Trust No One

Trust No One
Viv's phone slipped from her fingers as she ran through the hospital doors. Nurses and doctors ran past her in a blur. Her heart pounded so hard she could barely breathe.

"Damien Blackwood?" she gasped at the front desk. "Where is he?"

The nurse looked up with sad eyes. "Room 312. But only family—"

Viv was already running. She pushed past an orderly, ignoring his shout. The lift was too slow. She took the stairs two at a time, nearly falling on the second floor landing.

When she burst into Room 312, she froze. The bed was empty. Untouched.

"He's not here," came a deep voice behind her.

Viv spun around. There stood Lilith, perfect and beautiful as she had been in Viv's bedroom. But now her dark eyes glowed with a faint red light.

"You lied to me," Viv said, backing up until she hit the bed. "Where's Damien? Is he even sick?"

"He is dying," Lilith said. "But he's not in this hospital. I needed you away from your home. Away from watching eyes."

Viv's hand slipped into her pocket, fingers closing around the silver knife. "So this was all a trick?"

"Not a trick. A necessary deception." Lilith stepped closer. "Erebus has spies everywhere. Even in your phone."

Viv looked at her fallen phone in the hallway. All those texts...

"The ritual must happen tonight," Lilith continued. "But not at the clock tower. Erebus will be waiting there."

"Why should I believe anything you say?" Viv asked, voice shaking.

Lilith pulled something from her pocket – a small silver locket. She tossed it to Viv.

Viv caught it one handed. It looked old, the metal worn smooth by time. When she pressed the tiny latch, it opened to show a miniature portrait inside – a young man with Damien's exact face, but wearing old fashioned clothes.

"That's Damien's ancestor, from 1862," Lilith said. "He died of the same curse at seventeen. As did his father before him, and his grandfather. None of them had someone with your blood to save them."

"How do I know that's not just Damien's picture made to look old?" Viv asked.

"Damien doesn't know about any of this. Ask him if he recognizes the locket."

A soft moan from the hallway made them both turn. Damien stumbled into the doorway, pale as death, dark rings under his eyes. Blood dripped from his nose.

"Viv?" he whispered. "What's happening? I got a text that you were hurt..." He swayed on his feet.

"Damien!" Viv rushed to him as his knees buckled. She caught him, surprised by how light he felt. Like he was going away. "You're burning up."

Lilith moved beside them. "We don't have much time. The curse accelerates once it reaches this stage."

Damien looked at Lilith with unfocused eyes. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," Lilith said. "Vivienne, we must go now. Before Erebus realizes you're not coming to the clock tower."

Viv looked down at Damien's face, so pale and drawn with pain. If Lilith was telling the truth, he would die without her help. But if she was lying...

"Damien, have you ever seen this locket before?" Viv opened it and showed him the picture.

Damien's eyes widened. "That's... that's impossible. He looks just like me."

"You have to trust me," Viv said, helping him to his feet. "I know someone who can help you."

"I trust you," Damien said, his voice weak but certain.

Together they followed Lilith through a back exit of the hospital and into a waiting car. Viv kept the silver knife ready, watching Lilith's every move.

They drove to the edge of town, to an old boarded up church ringed by ancient gravestones. Lilith led them through a secret side door and down winding stone steps into darkness.

"Where are we going?" Viv asked, holding Damien's weight as he stumbled beside her.

"To the one place Erebus won't look," Lilith answered. "The original ritual chamber, where vampire blood and human blood were first mixed centuries ago."

The steps ended in a vast underground chamber. Candles burst into flame as they entered, showing walls covered in strange symbols. In the middle stood a stone altar, stained dark with centuries of blood.

Damien coughed, red speckling his lips. "Viv, I don't feel so good."

"We must begin," Lilith said, leading Damien to the altar. "Vivienne, give me the knife."

Viv paused, the silver dagger heavy in her hand. "Will this really save him?"

"Yes," Lilith said. "But Viv, I didn't tell you everything before. This ritual... it will change both of you."

"Change us how?" Viv asked.

"Your blood will cure his curse, but in exchange, you will be connected forever. Blood bound. You will feel what he feels. Know his thoughts. He will know yours."

"Like... mind reading?" Viv asked.

"More than that. Your souls will be linked. What happens to one happens to the other."

Damien reached for Viv's hand, his fingers ice cold. "Don't do it," he whispered. "Not for me."

Viv looked into his eyes – the same eyes she'd known since childhood, the eyes that had always looked at her with love.

"I won't let you die," she said.

She gave the knife to Lilith. The older woman worked quickly, drawing symbols on the altar with red chalk, lighting strange smelling herbs that made the air shimmer.

"Lie down," Lilith told them both. "Side by side, hands joined."

As Viv lay on the cold stone, still holding Damien's hand, a terrible thought struck her. What if this rite wasn't to save Damien at all? What if Lilith was working with Erebus the whole time?

"Wait," Viv said, trying to sit up. "How do I know—"

Lilith pressed her back down with supernatural power. "Too late for doubts, Vivienne. The ritual has begun."

The candles around them lit up, then changed to an eerie blue. The air grew thick, hard to breathe.

"Blood of day, blood of night," Lilith repeated, raising the silver knife. "Two souls to bind, wrong to right."

She brought the knife down toward Viv's wrist.

Suddenly the room door burst open. Sarah stood there, a wooden stick in one hand, her face twisted with rage.

"Stop!" she screamed. "Viv, get away from her! She's working with Erebus!"

Lilith's eyes glowed red as she spun toward Sarah. "You're too late, little hunter."

With incredible speed, Lilith lunged at Sarah, who moved just as fast to meet her. The two crashed together in a blur of motion.

Viv tried to get up, but unseen forces held her down. Beside her, Damien's breathing grew more ragged.

"The ritual," he gasped. "Viv, we have to finish it."

"But what if Sarah's right?" Viv whispered.

Damien's fingers tightened around hers. "Then we finish it our way."

With his last strength, Damien reached for the falling knife. He dragged it across his own palm, then pressed the blade into Viv's hand.

"Trust yourself," he whispered.

Fighting against the force holding her down, Viv cut her own palm. Their blood mixed as they clasped hands.

Pain shot through Viv's body like lightning. She arched up, a scream frozen in her throat. Beside her, Damien convulsed.

Across the room, Lilith and Sarah stopped fighting, both turning to look.

"No!" Lilith shrieked. "Not like that! You've ruined everything!"

A blinding light burst from Viv and Damien's joined hands, spreading outward in a wave that knocked everyone else to the ground.

When the light faded, Viv could suddenly feel Damien's thoughts in her head. His fears, his dreams, his secrets – all flowing into her mind like water.

And she could feel something else. Something dark and ancient, moving beneath the ritual room. Something that had been woken by their blood.

The ground began to shake.

"What have you done?" Lilith screamed as cracks emerged in the stone floor.

Through her new link with Damien, Viv knew exactly what they had done. And what was coming next.

The floor split open, and from the darkness below, a pair of bright red eyes looked up at them.

"At last," said a voice like grinding stone. "I am free."