answer as the question seemed too complex to be addressed without coffee. Physically she felt fine, but mentally, emotionally and even spiritually she felt abused, vulnerable and terrified.

‘I need to get dressed,’ she blurted out instead, focusing on the mundane. It was disconcerting waking up with a strange man in her bedroom and wasn’t a practice she was used to.

Tom stood up wordlessly and didn’t look at her as he moved out of the room and into the hall. Watching him as he moved confidently through her room Sarah wasn’t pleased with how he looked perfectly put together even though he must have been awake half the night. She barely waited for the door to close before leaping out of bed and pulling the dress on assuming it wouldn’t be long before he returned. She was correct and after a few minutes, she heard his knock before he re-entered the room.

Knowing how she must look she glanced down at her dress and saw the blood marks on the fabric, a shudder ran through her body as she remembered how they had gotten there. She glanced over at Tom, he stood calmly as if waiting for her to say something but she suddenly felt shy, unsure of herself in this strange world. She could no longer deny that there was something unholy going on in the building, the blood seemed to prove it and even if it was fake the pain she remembered from the cuts couldn’t have been an act. Surely a magician couldn’t go so far as to hurt someone, there had to be some laws against that.

Moving over to the window she shifted open the curtain slightly and peeked out to the world, noticing the pale sunlight filtering through the thin clouds in the morning sky. It must be early she reasoned as she tried to assess the placement of the sun but was unsure if her guess was accurate. Remembering what could be hiding in those clouds she felt as though she were surrounded by disorder and chaos.

She pulled the curtains back into place, hastily enclosing them in the dimly lit room. The darkness helped soothe her and made her feel safer asking her foolish questions. She could feel Tom’s presence in the room behind her as he silently waited.

‘Will those … things … come back again?’ she asked, hating that her voice trembled. She could taste the fear in the words and stared at the thick window covering in front of her.

‘No,’ Tom answered with a note of finality.

Sarah didn’t want to question his answer as she again felt drawn to believing him and his simple answers. This time she let herself be convinced, the experiences of the night having weakened her resolve.

She sighed and turned to face him, momentarily startled by the small coloured orbs of light surrounding them in the room. She watched as Tom created another and sent it up towards the ceiling. She wasn’t sure if he was doing it purely out of boredom or to further convince her of magic but the odd lighting made her feel more comfortable in asking her questions. It led to intimacy in the conversation.

She sighed. ‘What do I have to do to survive this?’

If Tom was surprised by her change in attitude, he didn’t say anything and to Sarah’s relief, a team of cameramen and crew didn’t come out of the corners of the room to laugh and jeer at her. Suddenly she wished they would, the alternative was too frightening to comprehend.

‘Trust me,’ Tom said. His words sounded simple but still Sarah bulked at putting all her faith into this man. A man that she had only known for a short time and she didn’t feel that she had gotten to know at all.

Trust wasn’t something she just gave to people without knowing them. The thought that he was treating her like an audience still clung to her and she wondered if she could ever get to know him or if he would always hide behind his profession.

‘I know my way around this realm,’ he continued, ‘and I know the other creatures in this place. If you do what I say I can get you safely back to your home soon.’

Suddenly an inspired thought flashed through Sarah’s mind. ‘Can you just teleport me home?’ she asked, causing hope to flare up in her until she noticed his expression and watched him shake his head. She supposed if it had been possible he would have done it already. She knew he would be glad to get rid of her.

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‘I can’t teleport into another realm. Only transport around in the one I’m in. I have to get to another realm the same way as everyone else.’

‘How did I get here in the first place?’

‘I don’t know,’ he admitted slowly. ‘You went through a portal but you should never have been able to enter it and you shouldn’t have ended up on that road that I found you on.’

‘And what exactly is a “portal”?’ She knew the term from all the science-fiction and fantasy books she had read over the years but hearing it used in real life wasn’t something she could get her mind around, she had to make sure she was on the same page.

‘It’s a kind of doorway, to another location. There are portals everywhere so we can come and go quickly, it helps some of these creatures more than others when they need to escape or hideout.’

‘So, the creatures here come into my world?’ She was appalled at the thought. Tom merely looked at her in answer, making her wonder at the man that claimed to be half-human yet consorted with monsters. ‘Which world do you live in?’ The question seemed innocent enough but Sarah knew Tom’s answer could shake her trust in him.

Tom grimaced before replying, ‘I travel a lot.’

‘Between the two realms?’

‘Between all the realms,’ he clarified. ‘There are hundreds of realms Sarah.’

Sarah was sure her mind twisted in on itself at this information. She had a hard enough time comprehending two realms but the thought that there were hundreds of them somewhere out there was overwhelming.

‘How do you know which portal to use?’ she asked confused. ‘Or where you’re going to end up?’

‘We can choose when entering a portal,’ he explained. She could see he was trying to clarify the matter but she just felt more muddled. ‘We all chose to come to this realm.’

Except me, Sarah thought. She hadn’t chosen and wondered what would have happened to her if she had ended up in the wrong realm, without Tom to help her.

‘But you could teleport us to the portal?’ Sarah thought it didn’t sound too dangerous if they just arrived at the portal and stepped through to her realm.

Her hope died as he shook his head. ‘It would take a lot of magic to teleport that distance and it takes time to teleport,’ he explained patiently. ‘The banshees would be able to detect the magic.’

Suddenly a noise cut through the tense silence of the room causing Sarah to jump out of her skin. She bit back on a scream as she placed the noise as a perfectly normal knock on her bedroom door. Tom turned towards the sound sending her a careful look before opening it slightly. Peering around him from her safe distance by the window she could see the vampire on the other side of the door, looking partially interested and partially bored at the same time. It was a look that she had previously thought only teenagers were able to perfect until she met a vampire.

‘Is she dead?’ She heard the undead woman ask conversationally. The tone and the look on the vampire’s face sent a shiver of fear through her, it was as if the other woman was discussing the weather, not Sarah’s life. She saw Delia’s gaze move from Tom and before he could answer she had spied Sarah, looking at her with disdain. ‘Oh well.’

The darkly clothed woman turned to walk away again in a swirl of black skirts but before Tom could close the door she spun quickly around with interest. The disdained look and bored visage dissolved instantly to be replaced with a look of hunger, tinged with something akin to lust. It was a look of gluttony, the passion of feeding a hunger that came from deep within, probably from where the vampire’s soul should have been. Sarah backed off instinctively.

As she carefully moved to the furthest spot from the door she noticed how the vampire was staring at her, or more accurately at her dress and the blood spots that were visible in the dim lighting of the orbs. She watched the predator before her, noticing slight nuances as Sarah’s fear sharpened her senses, focusing her vision on the bunching of the other woman’s muscles and the gleam of teeth as the vampire bared them at her in an unworldly snarl.

Suddenly the vampire lunged into the room and Sarah moved back quickly, cowering against the far wall. She waited for the end, knowing it would be soon and hoping it would be quick. She felt no teeth or pain. Peeking out through her fear-dampened lashes she saw the vampire against the opposite wall, unable to move and straining against what appeared to be invisible ropes holding her in place.

Tom stood between them, having barely moved during the past tension-filled moments. Sarah watched as he closed the door and locked it firmly again. She knew she would have been happier if he had locked the vampire on the other side of the door but there was something in his stance that reassured her. Slowly she straightened as she realised the vampire couldn’t move. By the snarls and growls Delia was making as she stood pressed against the wall beside the doorway, Sarah could tell it wasn’t the vampire’s desired outcome of the situation.

‘Come on Delia,’ Tom’s voice was soothing, unthreatening, as he moved back in front of her. He glanced down at the deck of cards that were in his hand as if the situation was interrupting him from something he would rather be doing. ‘I thought you agreed to leave her alone.’

Delia’s response was incomprehensible. It sounded more like a guttural snarl to Sarah. Still, Tom seemed to understand.

‘I know but I can’t let you hurt her so you’re just going to have to calm down.’ The words were said casually but Sarah could hear the edge of command in his voice, like steel covered in silk.

As Sarah watched, the vampire eventually stopped squirming against her restraints and slowly seemed to return to a somewhat human appearance. The sharp planes of her face softened slightly and the glint of passion dulled in her dark eyes. Still, Sarah wasn’t convinced that she could trust the other woman.

She watched as Tom walked away from the monster, moving slowly and playing with his cards absentmindedly, and hoped that he knew what he was doing as he no longer blocked the path between herself and the vampire. As she looked at his face, hoping for a glimmer of something that would tell her he had everything under control, she realised that she was just watching his performance. He was the magician performing an act and she was once again the audience. She remembered him asking her to trust him, sighing as she realised she had no choice.

‘Now let me go!’ as Delia spoke Sarah could see that the woman’s temper wasn’t completely under control.

The look the vampire gave Tom sent Sarah’s blood cold. She was sure that if it had been directed at a mere mortal they would quickly find themselves six feet under and hoped that the woman’s attention stayed firmly on the magician in front of her. Tom stopped moving and looked at the vampire for a moment; a long assessing look. He didn’t look fazed by her hate-filled glare, simply meeting her eyes steadily.

Suddenly the vampire dropped her gaze to the floor, all the fight leaving her body as she hung limply against the wall. Tom inclined his head slightly and instantly Delia was free, stretching out her muscles as if she had been held for hours. Sarah was sure the vampire was more irritated at being held against her will than having suffered any real discomfort. Any feelings of concern for the vampire were quickly squashed though as she realised that Delia was completely free of whatever it was that had held her, she wasn’t sure that was such a good idea.

Sarah moved back against the wall, wishing that it would swallow her up. Remembering her unwanted trip through the floor to the kitchen she quickly moved slightly away. She hoped the building wouldn’t act out her fleeting wish, then what would happen to her? There may be a vampire in her bedroom but outside her door, there were other monsters, some probably even worse, and no Tom to keep her safe.

If Sarah hadn’t been so terrified of the madness around her she would have laughed and the absurdity of her thoughts. Still, she had a homicidal vampire in front of her and who knew what other dangers lurked around, her only hope of help was the man in the centre of the room that seemed more interested in his cards than in any of the other occupants. The vampire didn’t make a move toward her.

‘I need to find something else for Sarah to wear,’ Tom said, speaking to the vampire carefully and calmly. ‘Do you have anything?’

Sarah couldn’t believe her ears. First, the vampire wanted to drink her blood and now Tom was asking Delia to give her clothing. Looking at the vampire’s attire Sarah hoped she would say no.

‘I don’t usually dress my dinner,’ Delia said stubbornly. There was a strained silence between them before she gave in. ‘I have a few things I don’t wear anymore. I’ll bring them.’

Tom moved to the door with the young woman and let her out of the room, quickly locking the door after her. Sarah thought he might talk to her about what had happened, about how he had restrained the vampire so easily and compelled her to go off to do his bidding. Instead, he sat back in his chair and started another game of Solitaire.

‘Why did she do what you said?’ Sarah asked cautiously. She hadn’t moved from her position in the room, her mind still trying to process everything she had seen.

Tom looked up from his game briefly, his look unreadable.

‘We all have to stick together at the moment,’ he answered looking back at the cards laid out in front of him. ‘It wouldn’t help if we all started turning on each other.’

She tested out his answer and decided she found it lacking. It sounded feasible, but she wondered if it had more to do with the way he had held Delia effortlessly against the wall while the creature was helpless to object. Sarah filed away this knowledge, thinking it would probably be a good idea to stay close to one of the strongest people in this place.

Delia was back quickly with the clothes and left shortly after, barely pausing long enough to throw the articles on the bed before making a hasty retreat. Sarah glanced again at the blood on her dress thinking it was wise for the vampire not to hang around. She didn’t want a repeat of the earlier events and hoped the woman had her hunger under control. Looking at Tom as he casually escorted Delia out of her room she wondered what he would do this time if the vampire got out of line.

Making her way over to the clothing on the bed she was sure that nothing would fit her as the vampire’s body lacked the curves of Sarah’s figure. Sarah worked hard to keep her body in shape but her shape would probably be considered curvaceous compared to the straight lines of the owner of the donated clothing. As she went through the meagre pile she was barely able to suppress the groan that welled up inside her. The clothing the vampire had brought would fit, just, but it was as to be expected; black, tight, short and not at all the type of thing she would generally wear.

Selecting a pair of black jeans, luckily with no holes in them, and a top that she was sure would be both tight and short and was animatedly sporting a picture of a skull with horns, she tried to feel grateful that she had anything to wear at all. She wasn’t going to walk around in a dress with blood on it, as she had already seen how dangerous that was and could imagine what damage it could do if she had to go downstairs. Biting her tongue she walked into the small bathroom, closing the door firmly as she noticed that Tom seemed in no hurry to leave her room.

Looking at herself in the mirror after she had donned the clothing she nearly laughed at the reflection staring back at her. She had pulled her long hair up into a somewhat messy ponytail and with the unusual clothing, she thought no one she knew would recognise her. She had been correct that the top was tight and short, the hem only just reached the top of her jeans so she had to keep pulling it down to completely cover her midriff when she moved. She was grateful that she had washed her underwear the night before so she didn’t have to borrow that as well, absurdly she wondered if the vampire wore any.

Still, the clothing fit and she couldn’t help a tiny smile of pride at her appearance in the tight outfit. This thought was confirmed as she walked out of the bathroom and saw the look of appreciation on Tom’s face as he quickly pocketed his cards. He looked at her intently for a moment, the air hung heavy between them as Sarah became increasingly uncomfortable. Her earlier bravado about her appearance dissolved in the rising tension in the room. He moved towards her as she continued to stand just outside the doorway of the bathroom unsure of what to do. The look he had given her mixed with his movements made her breath catch for a moment.

Tom moved past her into the bathroom and Sarah was surprised by a rush of disappointment. The feeling was quickly pushed aside though as she watched Tom grab the stained bridesmaid clothing that she had discarded on the floor. Suddenly she felt untidy and slobby, she didn’t usually leave her clothing lying around but hadn’t wanted to touch the garments again. She was just about to say something, although she wasn’t sure what she would say as it was her room, but his next action made the words still on her tongue.

Tom dropped the dress into the empty bathtub and as he did she saw something flash from his hand down onto the dress. Sarah yelped and jumped back as she saw the dress catch on fire and within moments was gone. The tiny bit of ash that remained was quickly washed down the drain.

He turned away from the tub and she made room for him to move past her as she stood dumbfounded in the doorway. She watched wordlessly as he returned to the tub and went through the same procedure with the bloodied bedclothes. He walked back towards her, his expression calm as if burning clothing wasn’t out of the ordinary.

‘I thought we’d go back to your car today,’ Tom said as he moved out of the bathroom and across the bedroom.

Spinning around Sarah nodded, too surprised by his actions to answer. She was starting to get the impression that this man had more power and control than she could imagine. It wasn’t just the odd things he did, it was the way he did them with such confidence. It was unnerving.

Tom hadn’t needed an answer as he continued. ‘It’s believed the banshees can sense when a lot of magic is being used, so we will have to avoid teleporting or summoning your items once outside. A few days ago it would have been OK but now they are closer than we expected them to be.’ Sarah nodded dumbly in response. ‘So, we have to do things the mortal way,’ he added with a wry smile. ‘We’ll leave after breakfast.’

She was about to ask about breakfast when she followed his gaze to the tray of food on the dressing table. She knew it hadn’t been there a moment ago and resisted the urge to ask how it had gotten there, knowing what the answer would be. As she moved over to it, she realised she wasn’t going to be eating alone by the two plates on the tray and felt glad. Her stomach tightened at the thought of eating, hungry was the last thing she was feeling after all the events she had been through, but she took a plate and moved to the newly stripped bed opposite the armchair he had been sitting in earlier.

Sarah looked at the food on her plate hoping that it was edible. The more she learnt about this house of Tom’s friend the more reservations she had about every part of her stay there. She remembered the jars and oddities in the kitchen and realised they wouldn’t be the only creatures in the building having breakfast. The thought made her feel sick.

An image of the woman saying that the dining room was no place for someone like Sarah flittered through her mind. The comment made more sense to her now and she was less insulted by the woman’s actions. She was sure she wouldn’t want to be in that dining room watching those monsters eating their unholy meals.

Looking away from her breakfast she glanced at the still-closed curtains, wondering if she had left them open would the sunlight have deterred the vampire in her room? Remembering the nailed-closed curtains of the rooms downstairs she thought it might be true, but surely a realm devoted to the supernatural would be kinder to these creatures. Ignoring how silly she would sound, she cleared her throat self-consciously before asking, ‘Does this sunlight, umm, hurt these creatures like our sun is supposed to?’

Tom nodded slowly before answering cryptically, ‘This is your sun.’

The relief she felt that he had taken her question seriously was short-lived as it was overtaken by her confusion at his answer. Realising that further questions would just bring further confusion she ignored her urge to press further and took a small bite of her buttery toast. As the smell and taste of the food reached her senses she realised just how hungry she was, the events of the night having drained her more than she realised. Soon the plate was empty in front of her.