Into the Ether - Complete

Spring, When New Things Grow: Part 9

Every day was torture, but the worst thing was that every time I woke it was to a fresh horror. It was as though this manor housed innumerable practices bound to shock and revolt, and there was an inexorable march to parade each perversion in front of my reluctant eyes. And it was impossible to anesthetize yourself against it.

In the first few days, it was the shock of seeing the occasional person I knew from before walking around with red-rimmed eyes. Guardians from the mission, Dhampir I'd trained with at St. Basil's. Even an old royal Moroi chum of Ivan's. I hadn't heard he'd been turned. Despite being surrounded by numerous Strigoi, I didn't have any immediate fears for my safety. Galina had made it very clear I was not to be touched, and no one dared risk her wrath. But it was nonetheless disturbing to see people I'd previously known in life now as eerily familiar soulless monsters.

I'd successfully avoided the Guardian dorms since I'd been called away from them. There was nothing I could do to help the men there, so I intentionally spared myself the punishment of bearing witness to their torturous decision.

Thanks to my suggestion about army accommodations for the meeting, Galina had temporarily halted recruitment, so the same dorms now stood empty. I was wandering around in that part of the manor getting an idea of the building's layout to inform my loosely constructed escape plan when a large leather book caught my eye. Sitting on a desk in the broad hallway between the locked Moroi and Guardian dorms, a quick flick showed it contained long lists of Dhampir, Moroi and human names with a simple 'A' or 'D' annotated in the margin. After a moment I inferred that this was the list of those recruited; the 'A' stood for awakened and the 'D' for deceased. Towards the end of the long list, I saw Yaroslav's name with a neat 'D' beside it. I was relieved for him, although I didn't pause to ponder the manner of his death.

The most gruesome of the many execrable things I'd seen here was the Strigoi 'meals' area. Those who chose to not to be awakened were used to sustain the army. While many Strigoi were happy to quickly feed and drain their victims with a minimum of fuss, more than a few of the undead liked to terrorize their prey first, claiming the blood tasted better when the one who'd produced it was petrified. I'd honestly been traumatized the first time I'd passed the feeding rooms and seen such large-scale massacre, so now for my mental health, I made a point of avoiding that part of the manor altogether when feedings were scheduled. It was truly the stuff of nightmares, and I knew were I to survive this place I would spend many nights trying to purge what I'd seen from my mind.

Looking through the long list of names in the journal, I was interested to note that almost ninety percent of those listed were Guardians, yet probably only thirty percent of them had chosen to be awakened. Looking back at the dates, the recruitment had been going on for longer than I'd initially appreciated. Several years at least, should the first entry be believed. Much longer than the reports from Court had suggested. Every indication from there had been that this was a more recent problem; something arising in the last six to twelve months. Not for the first time I wondered how the Royal and Guardian Councils had got it so wrong. How had Galina managed to amass all this virtually unobserved?

"Plotting something, Belikov? Careful, Galina wouldn't like that," Nathan's voice sneered. He'd crept up behind me soundlessly. The hair bristled on the back of my neck, but I gave no indication of the disquiet his presence caused me.

"Just wondering who I might know at the meeting," I said urbanely. "Is this the full list?"

"None of your business," Nathan snapped looking at me with undisguised dislike. "You know, Galina might trust you, but I don't."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. Galina doesn't trust me. She doesn't trust anyone. And that's what's made her such a force to be reckoned with."