Armitage - Chapter 9 - The Chemist's Compound (Part 2 of 2)

The next couple of days were particularly trying for Madeline, attempting to go about as normal, while she waited for the call from Zeb.  The worst part were the History lectures she had to attend with Professor Mason, the man Sebastian named as supposedly being a ruthless vampire and the man who hand singled her out for some unknown but terrible fate.  She still could not allow the premise fully into her head, the notion that anyone, let alone someone she knew and trusted, could be a vampire was so unbelievable, but she could not explain what she saw Sebastian do, so she was left torn between what she, and everyone else, thought to be true and what was now vying for her attention.

Trying not to let these extremely distracting thoughts completely overwhelm her took all of Madeline’s concentration, and every time her phone went off her heart leapt at the possibility that it might be Zeb, but it never was.  It was getting close to a week since she left Sebastian a smoking, huddled mess in the backroom of Shelob’s Lair and she had tried everything she could think of to keep herself occupied.  She immersed herself in her studies, visited with friends, and even went to see Mike to make sure there were no hard feelings after he had to leave her to get back to class.

‘No, it’s okay,’ he said, as they took a casual walk through the campus grounds one morning.  ‘I had to get to class, and Zeb said you’d found the book you were looking for.’  He pushed his glasses back in place on his nose before continuing, wincing a little as he was still slightly sore.  ‘Did your cousin like it?’

‘Hmm?’

‘The book, for your cousin.’  Madeline quickly remembered what Mike was talking about and managed to get her thoughts back on track.

‘Oh, yeah, I haven’t given it to her yet, but I’m sure she’ll find it very interesting.’

‘She should,’ smiled Mike.  ‘I talked to Zeb the other day and he said you stayed and read a good chunk of it yourself.  What’s it about anyway?’

‘Err… old folklore,’ said Madeline, not wanting to get Mike involved anymore than he already had been.  He had already been sent to the hospital courtesy of the anonymous attacker, and if anything Sebastian had told her were true then she didn’t want to put anyone else at risk.  Luckily, he didn’t press the matter any further.

‘Cool,’ was all he said.  They continued on in an awkward silence for a moment or two, not knowing what to say to one another; and just as Madeline was scrambling for something to say her phone started to ring.  Remaining outwardly calm, Madeline’s nerves bunched tightly as she pulled her phone out of her bag, and as if some kind of weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, she saw with no small amount of relief that the caller was Zeb.

‘Sorry Mike, I have to take this,’ she said, giving what she hoped was her best apologetic look.

‘No worries, I should be going anyway.’  Mike smiled and nodded his goodbye and as soon as he was out of earshot Madeline quickly flipped open her phone.

‘Hello?  Zeb?’ she said eagerly.

‘Yeah, hi,’ came the mellow response.  ‘He’s ready when you are.’

‘I’ll be right over.’

‘Okay, cool.’  Madeline closed her phone and slid it back inside her bag, turning in the direction of the main campus gate, but as soon as she exited the university grounds a sleek black car made a quick stop after passing her and she turned to look as it reversed back towards her.

‘Miss Jameson,’ said the voice of Professor Mason, as the tinted back window slid noiselessly down into the car door.  ‘You certainly appear to be in a hurry.’  The unexpected meeting with Professor Mason completely threw Madeline and for a second or two she couldn’t seem to form any words.  She quickly recovered and engaged her professor as politely as she could.

‘Yes, I’m sorry, I’m late for an appointment.’

‘Then by all means do not let me keep you,’ smiled Mason, sending a chill down Madeline’s spine.  ‘I look forward to seeing you in class.’

‘Me too,’ lied Madeline as she started off on her way again.  There was a time when she thoroughly enjoyed her lectures with Professor Mason but the events over the past few weeks had changed the way she saw him, and the thought that it could only get worse was no comfort at all.  She continued hurriedly on her way as Mason’s car window slid back in place.

‘Do you want me to follow her?’ asked Andreas, looking into the back of the car through the rear view mirror.

‘No it’s quite alright,’ said Mason, as he watched Madeline disappear around a corner.  ‘I know where she’s going.’

‘Very good, sir.’  The slick Mercedes continued on into the university grounds as Madeline made her way through the streets of Armitage towards Shelob’s Lair.

 

*          *          *

 

‘Good to see you again,’ smiled Zeb as the bell on his shop door indicated Madeline’s arrival.  He walked around from the counter and locked his shop once again; giving Madeline and Sebastian the privacy he knew they needed.

‘Is he alright?’ asked Madeline, as she watched Zeb throw locks into place.

‘He’ll live, if you know what I mean,’ grinned the shop owner.  ‘He’s waiting for you in the back.’

‘Thanks.’  Madeline crossed the store and pulled back the curtain to reveal the small backroom that had played scene to one of the most extraordinary events of her life, and sitting in the same place as before was Sebastian.

‘Thank you for coming,’ he said quietly.

‘It’s okay,’ said Madeline as she took a seat.  ‘I hope you’re alright.’

‘I am sorry you had to witness that, but it was the only way to dispel the obvious doubts that were clouding your mind.’  Madeline was about to apologise for not believing Sebastian but she stopped herself, realising that no sane person could have fully believed a story like his without proof.  ‘Are you ready to continue?’

‘I guess so.’

‘Good, as I said before the one you know as Mason is a vampire, the one who made me, and I am afraid to say that he has set his sights on you.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Madeline, with a definite sense that she was not going to like the answer.

‘It gives me no pleasure to tell you this but he’s hunting you, for sport, and it’s not the first time he’s done it.’

‘Hunting me?’

‘I am afraid so,’ nodded Sebastian solemnly.

‘But why?’  Madeline knew the world could be a harsh and evil place, but the concept of someone hunting her for the sheer pleasure of it filled her with a cold dread that seemed to seep into her very bones.

‘When one has the kind of time that he does it is a constant chore to keep the mind occupied, and…’

‘Occupied?’ interrupted Madeline.  ‘Occupied?  We’re talking about someone who’s hunting me for the sick enjoyment of it and it’s all to keep his mind occupied?’

‘I do not pretend the news I bring is pleasant, far from it, but you have to know what is at stake, otherwise I will have failed again and he will be free to continue his legacy of despicable evil for God knows how long.’

‘What do you mean you’ll have failed again?’

‘As I said before, there have been others, and every time he sets his gaze on a new trophy…please do not be offended,’ said Sebastian, anticipating Madeline’s protests at being described in such a way.  ‘I have tried, unsuccessfully, to help the poor girls before it was too late.’

‘Girls?  Does he not hunt men?’  Madeline felt the instant prickling of her indignation at the thought of some monster hunting only women, but she didn’t feel this was the time to get into an argument over gender politics.

‘He hunts both men and women, but for different reasons,’ said Sebastian, the bitterness clearly etched into his voice.

‘Such as?’ asked Madeline.  Sebastian sighed deeply before continuing, visibly reluctant to go on.

‘This is always the hardest part,’ he said, not meeting Madeline’s gaze.  ‘He only hunts men in order to sire them, he hunts women for sustenance.’

‘For what?’

‘I know, believe me I know, this is one of the main reasons why I have taken so long to make my move, I simply did not know how to tell you all of this, even though I knew I must.’

‘Are you trying to tell me that he’s going to eat me?’

‘Believe me, I wish it were any other way than this, but I have seen too many fine young women succumb to his murderous appetite without being able to do anything about it.’

‘Why?  Why can’t you do anything about it?’

‘I am unable to harm the one that sired me; it is the same for all vampires.  We can wreak death and destruction to all around us but our sire might as well be made of solid stone.  Were it any different I would have removed this vile beast from the earth the moment I realised what he was.’

‘But I thought all vampires were supposed to be evil creatures, why aren’t you?’

‘When a person is made a vampire they are reduced to the level of a primitive beast, all essence of their humanity and civility are violently stripped away.  You read about the poor creatures in those cages?’

‘Yes,’ nodded Madeline, remembering all too well the scene in Sebastian’s book.

‘Well that happened to me, I could not remember anything, not my name, not my wife and daughter, nothing, but over time a fledgling vampire can be schooled to remember who they once were.’

‘Mason did this for you?’

‘Yes, he does not make vampires carelessly.  If he sires a man he has already committed himself to the long and arduous process of rebuilding that vampires sense of humanity, as twisted as it may be.’

‘You said in your book he made a mistake with you, how do you mean?’

‘When a vampire is brought back from the brink of total savagery they are faced with the knowledge of not only the terrible acts they no doubt committed on their way back to self awareness, but also that they can continue to do these things for all eternity, without the fear of retribution.  It is little wonder that such freedom corrupted so many.’

‘But if there was a chance that you wouldn’t turn out like the rest why did he sire you at all?’

‘Because of what I was when I was alive.’

‘What was that?’ asked Madeline.

‘A chemist.’

‘What use would a chemist be to him?’

‘To ensure that his drones always chose the path of evil, Mason made sure to only sire those who were already corrupted, or those who he could easily turn, but with me he needed someone to carry out some important research for him.’

‘What kind of research?’

‘Mason is old, perhaps one of the oldest vampires around, and in his travels he heard rumour of a method with which to kill vampires, a method reported to be so sure that not even the oldest and strongest vampire could fight against it.’

‘What is it?’ asked Madeline, eagerly seizing this thin ray of hope.

‘A compound,’ replied Sebastian.  ‘A very rare and intricate chemical compound that takes great precision and knowledge to prepare.  He believed enough in its existence to employ the services of a student of chemistry but knew that it could be a long and frustrating road, and so he decided to sire a chemist, me.’

‘What happened?’ asked Madeline, hoping feverishly that this compound actually existed.

‘Well of course I was no use to him when I was first sired so he had to bring me back from the jaws of barbarism in order for me to begin researching this alleged compound.’

‘What did you find?’  The heavy lines that ran their course across Sebastian’s face creased as he smiled.  He reached inside his tattered robes and pulled out a small glass vial containing a clear liquid that looked suspiciously like water.

‘He was right,’ he said.