My “marriage” was intended to take place a week from the day I moved into Sarah’s. As promised, I had been given free reign of the town – so, lacking internet or any typical means of entertaining myself, I took to just wandering about, often accompanied with little Mary. We would play games, look for bugs, generally whatever she felt like doing. In evenings I would hang around the hotel tavern, where Jordan would give me drinks for free.
I had briefly considered running, but figured I wouldn’t be able to get that far through the dense, wild forests while being pursued by supernatural beings – so I contented myself with doing whatever I could to keep my mind off the impending wedding. I was able to visit Avery a few times, who had been given a home in the centre of town. She still retained something of her own self – her personality and sense of humour were still there, but she was now totally loyal to Agon and his daughters, shunning any idea of ever leaving Springhill or of doing anything that was not strictly approved by Agon.
Sarah and I had a cold relationship that whole week, rarely speaking. Agon was never to be seen, constantly shut up in the depths of his mansion. Bellaston similarly was never seen save sometimes late at night when he could be glimpsed coming and going between the church and the mansion. Late at night, one could often hear solitary singing and the faint smell of incense arising from the church, along with glimpsing flickering candles through the stained glass windows.
Brother Worm, who appeared to oversee keeping the town relatively clean, commanded the younger wives of Agon in the conduct of chores – sweeping the roads, trimming or cutting bushes and trees, burning garbage, unloading trucks, cooking food, cleaning houses. Having nothing better to do, I would volunteer for this and help Brother Worm with looking after the girls and the town. He seemed to appreciate it in his strange, deformed manner. I would sneak him some food from Sarah’s house when I had the chance, which he was always happy for. I learned over the week that he survived largely on thin gruel or soup that Agon fed only to him.
My tension and nervousness increased as the week went on, dreading the impending day, which finally rolled around no matter how hard I prayed for it to never come. Sarah kept me inside the house that whole day, ensuring that I was as ready as could be for the impending event. Towards the evening, the three daughters of Agon were all gathered in the house, preparing me. I had been fitted into a white dress for the event, while the daughters were in their typical red.
“Here.” Sarah said, approaching me and holding out a sheathed dagger.
I slid the knife out from its hilt – it resembled the ones all the women in town carried in church, save that the blade was a dark black, with rippling lines that spread up and down the blade. It reflected light in a haunting manner and weighed next to nothing.
“I thought vampires only died from a wooden stake to the heart?” I said, admiring the blade.
“It is wood.” Sarah said, “Ebony – hardened and treated. Strong as stone and sharp as steel.”
“Couldn’t we just give him a plywood bomb full of woodchips or something and hope the shrapnel hits his heart?” I asked with a nervous smile.
“Risky – and not nearly as dramatic as a knife.” Jordan laughed from behind me. Sarah merely stared coldly.
“Tell me, Mary.” Sarah said, grabbing me by the shoulders and fixing me with her cold stare. “Do you know the way to a man’s heart?”
I chuckled nervously and broke eye contact with Sarah, who took her left hand and gently tilted my head down, while she poked her right index finger into my chest.
“It’s right here. Slightly above the nipples and to the left. His left.” Sarah said, drawing an ‘X’ across my chest with her finger. “The blade goes in horizontally so that it misses the ribs.” She continued, pressing two of her fingers on the ribs over my heart. “Vertically – and it hits the bone.”
I watched her draw the instructions for murder on my chest as my heart began to beat faster. Sarah tilted my head back up to look at her. “Understood?” She asked. I nodded. “Good.”
“Are you right-handed or left-handed?” Mel said, stepping up to me, holding some sort of tangle of leather straps in her hand.
“Right.”
“Alright, gimme’ your left shoulder.” Mel said, grabbing me much more roughly than Sarah had – her calloused hands were rough as she fastened some sort of shoulder sheath to me under my dress, where she tucked the knife up under my arm.
“Try pulling that out.” Mel said, stepping back to admire her handiwork. I reached up into the sleeve of my dress and managed to draw the knife out quickly and without too much effort.
“Perfect.” Sarah said with a smile.
“You’re going to have three chances tonight – you’ll need to make a judgement call on when you think is best. You can either get him during the wedding ceremony, during the feast afterwards, or when he takes you to bed to consummate your marriage, any later than that – your dress will likely be off, and he’ll see.” Sarah explained to me.
“If you manage to get him during the wedding or the feast, the three of us can take on Bellaston for you, and you’ll have a crowd to serve as a distraction. The longer you wait, the bigger the chance he might discover you’re not under his control. If you get him in the bedroom, he’ll be the most vulnerable, and without Bellaston, but you won’t have any decent distractions.” Jordan said as she spoke up from the chair she was sitting in.
“And what happens after he’s dead?” I asked, fiddling with the hidden knife.
“All the slaves will break free from his will at once – which will throw them all into a lot of confusion. The three of us will be weakened to an extent, and we’re not sure what will happen to Bellaston and Worm.” Sarah answered.
“What do you mean you don’t know what will happen to the brothers?”
“Well, none of us know what exactly Bellaston is, or what powers were used to make Worm – so they could both drop dead, they could become completely peaceful, they could go insane. We don’t know. We’ll handle the two brothers however, you only need to worry about Agon.”
“Alright I got it.” I said with a deep breath.
“You’ll do fine, don’t worry.” Sarah said with a reassuring smile that felt unnatural coming from her.
I spent the next hour practicing drawing the knife quickly and stabbing accurately at a target that the daughters had painted onto a pillow – by the end of the hour I was decently good at it, and covered in feathers. The three escorted me into the street and to the church as the sun began its descent. I was shown in through a back door and into a small hidden chamber just off the main door of the church, where I was told to wait until I was fetched to walk up the aisle.
The daughters wished me luck and left me alone. The singing and chanting had struck up outside the door, so I spent some time breathing deeply and trying to calm myself down for what was to come. The room had a few snacks along with a pitcher of water and one of wine, which I nibble and sipped at to keep myself busy. When I felt as though it would be time for me to soon make my appearance, I walked over to the mirror in the room and admired myself – touching up my hair and adjusting the dress. I ensured that my glasses were firmly on my face.
A few minutes later, the door to my hidden room creaked open, and I grabbed the bouquet of flowers that I was to carry, and stood at attention, trying to keep my fear and anxiety down. It wasn’t Bellaston at the door though, it was little Mary, who smiled at me and beckoned me out. She reached up to hold onto my elbow and we walked out into the church. I was assailed by the smoke and the heat much like last time and walked nervously up the aisle with over a hundred pairs of eyes on me.
I forced the warmest smile I could onto my face as I approached Agon before the altar, and steeled myself to prepare for what was to come. We stood face to face, and he gazed deeply into my eyes. Remembering what had happened with Avery, I relaxed my muscles as much as possible at his gaze and put a broad smile on my face. I thought I detected a hint of suspicion in his eyes, but it passed as Bellaston guttered out our wedding vows.
That done, Agon leaned in and I closed my eyes as the two of us kissed. His flesh was cold to the touch, but I leaned into it with as much warmth as I could. As he pulled away, he turned to face the crowd, and my eyes flashed to his chest.
“Just above the nipples, slightly to the left. His left.” The words flashed through my head, and I readjusted my grip on the flowers. Little Mary was proceeding up the aisle, holding a pillow in her hands, upon which was an ornate, gold handled knife that was fixed on a silver chain. Little Mary kneeled before us, and Agon picked up the blade, which he hung about my neck, the sheath and blade dangling down my chest. I knew this was a moment I couldn’t waver at – so I grabbed Agon by the hand, at which he seemed confused. I shoved my bouquet of flowers into his hand, at which he smiled, and I stepped up to the altar and drew the new knife from it’s sheath, flourishing it and testing it’s weight. I held my left hand above the bronze bowl, and pressed the blade into my palm, swiftly drawing it back.
The pain lanced through my arm and up and I wanted to scream, but I managed to keep my face still and my hand from drawing away. I glanced up to see the three daughters staring at me, stone faced, but I thought I could sense a hint of approval on their faces. Agon and his daughters drank from the bowl, and the congregation sent up it’s roar of approval. Bellaston hefted the bowl up, and me and Agon accompanied him hand in hand out of the church, his conspiring daughters behind us and Worm and little Mary taking up the rear.
The party crossed the street and entered the banquet hall that we had all occupied just last week, save that now I was seated with Agon and his daughters on the chief dais. Platters of food and pitchers of wine were brought out under the orders of Worm, and little Mary approached to bring me my portion.
“My dear,” I said, leaning in to Agon, who perked up and smiled at me. “I would like this little one to sit with us.”
“Anything for my bold and charming wife.” Agon smiled, then barked at Bellaston to fetch another chair. It was deposited to my left and I seated little Mary there with me, who was surprized at first but then became quite happy – receiving her own plate of food instead of having to steal bites from the kitchen.
I drank enough to keep myself bold and to blend in, but not enough that my coordination would be lost when the time came for my wooden knife to strike home. Agon was leaned over whispering something in the ear of Sarah when I glanced down at his chest again.
“Just above the nipples, slightly to the left. His left. The blade goes in horizontally.” The words ran through my mind. The daughters acted their part perfectly, enjoying the feast without even the slightest hint of what they had been planning.
As a serving girl came by, I handed her a roll of bread and told her to deliver it to Brother Worm, who was stood at the side of the hall overseeing the catering. She nodded, then looked nervously at Agon, who smirked and waved her away.
“I see why the little ones are so fond of you.” Agon said with a smile. “You are overly kind to Brother Worm I fear – that monster has never had a kind nor human thought in his life, I assure you.”
“Would you deny your wife the power to help who she pleases?” I asked. Agon only chuckled and turned his attention from me.
The party began to escalate towards its zenith of drunkenness, when Agon took me by the hand and stood, at which the assembly fell silent. He spoke to the crowd in the guttural church-speak, which I smiled at, feigning understanding. He turned to me and took me by both hands.
“Come my love, the best part of the night yet remains.” He said, leading me down from the head table.
We processed past the crowd, who were joking, jeering, and laughing at us, and entered the main hall of the mansion – the noise of the party now muffled behind us. Agon led me through further rooms and halls before we entered his bedroom, where a large, canopied bed stood against the far wall, flanked by shuttered windows.
“You enjoyed the feast, I trust?” Agon smiled at me, as he stepped to a mirror and adjusted his hair.
“Absolutely my love.” I said, walking to the bed and seating myself on the edge. He turned and walked up to me with a smile, at which I rose to meet him. I pushed his hands aside and began unbuttoning his vest. I pulled his tie off, shrugged his jacket to the floor, and undid his shirt.
“Sit.” I said, pointing him to the bed. He smiled devilishly and obeyed. I crawled into the bed behind him, pulling his shirt off and running my hands across his chest. I could feel the ridges of his ribs under the muscles of his chest, and detected the faint beating of his heart.
Agon turned his head to me and smiled, looking into my eyes. They were emotionless, icy blue eyes, that betrayed nothing of what he felt, if indeed he could feel anything at all. He leaned into my ear as I continued to caress him.
“Don’t miss.” He whispered.
I froze, my hands stopped in place and my eyes widening in shock. I threw myself backwards from him and fumbled quickly for the knife hidden up my sleeve. I drew it out and lunged towards him. Quicker than lighting, he grabbed my wrist and twisted it down into the bed, the knife falling harmlessly onto the mattress. His free hand shot out and grabbed it, after which he released me.
“Beautifully made.” Agon said, standing up and admiring the knife as he ran it along his hand.
I was laying on the bed in wide-eyed fear, frozen in place and expecting my death or something worse to come upon me immediately. They always say it’s the fight or flight response, but they always forget the third option – paralysis.
“You knew?” I managed to choke out.
“The whole time.” Agon said, tossing the knife back onto the bed and striding to a dresser, where he poured himself a cup of wine. “The glasses were clever I’ll admit.”
“I’m afraid my “daughters” think I’m an idiot. But you don’t live this long by being stupid.” Agon laughed as he downed his cup of wine and poured another.
“What did they offer you?”
“I could join them or go home.” I managed to squeak out.
“Quite a pitiful bounty to put on my head.” He scoffed, as he walked back to the bed and sat down next to me. I was shaking with terror and cringed away from his close presence. He sat silently drinking his wine.
“Have you heard of time dilation?”
“No…” I mumbled.
“The longer you live, the faster time seems to go by. Imagine how fast things go by when you live for twelve centuries.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
“I was told you were very inquisitive – maybe Sarah was wrong. If you wish to get your business over with, the knife is right there.” Agon said, gesturing with his wine glass at the Ebony knife laying behind us.
“You’re not going to kill me?” I asked – my heart was racing, and I was beyond confused at this point.
“No – quite the opposite. You’re the assassin after all. Come, drink with a condemned man.” Agon said, handing me his wine glass and walking to the dresser to fill another for himself.
“Here’s to life.” Agon said, smiling and raising his glass. I raised mine in return and we both drank.
“If indeed you have no questions, then let’s get this farce over with.” He said, sitting down in a chair near the rooms fireplace and thrusting his bare chest out at me.
“Wait what? You want me to kill you?” I asked, standing up and picking up my knife.
“I thought I had made that abundantly clear already.” He said sarcastically.
“Why?”
“Life is boring and repetitive, very little interests me any longer.” He shrugged.
I sat down in the chair across from him, watching him with suspicious eyes as I toyed with the wooden knife.
“That’s it?” I asked.
“My reasoning and thought process would make very little sense to you.”
“I guess.” I said, standing up.
“If you want my advice, decline my daughters’ offer – go home.” Agon said as he stood as well.
I walked up to him and put my hand on his chest, feeling his ribs.
“Just above the nipples, slightly to the right. His right. The blade stays horizontal.” I said to him as I put the tip of the knife against his chest.
“Sounds right to me.” Agon smiled.
I put my weight against the handle of the knife, and it slipped into Agon’s chest. He let out a slight grunt and his eyes widened. He looked me in the eyes, smiled, and let out a sigh before collapsing back to the floor. Agon was dead.
I looked at his body lying still and lifeless on the floor, before a chorus of shouts and screams began to echo throughout the house. I dashed out the bedroom doors, and groped along the hallways, trying to find my way back to the street. I finally entered into the entry room of the mansion, and beheld a maddening sight. Some of the women were huddled in corners or against the walls weeping hysterically, the front doors of the mansion were thrown open, a dead body was laying in the street – a pool of dark blood about it.
Jordan came stumbling out of the banquet hall, limping, with blood running from a gash on her forehead. She saw me and immediately had a broad grin on her face.
“You got him.” She laughed.
“What’s going on here?” I asked.
“Bellaston’s on the warpath… A lot stronger than we thought.” She said, spitting a glob of blood onto the floor. Mel emerged from the banquet hall behind her, dress torn and hair badly messed up.
“Nice work.” Mel said, nodding at me.
“Where’s Sarah?” I asked, unsheathing the knife that Agon had given me as a present.
Jordan pointed out the door to the church, and the three of us stepped out into the street. Some women were running frantically through the streets, shrieking and hollering. I looked to see if I could spot little Mary or Avery, but neither were anywhere to be seen. The door of the church was slightly ajar, and a roaring below followed by the sound of a chemical ignition screech emanated from the building. A red and yellow glow began to spill out of the windows and the slightly opened door.
We rushed up the steps and wrenched open the church doors, where we saw Brother Bellaston holding Sarah against the altar, winding up to strike her as she struggled to get free of his grip. A number of the candles in the church had been tipped over and had caught some of the wall tapestries on fire, a fire which was now spreading wildly in in the church, tapestries, tables, and pews.
Mel dashed forward and leapt onto the back of Bellaston, who reeled back and let go of Sarah. Jordan picked up one of the metal candle stands and began to wield it like a spear, holding her ground because of her injured leg.
Bellaston managed to get a hand on Mel and hurled her into a burning pew. He was preparing to go after Sarah again when he spotted me by the door.
“YOU! MURDERER!” He roared and began to barrel down on me.
Jordan stepped forward and attempted to jab with her spear, but Bellaston grabbed it and wrenched Jordan off balance, sending her sprawling to the ground. I turned and ran from the building – a crowd had started to gather in the road, watching the burning of the church in stunned silence. I tripped on the stairs of the church and fell on my face into the dust of the road. I flipped over and was scrabbling backwards, when the crowd began to scream and run as Bellaston burst out of the church doors.
As soon as he did however, his hands shot up to protect his head as a shower of rocks and stones began to fall all around him. I turned my head to see little Mary and a group of the other young girls were all pitching rocks at Bellaston – most with exceptionally good aim. He roared and charged forward through the volleys. The girls scattered and I ran through the door of Agon’s mansion, hoping to lose Bellaston and hide somewhere inside. As he ran through the door, I heard a loud ground and turned to see the giant sprawl face first on the ground, blood seeping down his leg.
From the shadows behind the thrown open main doors, Brother Worm stood hunched with his disfigured and horrible sword, the blade of which was stained with blood. He hobbled forward with two lurching, quick steps, and thrust the sword into the stomach of Bellaston, who had flipped over and was attempting to get on his feet. Bellaston roared and turned violently, which pulled Worm’s hand from the hilt of the sword.
I began to run towards the fighting pair, knife in hand, as Bellaston managed to get to his feet and clocked Worm across the face with a closed fist. Worm whimpered and collapsed to the ground. Bellaston had just turned back around to seek me own when my knife sank up to the handle in his chest.
“Just above his nipples, slightly to the left. His left.” I yelled as I put all my weight on the knife.
Bellaston fixed me in his glare for a moment, reached out at me feebly, then collapsed backwards with his eyes turning glassy. I panted, looking over at Worm, who was motionless and unbreathing on the floor – the punch had caved in a number of stitches and sutures on his malformed face, and I knew he was dead.
“Thank you, Brother Worm.” I muttered to him, before turning away.
Sarah, Mel, and Jordan were stumbling from the burning church, and the crowd had thinned out to only a handful of children watching us.
Sarah fixed me in her quiet gaze as she walked haltingly towards me.
“It’s done.” I said.
“Yes, it is.” She said, gazing around at the general carnage of the street.
“Go get some sleep.” Sarah said, waving me off.
I nodded and walked back towards Sarah’s. I found little Mary peeking out of a bush on the side of the road as I walked there, and I told her to come with me, taking her by the hand. We made it back to Sarah’s and fell asleep together on the large guest bed.
When I woke up in the morning, some semblance of order had been restored to the town. With no firefighting capacity, the fire had burned a number of the wood buildings in the south half of the town. The daughters had spent the night rounding up the fleeing servants of Agon, and binding them to their own wills. Avery had been found, calmed down, and put to bed. She had some minor, superficial wounds on her, and was badly shaken up, but otherwise fine.
Little Mary and I found Sarah outside of Agon’s mansion, which had begun to reek of death and play host to a flock of crows and an ocean of flies.
“Have you decided on your reward yet?” Sarah asked me.
“Yes. I’m going home.” I said.
“Avery’s sleeping at the hotel, and your car is fixed and in Mel’s work-yard.” She said blankly.
“Alright.” I said, turning to walk away.
I fetched Avery, we collected our bags, and we went to the house where little Mary lived to pack up her things. Going to Mel’s house, we found her sitting and smoking a cigarette, as she had been when we first met her.
“Didn’t want to take the offer, eh?” Mel smiled.
“It’s not for me.”
“Well, maybe someday.” Mel shrugged and tossed a set of car keys to me. “Repairs are on the house.” She laughed.
“Thanks.”
“Look me up if you’re ever in Europe.” Mel called as we packed into my car. “Just ask around for the three-hundred-year-old mechanic.” She said, laughing again at her own joke.
We left the town, waving at Jordan who was stood out front of the hotel ordering around a crowd of her servants. I won’t bore you with the details, but we managed to make it back to Edmonton safely. Explaining the extra week, we had been missing, our injuries, and how we happened to have a girl who had been missing for four years required an elaborate cover story that we concocted on our drive home, but we managed to pass it off with no shortage of disbelieving looks from police, family, and friends.
Our lives are generally back to normal now – me and Avery are closer friends than we ever have been, and I make an effort to hang out with little Mary as much as possible, who still remains cheerful and as carefree as she was when I met her.
So why am I sharing my story – and why here of all places? It’s because I can’t tell anyone what really happened without everyone thinking I’m crazy. But hopefully you all will believe me. It just feels good to be able to share the truth.
Thanks for listening.