The Book Vault. Liz Filleul

Sarah. She looked flustered and tear-streaked.

      'Get out,' I told him.

      'I was just - '

      'I know what you were doing. GET OUT!'

      He didn't look at either of us as he left the room.

      I told Sarah to wait for me while I dealt with Markham. I grabbed him in the corridor and pushed him into the stairwell. 'You're coming with me.'

      Once we were outside I moved so fast that no-one could have seen us. We were at the training centre in seconds. He was shaking and nauseous when I dropped him on the sprung floor exercise area of the gym.

      The girls were waiting for me, as hungry as I was. By now we would usually have been to the prison where we fed nightly. Only a few short years ago there'd been political prisoners to feed on, but now we had to live off the blood of murderers and rapists. I'd go to the prison for my meal later. Markham was for the girls.

      It must have felt like a dream come true for him, when Eugenia and Melita approached him and pushed him down to the ground. But terror flooded his eyes when their fangs slid out and he realised he was going to die. It reminded me of the night I'd killed Radu.

      ****

      Arad, September 1984

      'You have brought all this trouble on us, Danut.'

      My grandmother was feverish and agitated as she sat up in bed. I tried to spoon-feed her some soup. My father had just come in to tell us that he couldn't get the doctor to visit her. She was old, dying, and Father had been told that there was no medicine that would cure her. It had been the same since that night in 1977, when my mother had found bruises all over my body. I'd been having private 'training sessions' for three years with Radu then. I was on the national junior squad, and he'd recommended me for Deva. This had made me bold and I'd refused to give him oral sex. When I finally told my mother, my father had gone crazy. He'd gone to the gym the next day and beaten Radu.

      And that was it. I was finished in gymnastics. My parents didn't want me in Radu's gym but no other would take me. Not Deva. I was one of hundreds of talented girls. Romanian gymnastics didn't need me. I was flung off the national team. I went back to school full-time, but only got poor marks no matter how hard I tried. When I left, I could only get a job in a factory.

      We suffered in other ways too. My father never got promoted at work. We never moved up the waiting list for a car. And now there was no medicine for Grandmother.

      'What would you have done?' my father demanded now. 'Let that animal continue to abuse her so that our family wouldn't be harassed by the authorities?'

      'I'm not talking about that,' she replied. 'I'm talking about Petru and you know it. Our family was in thrall to him for centuries and you - 'She paused to cough and began sweating again. I offered water but she waved the glass away. 'You refused.'

      'What are you talking about?' I asked. 'Who's Petru?'

      'Ignore her. She's feverish,' my father said.

      'It's only because of the Communists that he's left you alone,' Grandmother said, glaring at my father. 'You should have let him take your blood -things went much better for our family when we did what Petru wanted.'

      'Let her rest, Catalina,' Father said, leaving the room. When the door closed, she grabbed my arm and looked right into my eyes. 'Go to the old church in the forest,' she whispered, 'Find Petru yourself.'

      Two weeks after we buried my grandmother I took the track that she'd described through the forest. At first I thought the squat wooden building was an abandoned barn. A few panels had been kicked in and it was only the white cross painted on the weather-beaten roof that confirmed that it really was a church. There was wire fencing around it, perhaps intended to prevent further vandalism, but I climbed over it easily. I knocked seven times on the door.

      When he opened the door, I wanted to run away. He was so tall. Taller than any man I'd ever met. His white skin and long fangs were terrifying. I didn't know how to begin to speak to him, but he guessed who I was and my purpose.

      He wasn't curious about what was in it for me. Perhaps he guessed, or maybe he just didn't care. Petru took my blood and I drank his. It was disgusting, but I knew it was worth it to get what I wanted.

      Afterwards, I went down to the training centre and found Radu alone in the gym. Hatred swelled inside me for the way he'd abused me and wrecked my life. I grabbed him and twisted his dick until he screamed. I felt satisfied as I watch him writhe and plunged my fangs into his neck, draining him of blood and life.

      I took over his gym. With my help and Petru's, my talented young juniors, driven to do anything to get on the national team, would win the Olympics. Their bodies would remain forever prepubescent and capable of executing unimaginable skills.

      ****

      Arad, September 1991

      Sarah was still in her room. She was sitting up on the bed, staring uncomprehendingly at the television.

      'You don't have to worry about Markham again,' I said, putting an arm around her. 'He won't bother you anymore.'

      'He was a teacher at my school,' she said. 'I was there on a scholarship because of my gymnastics. He said if I didn't do what he wanted, he'd make sure I lost the scholarship. Without that, my parents couldn't afford to send me. When he left and I thought it was all over. But now he's always at gym meets, always…' Her voice trailed off.

      'He won't bother you again. He's dead.'

      'Are all the Romanian gymnasts vampires? Is that why they're so good at gymnastics and so small and why they don't eat food at all and why they never smile?'

      She'd likely seen my fangs when I got angry with Markham; they'd probably slid out and she'd guessed about the girls. Oh, shit, I thought. Oh, shit, shit, shit. I didn't want to have to kill her. She had talent. And I'd just killed her abuser. But she knew and we couldn't afford the truth getting out.

      'I want to be like you' she told me. 'I want to win gold for Australia. I'd do anything to be the best.'

      I thought about it. There was no reason why, in this new era of friendship, I couldn't train a talented Australian junior. She offered me her neck.

      My own girls would face some unexpectedly tough competition tomorrow.