Chapter Twenty-Nine

No Turning Back

Savannah spent ten hours by Alexis's side. No words were spoken, no laughs shared – together, they had lain in silence and slumber, revelling in one another’s company. Safe, warm, and united.

Alexis and Lauren were all Savannah had left of her old life. It felt absurd acknowledging that – they’d left behind their previous life and were embracing the new opportunities, and the only thing that had come with them into it was one another (at least, this was the case for Savannah and Alexis). A weight grew in her stomach attached to this realisation.

In truth, those hours they spent together in the Healer’s Quarter, though silent, were the most pleasurable Savannah could remember. After all the pain, loss, devastation, and change… it was what she needed. As much as she abhorred Alexis’s involvement in their new world… she was delighted that she would be by her side, that neither would have to walk this path without the other. Yes, Savannah would have had Lauren, and that was special in itself, but… living the amazing life that she was now promised without Alexis was beyond her comprehension. It was hard enough doing it without Lyra, or her brothers, but the pain of that deprivation was somewhat mitigated by Alexis's presence.

It took a day for Alexis to come back to full health. Afterwards, she and Savannah made their way towards Archaic - The Seven had called a meeting. Rather than teleporting, they elected to walk through the meadows along the cliff’s edge; the effervescent sky above showed no sign of encroaching darkness. Seagulls cawed overhead and the smell of salt drifted over to them.

‘How you feeling?’ Savannah asked.

Alexis’s eye line swept across the horizon. ‘I’m good. I feel more like myself now I’ve woken up. Weird, mind - never been knocked out before. Not to say that anyone hasn’t tried before...’

‘I mean, that’s good, but that’s not what I meant. I meant… emotionally.’

Alexis shrugged. ‘I’m fine. It’s over now, isn’t it? It’s tragic that they’re gone, but… we’re still here. I’m happy that we’ve got amazing things before us. I plan to have a lot of fun. Way I see it, we’re lucky, and all we can do is make the most of our own lives. Rebuild. Start fresh. We’ve got our revenge. That fucker Titus is dead.’

Savannah gave a mournful smile. ‘That’s true. It’s over, it’s done. It’s just… it’s a damn tragedy that only we get to experience it.’

Alexis looked at her. ‘It is. Nothing we could have done, though. We’ve just got to move on as best we can. We’ve got a lot to look forward to, Savannah.’

‘A lot to look back on, too.’

Alexis shrugged, pursing her lips. ‘No good looking back too much. You spend too much time mourning and looking regretfully at things that have happened, playing the ‘if only’ game, wondering what would have happened if you’d done this or that… you become mired in the past. It’s like quicksand - sure, there’s the possibility you can navigate your way through and you might get through unscathed… but there’s always a risk. You can get stuck, you can fall, or you succumb to it and let it envelop you wholly and permanently, and getting up again can be the most difficult thing you experience - if you ever do get up again, that is. Better to not walk through the quicksand at all, no? You don’t want to spend your life looking back, Savannah. You’ll block your mind to what’s in front of you.’

Savannah gave her a look. ‘You’re strange, you know that? Some might say you’re wise beyond your years. I say you’re a freak and you have a strange outlook.’

Alexis gave a hearty laugh. ‘How fuckin’ rude. Still, ‘strange’ runs in the family, doesn’t it? Look at you, you’re the biggest mong I’ve ever come across.’

Savannah turned her lips downwards in concession. ‘Fuck you. Hey, speaking of freaks – what’s gonna happen to Dad, you think?’

Alexis laughed, without humour this time. ‘God knows. I’m glad I don’t have to see him again, at the very least. That’s one of the best results of all of this. I don’t know… hopefully he’ll drink enough that all his organs fail. I don’t care who he really is, he deserves to go out in the most painful, gruesome manner possible.’

Savannah sucked her teeth. ‘Whatever else he is, he’s still our dad… I don’t know, on some level do you not think that, in light of everything, maybe he deserves another chance? For all we know, losing-’ The words caught in her throat and a tear came to her eye. She took a moment and looked out across the waves. They were calm, washing up onto the beach without haste. Watching them, she found they relaxed her, easing her thoughts. ‘Mum, Aaron and Theo… maybe losing them will affect him badly. Maybe it will kick him into gear. Maybe he’ll realise what he has with us and value us for a change and maybe… maybe we should give him the same chance.’

Alexis turned her nose up and looked right at Savannah. ‘No, Savannah, don’t be so fucking stupid. That sort of thinking was the main thing that killed mum! There’s no way in hell any of this would affect him. He doesn’t have any emotional capacity whatsoever and, no matter how much you might like to believe otherwise, he isn’t going to be shocked into feeling. You heard him - most of this is his fault. He fucking killed Grandma, or did you forget that? We’re nothing but a project to him. He can’t change, Sav, and he isn’t worth our time. Not one second of it. Be real with yourself – you know just as well as I do that everyone dying will come as a relief to him. Burdens off his shoulders. I imagine he’s never been happier than now. Sorry, but it’s the truth.’

Savannah fell silent for the rest of the journey. Alexis was right. Her father was a void; there was nothing left in him. No redemption, no love, no capacity for growth. It was foolish to hang onto it, but in time, that hope would fade. It was born of loss, of a portion of her that struggled against leaving her old life behind and, as a result, was desperate to cling onto what little remained, like staying with a partner despite them being toxic for you, sticking by them for the tiny shards of who they used to be that shine through every six months.

However, the rational rest of her knew that Jeremy would never change. There was no going back for her in any sense.

*

Lauren wore a grave expression and sat motionless, her body rigid, a pillar of stone. She, Kyra, Tristan, and Malik were gathered at the table in the Seven’s meeting room; Kyra and Malik betrayed concern - Kyra’s leg jiggled and Malik’s eyes jumped to and fro. Tristan, conversely, was enjoying himself. His heavy, black boots, as usual, were propped up on the table, and an elastic grin stretched across his lips the moment Savannah and Alexis entered the room.

‘Well, well, all welcome the troublemakers! What a mess you find yourself in! What a tragedy that must be for you. How… glorious that is for me.’

Savannah ignored him and looked instead at Lauren. Taking a seat beside her while Alexis took occupancy at the head of the table, she said, ‘what’s he cracking on about?’

Lauren hesitated. She shared a glance with Kyra before responding. ‘We… have a small problem.’

Savannah groaned. Head in her hands, she asked, ‘oh, god, what now?’

‘I… left Bradshaw and Robertson to go about their business.’

Tristan chuckled. ‘Oh, so this is your misdemeanour? The smart thing to do would have been to silence them a mite more permanently. But, you failed, and compromised us all. Not your finest decision, dearest.’

‘Will you shut up?’ Savannah snapped. She twisted her body to minimise her view of Tristan and addressed Lauren. ‘What does it matter?’

‘I told them that no-one would believe them even if they did tell anyone what they saw, and they agreed that it wouldn’t go any further than us. I thought that was that, problem solved. Well…’ Lauren fiddled with a remote, running her fingers around the circular buttons. ‘Not quite. See… I didn’t take Bradshaw’s phone.’

Tristan whistled. ‘Oh, my sweet, naïve, little fool.’

Lauren pressed a button on the remote and a screen in the wall opposite displayed a news broadcast.

‘What’s this?’ Savannah said, eyes darting back and forth between Lauren and the screen. ‘Lauren, can you hurry up and tell me what’s going on?’

‘Patience, deary!’ Tristan said in a mocking, sing-song tone. ‘We’re savouring the moment!’

‘Just hit play, will you, Lauren? Silence this dick for once,’ Kyra said, throwing Tristan a dirty glare. Lauren did as she was bid and the news anchor began speaking.

‘This evening, the Prime Minister gave a speech to all major news outlets following disturbing reports surfacing from northern England over the past few days. We have been instructed by the government to play the announcement to you, the public, as a matter of national importance.’

The screen cut to Downing Street. Outside, behind a plinth, stood the Prime Minister. Grey skinned, balding, weedy, and traditional, Savannah had never agreed with his policies. He wore a sombre expression, not too dissimilar from those worn by Lauren and Kyra.

‘Today, I have been made aware of some rather troubling developments. A criminal investigation has been underway for months, which at the time of speaking encompasses no fewer than six murders.

Whilst I recognise that this may not sound like more than the abhorrent acts of a depraved individual, I assure you – this is a grave issue that presents a very real, substantial threat to our national security.

Two sisters, Alexis and Savannah Andrianakis – 16 and 18 years of age respectively – are wanted on suspicion of murder and have disappeared.’ He paused, and the broadcast cut away from him, displaying school photos of Savannah and Alexis.

Savannah felt the colour drain from her face and her heart drop into her stomach. This couldn’t be real. It was one thing the police believed she was responsible, but for the Prime Minister to give a broadcast to the whole country, naming her and Alexis as suspects…

‘What’s he mouthing off about?’ Alexis said, leaning forward and smirking. ‘He’s off his nut, him. I’ve been called a lot of things, but ‘a substantial threat to our national security’? That’s a new one.’

‘Shush, you,’ Savannah whispered, for the broadcast had returned to the Prime Minister.

‘It is abundantly clear to us that these girls are involved with massively unsavoury characters, worse than you could imagine. Now, it’s entirely possible that they’ve been misled by these other individuals and are not wholly responsible for their actions. However… this cannot be ignored.

Footage has been submitted to us by the police. My government, and indeed the Commons, don’t wish for me to share this with you. Their argument is valid – the moment I show you this, mass hysteria is one possible outcome. For certain, this will sweep across the globe the moment the footage is released. But, you have a right to know.

For generations, conspiracy theorists and scientists alike have postulated the hypothetical of alien life. For decades, the film industry has thrived off urban legends and creatures of fantasy and undead.

However, what I have to present to you today is incontrovertible proof of…’

A photo replaced his image. Savannah gasped and covered her mouth. Alexis took a sharp intake of breath and leaned forward. Lauren rested her head in her hands, unable to look.

‘Zombies.’

It was a photo of Titus and his companions making their way towards Savannah, Alexis, and Lauren, taken from the upstairs window of the Glasco-Mason house.

‘Now, a great deal of you will call this out immediately as a hoax. We can assure you this isn’t the case. These are not people in costumes, this is not a show. It is real. Now, we’re going to play you the clip in full, but I must warn you – the scene is violent, it’s bloody, it’s gory. If there are young viewers, or if you do not wish to watch, I advise you to leave the room now.’

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The shaky, grainy footage played out on the screen. The filmography was amateur, but the video captured everything in sufficient clarity – their fight, from start to finish.

‘Fuck… me…’ Savannah breathed.

Once the footage had concluded, the camera returned to the Prime Minister. For the first time, Savannah noticed a figure in the background. Recognising him, she grabbed Lauren’s arm.

‘Woah, stop, pause.’

‘What?’

Savannah pointed at the man and turned to Alexis. ‘You recognise him? It’s Dr Montgomery, the guy who wanted your and mum’s blood samples.’

Lauren’s grimace deepened. ‘What on earth is he doing there?’

‘I think we have more pressing concerns than the good doctor,’ Tristan twisted his head around, beaming.

Lauren pressed play.

‘Of course, these scenes are deeply disturbing and not for the faint of heart. However, they are of greater significance - a confirmation of the existence of undead creatures, and many will argue against it, of course. But the evidence is here, and cannot be denied.

It is imperative that you remain vigilant. Should you see anything remotely like these creatures, you must contact the police immediately. In the interest of transparency, we have so far been unable to ascertain the level of threat these creatures, and the three girls, pose. We do not know where they are from, how they have come to be, how numerous they are, where they currently reside, if they plan to invade… we simply don’t know. For that reason, we are committing a large portion of this year’s budget into the search for and investigation of these creatures and the girls, and a research team headed by Dr Montgomery, a biology expert who will hopefully be able to enlighten us with further information regarding the creatures in the near future.

I now speak directly to Alexis and Savannah. We suspect you have been led astray. We suspect that your actions may not have been motivated by your beliefs or selves, and rather propagated by these individuals you are under the thrall of. You are young, and so easily led.

For this reason, while I cannot offer you immunity, for your crimes are too great, your sentences will be minimised in the event you come forth and offer information about these creatures and what you are involved in, and what we are up against.

Now, I speak once more to you all, as a nation. We must come together while under the shadow of this devilish threat.

I appreciate this is a great deal to come to terms with. Do not worry, do not give in to fear – your safety is our utmost priority. I assure you, we will be secure once more in the very near future.

Thank you.’

Lauren clicked the monitor off and silence reigned.

After a few minutes, Tristan clapped his hands. ‘Ooh, the looks on your faces! My gods, girls, you know how to make an impact. Exposing our delightful Pirikan friends to the humans! This is rather problematic for us.’ He chuckled. ‘I love it.’

Malik scowled at him. ‘He speaks the truth - this is far from ideal. The humans… historically, they’ve been… unwelcoming of us and all we stand for.’

Tristan laughed. ‘Unwelcoming? They despise us! Have you forgotten the Romans?’ He turned to Savannah. ‘We don’t take it personally. Your kind have a certain profligacy for despising those from different walks of life, even among their own people! Imagine having an arms race to see who can build the largest and most deadly bombs, large enough to kill millions and, in the right circumstances, wipe out all life on Earth! Who’s bright idea was that? And, now, they have a new enemy, an enemy that can be traced directly to us.’ He pointed at Savannah, his teeth bared. ‘I’m warning you now, girl, if this gets out of hand I shall deal with it myself. I assure you, no one will like the end result.’ He grinned. ‘Well, except me, of course. I’ll enjoy it endlessly.’

‘Tristan, enough. It’s not her fault. If it wasn’t for Titus pursuing her and her family, none of this would have happened. I could have handled it better, but we were fighting for our lives and, shockingly, we didn’t have time to think about all the possible consequences. Regardless, a smattering of mercy can go a long way,’ Lauren said, glaring at Tristan. Tristan shrugged and stood.

‘Mercy could prove the end of us and all we represent. Whatever the case, I’m bored. I just wanted to see your reactions which, by the way, were priceless. Bye now.’

With his nose in the air, he sauntered from the room. Lauren breathed out.

‘Thank god he’s gone,’ Kyra muttered. ‘I’ve had it up to here with that prick. Do we need him anymore? Is it out of order to expel him?’

Lauren sighed. ‘No, we need him for the dead. Regardless, we don’t have the right to do that. We’ve tolerated him up to now, and he’s been here longer than us all - we’re just gonna have to stomach him. We’ve got eternity together, might as well try and get along.’

‘Pah, fat chance of that,’ Kyra said, putting her feet up.

‘What happens now?’ Savannah said, her voice a whisper. The desire to crawl into a hole and die so she wasn’t a problem for anyone else that had sprung into being the moment the Prime Minister named her had been exponentially increased by Tristan. ‘I can’t go back, can I?’

Lauren rested her chin on her forefinger. ‘No, you can’t. It’s too risky. The best-case scenario is you stay here for a few decades until they’ve all either forgotten about you or the generation has died off, or both. By that point, I doubt you’d even want to go back. No, I’m afraid your time on Earth… it’s done, for the present. Unless, gods forbid, there is a worldwide issue and we need to intervene.’

Savannah fidgeted. This outcome wasn’t bothersome – she hadn’t wanted to return anyway - but now that she couldn’t return, all she wanted to do was explore the old haunts a final time. To have a whole chapter of her life closed off to her, for something that, no matter what Tristan said (and what she herself believed), wasn’t her fault, didn’t strike her as fair. However, she recognised that none of what had happened was fair.

Alexis held out a hand like she was signalling an oncoming car to stop. ‘Wait, what? We can’t go back? What about my stuff? What about my friends? What about all those people at school that love me because, let’s be real, I’m the light of their lives? We can’t deprive them of that, that’s not fair on them to lose me! I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. Surely we can just explain that to the police, or lie and say it was all for show or something? I’m not gonna be stopped from going back - if I want to return, I will!’

Lauren looked her dead in the eyes. ‘No, Alexis, you won’t. I understand that it’s hard, but we cannot risk it. Do you really think you can lie to the entirety of the British law enforcement and government? You really think you’d be able to deceive the entire world and convince them it was all ‘for show’?’

‘At least I’d be a celebrity. ‘The girl who tricked the entire world into thinking aliens existed’.’

Despite Alexis's anger, Lauren laughed. ‘Alex, you’re young, and sure, these things are important to you now. But they won’t be forever, and the truth of the matter is there are more important things - keeping the peace and preventing a war being the highest priority. Whether you like it or not, if the humans are on our trail and they find out about us, it will lead to war. They don’t understand us or how we work, and what humans don’t understand, they fear and subsequently attempt to destroy. If the cost of that is preventing you two from returning? It’s more than worth it. Humanity attacks us, we wipe out humanity, no one wins. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is.’

Alexis stood, smashing her hip into the table. ‘Fine!’

Alexis kicked her chair out from beneath her. It crashed onto the floor and she stormed from the room. Lauren rubbed her forehead.

‘Damn it.’

‘She’ll come around,’ Savannah said.

‘She won’t act rashly and go back home in the meantime, will she?’ Kyra asked, her brow knotted.

‘I don’t think so.’

‘We’ll jump that planet when we get to it. Kyra, tail her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.’

‘Yes, your magnificent holiness,’ Kyra said with a mock salute. She left the room.

‘On the bright side, this means you can stick around here and work on all your skills,’ Lauren said.

Savannah raised an eyebrow. ‘Ooh, goody, work work work. At least it’s all over now, huh?’

‘Indeed. At least it’s over.’

*

Jeremy meandered in through the front door, the warmth of his home pleasant against his skin. It was a significant improvement on his surroundings of the past few months. The house was silent, not a single living being within it. Blissful. He couldn’t have organised it any better himself.

He walked straight to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of white wine from the fridge. He moved to the glass cupboard but stopped with his hand on the door handle.

‘Ah, sod it,’ Jeremy said. He flicked off the lid of the bottle and drank, long and deep, straight from the neck. He gasped with satisfaction, the liquid hitting his stomach. A few seconds later, the familiar warmth swept through his bloodstream.

‘Ah, god, I’ve missed this.’

Jeremy meandered back along the hallway, bottle in hand, and looked at the photos lining the walls as he did so. His attention fell onto one of Savannah, Alexis, and Lyra, arm in arm in London. He scowled.

‘Bitches.’ With his free hand, he punched the frame. The glass shattered, causing a smile to creep onto his lips.

Jeremy continued along the hallway, taking the pictures down as he went. Eventually, the walls were bare, and all trace of his family was gone.

Another significant improvement.

After a few moments revelling in his changes, he entered the living room, intending to do the same here. But, as he walked over to the far wall, something caught his eye.

Someone was sitting on the sofa.

Jeremy turned to her and smiled. ‘Well, well, well. What have we here? Come to take me home, at last, have you? I have to admit, I’m… somewhat annoyed that you only visited me to alter your scheme, not to aid or free me. Nevertheless, take me home, take me to my mother, and all shall be forgiven.’

She smiled herself and rose. Those blood-red eyes glinted and narrowed. She eased a crick from her neck and straightened it. Her upper lip peeled back off her teeth, exposing her honed canines. She resembled a snake, ready to strike. Her dagger was at her hip, though her hand made no movement for the present.

She stepped, with agonising slowness, towards him. He took a pace back, before catching himself. He puffed his chest outwards – he wasn’t going to display fear. He was under no threat. He wasn’t going to allow her the satisfaction of making him feel uneasy.

‘Come, now. Let’s go. I expect mother is missing me.’

She leered at him. ‘Ah, my dearest Vasilios. It would appear your job is done. I expect your mother will miss you a great deal more than you could ever imagine.’

‘What are you talking about? You wasted my work. Killing my children? That was unnecessary.’

Her grin grew and she pulled the dagger from her sheath. She twiddled it between her fingers, admiring it as she did so. ‘Perhaps it was unnecessary. Perhaps it was necessary. Whatever the case, you left me with little choice. It has freed Savannah and Alexis from the yoke of family, a notoriously difficult bond to break - family presents the most severe form of trauma bonding, after all. They have no reason, now, not to pursue the path we have planned for them. In any event, you can blame me all you want, my darling – you’re responsible for those deaths. Their blood is on your hands.’

Jeremy staggered back a step, keeping one eye on the dagger. ‘What? How am I responsible? You’re deluded, you killed them.’

She shrugged, and turned her eyes back to him, watching him lasciviously, running her tongue along her bottom lip, drawing closer still. ‘Simply put – revenge. You interfered with the plan. You put Savannah in danger, against my wishes. You failed to control yourself and your anger, and as a result, you threatened the safety of my test subject. You killed her grandmother, and in doing so, jeopardised everything I planned. You failed me, and your mother,’ she was inches from him. Jeremy had no more room to back into - he was a cornered rat.

‘You bitch,’ he said, anger fuelling him and pushing the fear away.

‘Yes, that I am. Now… I only have one more… loose end, shall we say.’

Jeremy couldn’t retain his defiance; he shrunk back against the wall. ‘My-my- mother will make you pay for hurting me if you do anything.’

She tilted her head and tutted. ‘Who says she has to know? I’ve not told her the girls killed Titus… I’ll just tell mummy dearest that he got a little carried away… that her precious boy was caught in the crossfire, and I did all I could to stop him.’ She laughed a harsh, unholy laugh that made the hairs stand on the back of his neck. ‘But, regrettably, I couldn’t save her beloved son. Besides, I’m fulfilling my end of the bargain – I told her I’d bring you back.’

‘Then t-t-take me,’ Jeremy said, hoping with all his being that this was merely a terror tactic.

‘Oh, darling, you misunderstand. I’m going to take you back, of course I am! What are you so scared of?!’ She ran a delicate finger along his jawline. ‘I just didn’t specify ‘alive’.’

Before he could move, she dragged her dagger across his neck.

Blood flowed into his mouth. Jeremy choked, clutching for air that wouldn’t come. He heard the sea - a rushing in his ears.

Then he dropped to his knees and moved no more.

She wiped the blade against her thigh and smiled. ‘Nothing personal. Wait – yes it is.’

She reached down with one hand and placed a white fingertip on the back of his head. Together, they vanished, and from the spot her hand had been a moment before, a crushed, red anemone fell to the ground.