Prologue: Graveyard dancer.
Liverpool – 2024.
It was a cloudy Tuesday afternoon. And under the clouds of the driving rain, a young woman walked into a cemetery, wearing a black dress and carrying a bouquet of roses as red as blood. It was silent, except for a few birds singing, the sound of the earth being crushed by her boots with every step, and the plastic wrapping the roses dragging against her slender fingers. She soon finds the tombstone of the person she was honoring, a man identified as “Seymour Ravencraft, beloved husband, caring father and admirer of life’s little details”. Delicately placing the bouquet on the grave, the young woman spoke:
´´ Hi Dad. My life hasn’t been the same without you. I don’t know, I guess I just have a lot of clichés to say, but having to talk about it has never crossed my mind, even though it’s part of life. It’s just that...``
Before she could finish her tribute, a musical sound invaded her ears. It was the sound of a violin, majestically played. Curious, she turned to look for the sound and saw just one boy, a lonely soul, fervently playing a violin to a fast tune, while making circular dancing movements that made the overcoat spin around him, and messed up his curly hair. At the end, he kneels and slides the bow across the strings, in one last prolonged note, thus ending his dance and music. Sighing at the effort he has put into his movements, he stands up and brushes some of his sweat-covered hair out of his face, finally seeing Amber staring at him. With his face contracting in expression from exhaustion, he waves to Amber, but shyly, so much so that it makes her wonder if it is a greeting or not.
Finding the boy’s whole attitude very strange, she turned quickly, her face glazed over at her father’s tombstone. However, she felt a firm finger poke her on the shoulder, and she could do nothing but turn around, now seeing the violinist up close, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his coat.
´´ Hey, lady. You saw me playing, didn’t you?``
´´ Y-yes.``
´´ There’s no need to be afraid. That was just... a promise.``
´´ You promised someone you’d dance on their grave?``
´´ Yes, I took the expression literally. My name is Jack. And you are?``
´´ I don’t know if I should give my name to someone who’s a graveyard dancer.``
´´ Understandable, young lady. But there’s also something that strikes me about you.``
´´ Me? There’s nothing special about me.``
´´ That’s what you think. And that’s what I’m admiring now.``
´´ Why do you say that?``
´´ You’re a Black Blood and you don’t even realize it.``
´´ A what?``
´´ Black... Blood.``
´´ What the hell is that?``
´´ Yes, almost literally.``
´´ Again: What?``
´´ You said, “What the hell?“. That’s almost it. You have demon blood in your veins. But not just any kind of demon. It’s the blood of what the ancients called the “Engraved”. Although this is a nickname used by historians, nobody knows what the Celts called them.``
´´ Celts, demons, man, are you okay? I’m really getting worried about you.``
´´ But of course, I’m fine. Why don’t you believe me? Is it that absurd?``
´´ Oh, let me see... it is!``
´´ Okay, so you’ve never seen anything strange? Things that other people can’t explain?``
´´ Things? What things?``
´´ Okay, let’s go. Wounds that close quickly, apparitions, voices in your head...``
´´ Voices...``
The young woman remained silent, her gaze lost on the horizon. It was as if she wanted to say something that wouldn’t come out of her mouth. After waiting a while, Jack simply gives up, turns, and starts to walk away, when she speaks aloud:
´´ Schizophrenia.``
´´ What?`` Jack stops and turns back to her, a few steps away.
´´ That’s what they told me. That I have schizophrenia. That all is in my mind.``
´´ What if I told you it wasn’t?``
´´ Can you prove it?``
Jack takes a penknife out of his pocket and shows the palm of his hand to the young woman. Immediately, he makes a deep cut, causing a lot of blood to run down his hand and onto the ground. Nothing happens and the cut is still there. The young woman is disappointed and speaks up:
´´ I knew it, you’re just crazy. What was I thinking? Listen, Jack, it was nice meeting you. See you later, okay?``
Amber turned and walked with hurried steps out of the cemetery, while behind her, Jack was still talking loudly, almost shouting:
´´ Wait, it just takes time to happen.``
´´ Bye, Jack!`` She replied at the same time.
Leaving through the rusty iron gate, the girl walks back through the streets, leaving the mad violinist behind. Turning around one last time to look for the boy, she doesn’t find him. He had already gone, leaving no trace beyond the messy earth of that gravestone on which he danced. The girl blended in with the movement of people passing through the streets until she entered a convenience store. The first thing she did was pick up a bar of chocolate, which she took to the cashier to pay for and then took some money from the purse on her left shoulder. The clerk, who was browsing social networks on her cell phone while chewing gum, put the device on the counter and registered the girl’s purchase:
´´ Just a moment, I’m out of change here. I’ll go out the back and get some from my friend at the bar across the street. The back of the store is near the back, so I won’t be long.``
´´ All right, I’ll wait.``
The woman left through the back door, from where the customer could see a stock room with cardboard boxes full of products everywhere. On the other side of the room was another door, and as soon as the woman opened it, the girl saw the back of the bar, where a man in cold clothes was smoking, until he was greeted by the store’s cashier. As she had already paid, the girl took the opportunity to open the bar of chocolate, eating a few pieces until the woman returned. Just as she was getting the third square of chocolate between her teeth, she heard what the violinist had mentioned before; the voices in her head.
As soon as that sensation started, she dropped the bar on the till and opened her bag, searching through her belongings. And the more she looked, the louder the voices became. Finally, she picks up a bottle of medication with the name “Ziprasidone” written on the label. She takes a capsule in her hand, and takes out a small bottle of water from her handbag, with no more than 200ml in it. She takes the medicine, and for a second the voices stop, until they come back louder than before, and can now be clearly understood as saying:
´´ I don’t want that!``
And involuntarily, the young woman’s body regurgitated the pill, along with a few drops of blood. She fell forward and supported herself on the counter with both hands. The cashier returns with some crumpled bills in her hand until she sees the girl in that position and asks:
´´ Are you all right, dear?``
´´ I’m fine.`` As she answers, the customer raises her face to the woman, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth.
´´ Oh my God, honey, what is it? Wait, I’ll call an ambulance.``
´´ You don’t have to, really,” insists the young woman.
´´ Yes, I do, just a second.``
The woman picks up the cell phone she dropped earlier and types in the number, but as soon as she tries to make the call, the cell phone suffers static interference on the screen. Even so, someone seems to answer, but all she hears is a squeak.
´´Shit, that thing just crashed. Hold on, darling.``
The woman hurries to the back door and shouts at the man who was smoking in the doorway:
´´ Earn, get your ass over here.``
´´ What have I done now?``
´´ Nothing, I just need your cell phone. Mine broke down.``
´´ I’ll be right there.``
´´ He’ll be here in a minute, dear,” said the cashier to the customer.``
´´ Sorry for the inconvenience, I don’t know what happened.``
´´ It’s all right, dear, no problem.``
´´ Yes, it is, I’m causing a nuisance.``
´´ Stop it, it’s... what’s your name?``
´´ Amber.``
´´ Amber. No negativity, my friend is almost here.``
´´ Were you talking about me?`` The man comes in and lends the woman his phone.
She tries to call again, but the same thing happens with the man’s cell phone. Disgusted, the cashier pats the cell phone to make it work. The smoker says:
´´ Hey, don’t do that. It’s my cell phone, and it was expensive.``
´´ Expensive my ass, look at it, it broke down too.``
´´ But how did it crash too? It’s brand new, I bought it last month. Let me see.`` He takes the device back.
Listening to their conversation, Amber searches for her cell phone in her handbag and realizes that it is also interfering with the screen. She shows it to the other two and says:
´´ Mine too, look.``
´´ Wow, that’s strange,” said the man.
The voices in Amber’s head continue, saying many things at once. She shakes her head as if trying to make them go away. The cashier and the smoker notice and look at her. The man notices the medicine in her hand and reads the label, then speaks:
´´ Ziprasidone, what is this stuff?``
´´ Medicine for schizophrenia`` said the cashier.
´´ What? Is she crazy?``
´´ That’s probably why she’s feeling ill.``
´´ She’s having a bad time?``
´´ Didn’t you see that she’s bleeding, you idiot?``
´´ Oh, now I’ve seen.``
´´ You idiot.``
´´ Oh, Teresa, look at the way you talk to me.``
The veins in Amber’s head begin to throb, but she doesn’t exactly feel pain. It’s more like a pressure in her head. Just as Teresa was about to help the girl, Earn shouted right next to her. Turning to the man, she saw that his eyes were pierced by a pair of fingers. The man’s body is dropped to the ground and the woman sees a grotesque creature standing right behind him. The creature has lumpy skin, a horn on the right side of its forehead, and another on the left side of its chin, creating an unsymmetrical aesthetic to its face. With its hands full of blood, the creature grabs the woman, who screams desperately. With one bite, the monster rips off part of the woman’s head, and her blood begins to gush out. As the scene unfolds, Amber vomits all over the floor and even feels pain in her stomach. The woman continues to struggle until her body functions slowly stop and her eyes roll back. The being throws her to the ground and now focuses on Amber. She turns to run but runs into another being that looks very much like the other. Seeing that deformed face up close, the girl screams in terror and has no way out. As if she had seen all the monsters that children fear in their nightmares, the young woman crouched down, her hands covering her head.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. As soon as she opened her eyes, she realized that she was the one causing it. She was surrounded by cracks that emitted a pink light, and embers of the same color hovered around her. Her body’s veins stood out and her vision turned pink. Startled, Amber rubs her face and body, screaming:
´´ Get away from me! Leave me alone! Stop it!``
A gunshot sounds, and she is covered in thick, dark blood. The body of one of the monsters falls right next to her. Another shot draws her attention to the door, where she sees the silhouette of someone with an instrument strapped to its back and a gun pointed at them. The body of the other creature falls, breaking the counter. Amber turns around startled, and sees the creature with a hole right in the middle of its forehead. Standing up, she once again looks at the shooter, who walks into the light, revealing himself to be Jack. He’s holding a golden pistol with an extended ammunition clip, smoke billowing from the barrel. As soon as she sees him, he shows her his hand, previously cut with a pocketknife, without a scratch on it.
´´ You didn’t have to show your hand. I kind of saw that you weren’t crazy. Or I am.``
´´ You’re not. I need you to come with me.``
´´ I don’t think I can argue now. But where are we going?``
´´ My father needs to know what happened here and talk to the council. So we’re going to the Stane Academy.``
´´ What’s that?``
´´ A place full of people just like you. Where you can learn about what you are.``
´´ Like... Harry Potter?``
´´ Yeah... no. I mean, yes. Sort of.``
´´ Are you serious?``
´´ Ask your friends over there.`` He points to the body of one of the dead demons, which was already starting to bubble and melt.
´´ Gross! Okay, I’ll go with you. By the way, my name is Amber.``
´´ Nice to meet you, Amber. Let’s go.``
´´ Yes. After I’ve calmed down.``
´´ I’m afraid we don’t have time. Stay desperate in the car, will you?``
And so, the two of them walked outside, where Amber saw an old red muscle car with a few scratches on the paintwork. Jack opened the door for her and with some trepidation, she got in.
