The Quest

Sylvie Ginestet

Description

Victim of an incurable catastrophe of health, Lilly nurtures the foolish hope to overcome her ordeal by being transformed into a vampire. Soon, a protracted quest begins. A path beset with pitfalls and disappointments; since vampires are not myriad... And rare are those who would take the risk of helping a human being. Never-theless...

My perception of things had now changed, my plan was com-pletely crazy and dangerous. Why hadn't I felt it before? I'd lived through the most terrible night of my existence. I'd never been so frightened. But this new development: I'd provoked it myself and I now knew I could never physically go through it again. I was ex-hausted, emptied. And yet, he'd hardly touched me.

My life was too important to put at risk. I was just a fool in search of a better life, but I'd have to be content with what I had.

Is Lilly going to give up her project, or will her desire to live another existence be stronger?

Sujets

• Fiction
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 23 mars 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456621742
• Langue: English

Extrait

SYLVIE GINESTET
THE QUEST



© Sylvie Ginestet 2014
Converted in e-book format by e-book conception
All rights reserved.
ISBN : 978-2-930756-03-5
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without the prior permission of the author.
First published in French under the title “Le Miracle’ by Editions Azimuts in 2012.
Translated from French by “Intuitive Translations”, Torquay, United Kingdom.



A special thanks to Graham


1
My foot was in terrible pain and I had no idea where I was.
I sat up in my bed and groped around for the bedside table, hoping to find a lamp which would allow me to get my bearings. Fortunately, I found one, which worked. Certainly, the light from its bulb wasn’t very bright, nevertheless it was enough for me to realise that I wasn’t at home.
The pain was a stabbing one, it was now working its way along to my ankle. A small fine scab had formed on the top of my foot. What had happened to me, and why was I here? I tried to remember, but the last twenty-four hours were vague. It was like being in a fog, I really couldn’t remember anything!
Little by little, my vision became used to the low light; I began to have a look around the room. The furniture was antique, I could distinguish a wardrobe and a writing desk of a certain era. Which one? A mystery... The bed in which I found myself was big, much larger than my own. It was a four-poster bed decorated with Bordeaux drapes.
The more I looked around me, the more anxious I became... Then I tried to get up, but I hadn’t the strength for it.
I wasn’t wearing my usual clothes, just a long white nightgown. This only increased my anxiety. I had without doubt been the victim of an accident, but in this case why wasn’t I at the hospital? I’ve always had a rather confident nature, to the point of readily following someone in the street, but this, it was a little too much, and now it was worrying me.
I tried to rationalise calmly. Above all, I mustn’t panic. I was still trying to grasp the situation when someone knocked at the door. The person entered without even waiting for an answer. Automatically, I pulled the covers up to my chin.
“Good evening, Miss.”
I answered with a distrusting stammer. The man was tall and had nothing about him of an orderly or a nurse’s aide, he was dressed as a butler. His look was black, and frightening.
“I bring you your soup,” he announced most straightforwardly.
“Could you…?”
“Sir should be home soon, I will inform him that you wish to see him.”
I frowned; a heap of questions were cropping up.
“Thank you, but...Where am I? How long have I been here and why?”
“You came last night with Sir. Here, you have a bell should you need anything.”
He pointed to a small old-fashioned red velvet tassel which seemed straight out of another time. He spoke strangely. I was becoming more and more worried.
“Could I have a telephone? My family has to be worried, I absolutely have to call them. And anyway, who is “Sir”? What happened to me?”
I was nearing hysteria. Him, he remained impassive, and answered none of my questions.
“Call me if you need anything,” he concluded dispassionately.
“But answer me, good God!”
It was a waste of time... He put the tray on a small table next to the door and left the room, locking up behind him.
One thing was for sure: I had to get to my feet and leave this place, whatever it took. For what reason was I being held prisoner?
I tried again to get up but I felt very weak. I managed finally to sit on the edge of the bed. My feet couldn’t even touch the floor and there was no sign of my clothes! Nevertheless, I had to find them if I wanted to leave this place.
Putting my foot down turned out to be a real torture. I walked slowly towards the window using the furniture to help relieve my pain. A little fresh air would do me a world of good, it would help me to see things more clearly.
The curtains, matching the bed, were very beautiful, very heavy, made from velvet like we don’t find any more nowadays. I positioned myself between the drapes, hands at face level, and little by little I discovered a wonderful landscape which I hadn’t expected. The sun had set, but lights illuminated the garden tastefully. In every sense, this confirmed that I’d found myself in a chateau. The furniture, the gardens... There was no possible doubt.
I wanted to open the French window: It was locked. So I left the curtains partly open. The light which penetrated into the room brought a little serenity to this enclosed space, and to myself, who sorely needed it.
I felt a more painful stab in my foot. I was tired, nearing the point of crying. I then ventured to the wardrobe. Miracle! My jeans and my pullover were there. I managed to slip into them. Dressed in my own clothes, I felt a little less vulnerable. This nightgown was pretty, but I felt ill-at-ease with the idea that someone may have undressed me.
Before anything else, I had to revive myself. The soup would at least give me some strength, I hoped. I gulped it down but then I realised suddenly that it might have been drugged. Anyway, it was too late now, and besides I’d already started feeling my energy coming back to me…
I put an ear to the door in order to listen for the slightest sound, but without any success. Then I just leant there and scrutinised the room, with a view to unearthing a way out. The sound of tyres on the gravel path interrupted my investigations. I returned to the window.
A man stepped out from a car. I knew this silhouette. But... It was Darren! I immediately knocked on the window, in the hope that he would hear me and come to save me. The man in black came to speak to him. He raised his head towards me, and I felt some hope. I kept watching them: They entered inside the chateau.
The key turned in the lock, the door opened slowly. This time, there was no knock. I stayed near the curtains.
“Good evening,” a soft and familiar voice said to me.
I tried to glimpse the figure in the light beyond the door. A tall black shape was staring at me and waiting for my invitation to enter.
“Good evening Darren. Why am I locked in? Where are we?”
“You’re at my home, Lilly, and if you’re locked in, it’s for your own safety.”
“My safety?”
“Don’t worry... May I enter or am I condemned to remain standing between two rooms?”
This remark made me smile, which encouraged him to come into the bedroom. He took a chair and sat down near the bed without saying a word. He was content with just looking at me.
“This is your home!” I said curtly. “Would you care to explain everything to me please?”
“Why are you up and dressed?”
“I don’t remember what happened to me last night. Before seeing you down below, I believed myself to be the prisoner of a madman, or I don’t know what else. I was already formulating a plan for saving myself.”
He seemed amused by what I said. For my part, I didn’t find it funny, but I now felt reassured. It struck me that he was beautiful, the subdued light let me glimpse his fine, regular and symmetrical features. I didn’t remember everything, but this face and the sweetness which he gave off reminded me about the spirit of the choice which I had made.
He smiled tenderly to me.
“We left the club to come here as planned, however everything didn’t go how I… How we expected.”
“What’s the problem?”
At this precise moment, I felt a new stab in my foot and my question finished with a grimace which could hardly have escaped him. In one bound, he was in front of me.
“Let me see this foot.”
“How do you know it’s my foot which hurts?”
“Because it was me who injured you,” he replied, embarrassed.
I sat down on the bed and allowed him to examine my wounds. How and why had he hurt me? Ah the memories began to return to me… The club, the car, then the blackout.
“It’s serious?”
“A little infected, but nothing nasty. It must be down to your medical history. Don’t worry, we’re going to take care of it as quickly as possible.”
Directly, he pulled the red tassel. A few moments later someone knocked at the door.
“Come in, Hector!”
Standing in front of the door, Hector waited for his orders. This man frightened me, he was glacial; no smile, no emotion came from him.
“Go and look for something to disinfect Lilly’s foot. You’ll find what’s necessary in my case which is in the chest of drawers in my office. The blue case!” He ordered, without even turning his head.
“Yes, Sir.”
Hector had already left.
Something had happened and I had absolutely no memory of it, but Darren knew… He knew everything. Now I too needed to know. I repeated my question.
“Can you tell me more now? What didn’t work out? Has it something to do with my request? Why can’t I remember anything?”
He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at me, yet I didn’t lower my eyes.
“Yes, it’s to do with your request but I can’t tell you more. In fact, I don’t even know the answer myself. How far back can you remember?”
“I know neither how I came to be here, nor since when. Also, I don’t remember how I got injured, even if I now understand what it relates to. However, I can’t remember you doing it.”
“It’s all right, it’ll heal quickly. Don’t worry. I’m more worried about the second stage, the one which didn’t come about. Whatever happens, just know that the reason I accepted your deal was for your survival. That’s the one and only reason, Lilly.”
His last reflection hardly did anything to reassure me.
Hector was patiently waiting for us to stop talking. Darren felt his presence and turned his head toward him while getting up. Hector put the case at his